So, we are now in San Francisco, and the difference between here and New York is really noticeable. It is very warm here, and the atmosphere is much more relaxed than in New York. So far we have mainly been taking in the beautiful views, and walking up some of the city's many hills. As in New York, we have been doing a lot of walking here. Yesterday we walked up to Nob Hill to take our first views of the city, and of the Bay Bridge, and rode on a few cable cars, or should I say hanging off the side of them!

We did a night tour of Alcatraz last night, and it was really fascinatig and quite creepy walking around and hearing all about the prisoners and the life they experienced on the island. We had an excellent guide who told us about Al Capone, the most famous of Alcatraz's residents, and of the numerous escape attempts. We also got to look inside the cells, inclding the ones used for solitary confinement. Those were awful, they had no windows and would have been in total darkness most of the time. Seeing Alcatraz at night made the experience a bit more eerie, and we got some great sunset views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco on the way out.

Speaking of the Golden Gate Bridge, we went out today to do a cruise of the San Francisco Bay, which included the bridge, but we didn't really get to see much of it because of the fog! It was extremely foggy today, and we could have been forgiven for thinking that the bridge didn't even exist! It only became clear when we were about 100 metres away, and even up close we couldn't see the top of it. However, this is how San Franciscans see the bridge a lot of the time! We hope to see the bridge again before we leave, hopefully on a clearer day.

Also today we went to Fisherman's Wharf, which is quite a touristy area of the city, where a lot of families go. There are lots of gift shops and restaurants, and Katie had a bowl of clam chowder which was delicious! We visited the aquarium too, and got to see some interesting animals. We got to touch some stingrays and a snake.

We also saw the sea lions (which are cute but really stink!) at Pier 39, then had a wander over to Ghirarelli Square to get an ice cream sundae from the Ghirardelli ice cream shop. It was the biggest sundae ever! Katie could only eat the top quarter of it, but it was very delicious! Shame we couldn't save it for later!

We have a few days remaining in San Francisco, so we will update the blog when we can.

Take care,

Katie and Jeff xxx