So we leave Santa Barbara and rather scarily the mountain roads we had been exploring the previous day were closed due to forest fires and the entire Santa Barbara sky line was filled with smoke which is such a shame as it was all so beautiful.The fires were to plague us further as our intention had been to travel to San Francisco on highway 1 which includes some of the most stunning ocean views and includes the famous Big Sur.Nature had other ideas however and the forest fires in northern california closed most of highway 1 so with great disappointment we had to give it a miss and travel to san francisco via another boring freeway!We arrived at our hotel and soon realised that yet again we were in one of the poorer areas of san francisco however our hotel was surprisingly bright so we settled in, had a chinese for tea and relaxed in our room.Day one and with our San Francisco guide we took to the streets to see what the city had to offer.We soon discovered that when you get away from our hotel san francisco is maybe the prettiest city we have visited.The entire city is built on a hill so every view is either looking up a really steep incline or downhill to lots of gorgeous townhouses painted different candybox colours.You take a photo then turn a corner and there is another amazing view.One of the points of interest in our guide was the crookedest street (Lombard Street).We climbed and climbed in search of this crooked street thinking "what can be so exciting about a road?"Then we got to the top of the hill and the guide was right the street was unbelievable it is an almost complete vertical drop but unlike the others it has the tightest weaving path down the hill, it's just crazy and what's crazier is the traffic jam of cars with tourists waiting to attempt to drive down this insane hill!We then head to an area of the city known as cow hollow it has lots of nice shops and restaurants and it is here that we found the most gorgeous french café to have our lunch.We then walked down to the marina to see the famous golden gate bridge however yet again nature had other ideas and the entire bridge was engulfed in a thick fog!We couldn't even see where the bridge should have been all you could see was a massive bridge shaped fluffy cloud of fog.Having given up on the bridge we walked from the marina round to fisherman's wharf where you could find the maritime museum, the Alcatraz tour, bay cruises, the transport museum and pier 39 which had lots of specialty shops and restaurants.Feeling like we had walked the entire length of san francisco we had earned ourselves a refreshmentso we had a beer and a glass of wine in one of the nice bars overlooking pier 39 and had an hour of quality people watching!We then negotiated the tram network at the waterfront to save our legs from anymore walking and spent the evening chilling out in our hotel.Day 2 and today is the 4th of July aka independence day.Our plan for the day was to hire bikes and cycle over the golden gate bridge.We caught a tram from our hotel to the wharf and waited in the queue to get our bicycles.I was feeling a little anxious about this part of our visit having not been on a bike since I was about 13 years old and in case you were not aware I am not exactly at the peak of my physical fitness!!Michael assures me that you never forget how to ride a bike and it was only about 5 miles which I have done on the exercise bike loads of times!We fill out the forms, sign the disclaimer and the nice lady at the desk is giving us the map and talking us through route.For those of you who know me well I am sure I don't need to describe my face when the lady says "so that's the route to the bridge and it is a 16 mile round trip and should take about 2 hours to complete"!!That's right its 16 miles and is about a two hour cycle I swear I almost collapsed on the spot and all Michael could do was laugh his head off.Still in a state of shock we then get our bikes and are on our way.Fortunately Michael was right about never forgetting how to ride a bike and after a shaky first couple of minutes we were soon making good progress along the waterfront towards the bridge.It is around 5 miles from the bike rentals to the start of the bridge and by the time we got to this point I was totally exhausted it was uphill all the way and I was already fearing my bum would never be the same again!The view of the city from the middle of the bridge drove me to keep going so we attacked the bridge camera in hand.Unfortunately the San Francisco fog was still sitting around the bridge so the view from the marina was poor however once on the bridge the fog wasn't so thick so we were able to get amazing view of the city skyline.Despite the tired legs and the sore bum it was all worth it to be on the golden gate bridge which we have seen so many times on TV is so surreal.Once on the other side we get a few more photos and then what goes up must come down so we turn around and begin the return journey.The only good thing about cycling uphill all the way is that it's a downhill coast all the way home!The return leg was much easier but I was more than happy to give my bike to the next unsuspecting victim at the rental tent!First stop after the cycle was to get some food as all the exercise had given us an appetite.We had some delicious fish and chips at the pier then we walked back to the hotel to relax for a couple of hours before going back out to see how the americans celebrate their independence with a fireworks display at the waterside.We stop at the supermarket on the way to the marina and pick up some refreshments and picnic nibbles then head to the front to get a good spot and watch the fireworks.By 9.30 the fog was still over the bay so the firework display was more like a display of different coloured clouds however the poor weather didn't dampen spirits and it was fun to spend the 4th of July with the Americans!Day 3….Alcatraz, one of the things we had been looking forward to most on our visit to San Francisco.We had been told by previous visitors that the trip books up days in advance so we had our tickets reserved weeks ago.We reported to pier 33 to get our boarding cards and as there is not food allowed on Alcatraz we grabbed a quick hotdog while we were waiting for the boat.The boat ride takes around 10 minutes to get to the island and the views of the island on the way over are amazing.As you approach alcatraz it just looks so inhospitable and intimidating and we weren't even off the boat yet.When you get off the boat the first thing you notice is the smell!As well as alcatraz being a prison it is also the nesting and breeding ground for lots of different species of bird and where ever you have hundreds of birds you have mountains of bird poo and it was stinking!You get a quick orientation from one of the rangers and then the rest of the tour is self guided.The first stop is a 15 minute introductory video about the history of alcatraz and how it started of as a defense barracks to protect the port of San Francisco before becoming a military prison and then a correctional facility for some of the worst criminals in the USA.The video talked about the prisons notorious reputation for being the harshest and most brutal prison