San Francisco

me beind the Martin Luther Kind memorial in Yerba Gardens
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I've had a pretty good time in San Francisco. I arrived in Friday afternoon, and quite naively decided I would walk from the train station to the hostel. About 2 hours and many hills later, I finally arrived. I spent the first few days just wandering around downtown, taking in Union square, Yerba Gardens, China town and Coit Tower.  I also done the open top tour bus, which drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. The Bridge is definitely a sight to see, its very windy when your going over though. You do get a great view of the city.

me at the Golden Gate bridge
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Sunday night, I ended up going to an Irish bar on the edge of town. It was crazy, I've never seen such a large concentration of Irish people, actually outside of Ireland. It was like a really busy night at home, except people were getting 'extra hammered' cos they were on holidays. Mad stuff!

I wasnt 5 minutes in the park, and I had already been offered 'nuggets' 3 times, homemade pot brownies and some herbal stuff!!!

I went to Golden Gate Park yesterday. I wasn't 5 minutes in the park, and I had already been offered 'nuggets' 3 times, homemade pot brownies and some herbal stuff!!! Make no mistake, the 60s hippy lifestyle still has deep roots in California! The park itself is quite nice, its massive though so I didnt walk all around it.  I went to Alcratraz today, it was good, although maybe not quite as good as I had heard. Stopped off in Chinatown on the way back in this Chinese music shop. It was great craic playing with all their strange drums and guitar/mandolin type things. Bought a little xylophone, which will be great if I can manage get it home safely!

Alcratraz
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So Im off to Chicago tomorrow until Tuesday. I will be in my final week in the US, before leaving next Thursday. The plan then, is to chill out for a week in Italy and then back home to good old Ireland!