Before we started our adventure, San Francisco was a place that I was really looking forward to. This coupled with the amount of people that we have met on our travels who all have said what a great place it is, just hyped up our expectations even more. Maybe it was something to do with the culture change as well, but gladly to say it didn't disappoint.

In Hong Kong airport we had a bit of fun where Ms Akhtar, got a 'random' security check (I'm sure nothing to do with the Asian name) which meant we were initially only presented with one boarding pass (bye!). Fortunately (unfortunately) she was able to pass 'Go' and we left Hong Kong at around 22.45 - then after a twelve and half hour flight we arrived in California at 20.15 the same night...someone please tell the Doc that time travel does exist without the use of a Delorean! It was an opportunity to watch some films anyway and upon entering the USA, it was refreshing how friendly the airport staff were and gladly there were no such issues this end. Reality soon hit though that our inexpensive travelling was now behind us, since having to pay over $8 for a tram which in Asia would have cost less than 10% of this for a similar journey.

Given the many timezones we crossed, unsuprisingly enough our body clocks were all over the place. However we managed to make it each morning to the communal kitchen where we had bagels with cream cheese and jam which somehow never got boring - I must admit I like how the Americans eat!

Our first day we just milled around the city, making use of our 7 day pass on the infamous trams and more so, the cable cars. It is surprising to see how hilly San Francisco actually is (and we were truly going to realise this the hard way later in the week). Being lethargic though, we casually made our way to the bay, which for me was just a surreal moment - glance to the left and you see the Golden Gate bridge staring at you amongst the blue skies; look over to the right and there is THE island floating in the middle of the bay, obviously known as Alcatraz. God knows which one of these landmarks is the most famous?? Sara ever the pessimist/mood killer though, comes out with 'I don't know what the fuss is, it's just a bridge!'

Moving on we strolled along the bay to Pier 39. Once you pass through the various shops and restaurants you come to the main attraction being the Sea Lions, who return here each year. We couldn't leave the pier though without sampling the local cuisine, so we settled on chilli beef in a large soda bread bowl which apparently San Francisco is well known for (or alternatively you can have clam chowder). To try and aclimatise to our time travelling we decided to have a sneaky nap in the early evening, in preparation for the free pizza and movie night at our hostel, appropriately showing 'The Rock'. I couldn't believe Sara hadn't seen this great film - anyway it was a fail as we overslept and she still hasn't seen it. This travelling malarchy is hard work!

We desperately wanted to go to Alcatraz, but all the tours were booked up for 3 weeks in advance. Luckily Sara researched that any spare tickets got sold each morning for that day, so we made our way to the ticket office for 5.45 where a queue had already formed! We were relieved when we finally got our tickets and we even met a family from Abergavenny while waiting. Alcatraz itself was strange since I recognised quite a lot of it from films so it almost felt like deja vu. However it is exactly as you would expect it to be, an isolated run down prison which overlooks San Francisco; it was also interesting though learning about it's history regarding previous inmates (most notoriously Al Capone), guards and their families who resided on the island and subsequently the Red Indians who claimed it as their territory after the prison was abandoned. On leaving the island I made sure I got the money shot by getting the floating fortress and 'just that bridge' in the same picture.

The following day we explored downtown a bit more (where we were staying). It was not uncommon to see 'weirdos' kicking about talking to themselves. However we were also just around the corner from Union Square where there are a plethora of shops. After having a mooch around we went into Lori's Diner, which is quite stereotypical as you can see by the photos. I'm not complaining though as I had 1/3 pound burger nom (and even Sara's 'healthy' salad was humungous)...not all stereotypes are bad, some you just have to embrace!

It is a novelty staying in the same place for a whole week and as such, doing an uber blog would be as much of a chore to write as I imagine it is to read, so Sara will pick it up in 'part deux'...

Xx