to serve out your sentence, what life was like for the prisoners and also what it was like for the prison guards.We were not aware that many of the guards and their families lived on the island full time and the children would get the boat over to the mainland everyday for school!The next part of the tour was the tour of the cells and this was again self guided with headphones guiding you through the different areas telling you a bit about how the prisoners lived and also a bit about some of the escape attempts.Alcatraz likes to say that there have never been any successful escape attempts and for the most part anyone who tried to escape never made it to the mainland.There were however a group of 3 men who managed to make it to the water and were never seen again.It has always been assumed that they must have drowned due to the freezing waters and the strong currents however unlike the other escape attempts their bodies were never found!The tour showed you where the inmates slept and their cells were tiny you could stand in the middle and touch the walls either side it was so narrow.We saw the dining area, the exercise yard, the guards quarters and where all the guns were kept.The whole tour lasted about an hour and was really interesting but even without the tour it was just so overwhelming to be there on island which housed what america considered to be its worst criminals of that time.To walk or sit in some of the cells and wonder who had been in that cell all those years ago!After the audio tour you can then walk around exploring the rest of the island.Unfortunately most of the island has fallen into disrepair so the public were unable to look round any of the other buildings but you could see the lighthouse which is still in operation today, the old guard tower, water tower and where some of the families would have lived.I forgot to mention when I was talking about the tour, midway through the tour you have to go outside to see the lighthouse and while outside I happened to glance out to sea and there as if by magic was the most amazing view of the golden gate bridge!The fog which had been concealing the bridge on the boat across had lifted and we were able for the first time to get a decent photo!After the tour was over we got the boat back across to the mainland and decided to go and get our car and drive to the bridge to get a closer look and get a few more photos after all it had only taken 4 days to see it!We parked the car up at a park called chrissy field which is just below the bridge and walked around for an hour or so taking it in and getting plenty of snaps.With it having been an early start and with me being crippled from the cycle the previous day we stayed in and I subjected Michael to a Law and Order mini marathon over takeout pasta and spent the evening reliving some of the things we had discovered from our time on Alcatraz!!Day 4 and on a bit of whim the previous day we decided to book ourselves up for a vineyard tour!Its something we always talked about doing and where better than in the Napa and Sonoma regions of California.It was an early start with the coach collecting us at half eight and then making the 90 minute drive to the Sonoma valley.Our first stop was at a family run vineyard called Viansa.The first part of the tour takes you round where the wine is made and stored and they tell you a bit about the history of the vineyard.Next they take you to an outdoor tasting area where you get to try 3 wines overlooking the Sonoma valley.You try a red, a white and a desert wine and the guide tell you how to properly taste the wine and what you should be getting from each sample, it was all very interesting and a great excuse to drink wine at half ten in the morning!After the tasting we then had some time to wander around the vineyard and more importantly look around their market.This particular vineyard was a bit different in that they not only specialised in wine but they also did food and wine pairings so the market was filled with lots of different oils, balsamic vinegars, pestos, relishes and lots of other condiments.They were all open and they gave you little pieces of bread so you could try as much as you wanted.We spent half an hour just tasting all the different flavours and wishing we had the space in our bags to buy some to take with us.The next stop after Viansa was a 2 hour lunch stop in a small village in Sonoma.Our first stop was to a deli called The cheese factory and as the name would suggest there were hundreds of different cheeses and you could try as many as you wanted so we both went to town and tried almost every cheese in the shop it was fantastic.We decided that we didn't really want to look around the shops and knew lunch wouldn't take 2 hours so we decided to do another cheeky wine tasting on our own before joining up with the tour.We went to a shop which was doing tasting of different wines by the Castle winery.They allowed us to try smaller samples than the previous vineyard but we got to try 8 different wines including 2 whites, 3 reds a rose and two dessert wines one of which was a port.We decided to treat ourselves to a bottle of the rose to have when we got back to the hotel that evening!After the tasting we shared a chicken salad and a glass of wine each for lunch in a nice garden café then headed back to the bus to meet up with the rest of the tour.The second stop was a vineyard called Madonna (not any connection to the singer).Here the guide took us out to the vineyard this time to show us the grapes and talk about how the vines are planted and maintained and again a bit about the history of the vineyard.Next they show where the wines are stored and about the different wooden barrels used to store some of the wines.I am sure it doesn't sound very interesting but to a wino like me I really enjoyed it.We then sampled a white, a red and a desert wine before having a quick look around the small shop then back on the bus to the next stop.Our third and final vineyard was called The Kirkland Ranch and it was the grandest of them all.A beautiful building made completely from wood the interior was filled with whole tree trunks as supports and lots of hand carved details, it really helped to set the mood.Here we again tried a white, red and a desert wine and then after a brief chat about the wines we were able to walk around.We had a quick walk around the ranch and then got a glass of wine and spent the last 20 minutes out on the terrace taking in the beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.At this point we all thought we were going back to San Francisco however we had one last stop at the Napa Valley visitor's centre where we were given yet more wine to sample before finally heading back to the city.As you can imagine after 7 hours of wine tasting we both fell asleep before the bus got out of the countryside and woke up an hour later coming over the golden gate bridge.By this point we had both worked up quite an appetite so we got the coach to drop us off in "little Italy" and went to a lovely little restaurant for some pizza and yep you guessed it more wine!We both really enjoyed our day at the vineyards and it was the perfect way to finish up our amazing stay in San Francisco!