Sittin' on the dock of the bay..

arriving into San Francisco
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Our plans were thrown a bit off course after Yosemite, as we had planned to head north to Lake Tahoe for a bit. Unfortunately,The forests around Lake Tahoe have been on fire for about a week, so instead we decided to head west to San Francisco and the coast.

The drive was pretty uneventful, until we reached Oakland and 2 lane freeways turned into 6. That was fun. Some American i met in a bar told me that the big wide roads were better as you have more room if you make a mistake, but then again roundabouts are too complicated for the U.S, so im not sure i trust him.

One of the first things anyone notices about San Francisco, is that it is a ridiculous place to build a city

City Hall San Fran
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San Fran is cold! it was such a shock compared to the Yosemite valley and central California. One of the first things anyone notices about San Francisco, is that it is a ridiculous place to build a city. Almost all of the city is built on the the steepest hills i have ever seen. At the top of the street, its not uncommon to be unable to see the bottom!

we were really well located, our hotel was on Union Square - which is the heart of the city. The designer shops and coffee houses were on every corner. San Francisco has one of the biggest Chinatown districts in the U.S, and it was right on our door step. The oldest cablecars in the country still run in San Francisco aswell. These cars run up and down some of the steepest streets in the world, so its no coinidence they're very popular.

the postcard shot of San Fran
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There's a lovely dockside area in the city, calle the fishermans wharf. It is a little touristy, but i guess thats the point of areas like these. Its full of restaurants, some bars and an overwhelming smell of fish.

We did a bus tour on the second day, which took us around the city districts, showing us some great looking expensive houses. we were brought up to the twin peaks, with fantastic views over the city and the bay area. The tour was interesting in parts. it brought us to a lovely Japanese gardens in Golden Gate Park, however our tour driver had to be the most boring man on earth. God love him, he tried to be interesting, but just when you thought he was going to say something worth listening to, he talked about plants or something. It was a 3 hour tour, so you can imagine our suspense.

views from twin peaks, scenic viewpoint
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The best part of San Fran was our morning tour to Alcatraz - the former high security state penitentiary. We took a 10 minute boat trip to the island, which sits right in the middle of the bay. the islands has a chequered history. It has been a military defence post, an ammunition store, a military prison and even an autonomous piece of native american land as declared by the native indians in the late 1960's. It most famous for being the home of some of the most notorious criminals of 1930's, 40's and 50's America. Al Capone and the Birdman of alcatraz were all guests here for a while.

golden gate in the distance
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We were given a self guided audio tour which brought us into the cells, the eating hall, solitary confinement and the prison yard. The major breakout attempts and riots are all covered in the hour log tour - would definitely reccomend it.

By the way, the Golden Gate Bridge is absolutely beautiful - amazing sight and great fun to drive over.

We hit the road from San Francisco and headed down the coast on Highway 1, having picked up our new car for the week. Next stop Santa Cruz and the Big Sur coastline.

san fran is cold enough as it is, but it was freezing up this high!
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There were lots of good things about San Francisco, but it didnt really reach the heights of our expectations, im not sure why. it was good fun, and we enjoyed it - I would definitely come back and try it again - but it didnt really have the same impact as somewhere like New York.