Day 4 - Monday

There are a few things that strike me about this place.

Urinals are very low down - only maybe a foot off the floor. I’m sure American’s legs are as long as mine - give or take - and I can’t believe their bits dangle noticeably lower on average, so it seems strange. Very noticeable when p!ssing whilst wearing shorts is all I’m going to say, i guess the urine has further to fall and accellerate......

Corner shops can sell booze, at whatever hours they can be bothered to open until. Australia has this so wrong.

Pubs can be small and quirky, they don’t have to be the size of the Oaks to make a living. I’ve missed dingy little bars. Sitting alone at the bar is a perfectly acceptable thing to do, and there’s always someone to talk to. SF has some nice local beers too. Lagunitas IPA the best, Sierra Nevada very good, SF Anchor Steam not far behind. Boddingtons on tap a novel and refreshing - if not exactly local - alternative.

Everyone tips, for everything. This is fine with me, but means I have a mountain of loose change that’s only getting bigger, too big after 3 days to bother taking out with me. Loose change does not sadly constitute a reasonable tip, all coins are worthless, so what the F$%&k does everyone do with them…….

There’s a major sporting contest on TV 24 hours x 365 days. Australia simply doesn’t have enough sports, or enough teams in each sport. Bad form.

There’s a whole world of begging in San Francisco. I’ve been sung to, offered poetry……..1 guy today walked past me with a big sign that said “I don’t want your f*cking money” - a novel approach and one I was happy to comply with but I guess I appreciated the comedy and with hindsight I should’ve given him a $........

People like to talk. Mostly this is fine, but imagine me sitting on a bench outside a coffee shop, and 3 feet away this guy’s on his mobile telling someone about the month he’s just spent in rehab while he dried out. After this experience I feel qualified to advise on the process if anyone needs further details.

Anyhow, today I went to Macy’s on Union Square and bought some clothes - all part of the plan to get some new stuff. On the way there I took this pic of a shop I saw, which has Curly’s name on it (love you man). Then I walked down to Coit Tower. The name might make the Aussies amongst you smile…..it’s a bloody big tower perched on top of a bloody big hill. Walking up to it almost killed me, but there’s a lift inside to get you to the top. Nice view, but a bit hazy today, the sunshine of the previous days deserted me.

Amongst the photos, there’s 1 looking out onto Lombard Street (The Crookedest as per previous entry). Also one looking down onto Greenwich Road (for those who don’t know, I live on Greenwich Road in Sydney, thankfully a bit flatter than it’s SF namesake). And another, a view from a circular window on the tower. The pyramid shaped building is very cool.

After a bit more of a wander, a coffee and a great pastrami sandwich, I arrived at the pier at 2pm to do the Alcatraz tour.

For your future reference, the last ferry for the Alcatraz tour leaves at 1.55pm. I’ll know for next time, but it’s a shame ‘cos lots of people recommended this.

More wandering, the pier area is full of cheesy tourist junk shops but still I guess a part of town I should’ve seen, then an Irish bar called Tiernans which was nice enough. Next I met the shopaholics from Worthing for dinner at Lori’s diner. Good food, nice banter, was nice to catch up with them but they continue their 5 week trip and fly on to New York tomorrow, assuming they managed to find an extra suitcase to put the shopping in (this was the task they headed off to accomplish after dinner).

Nice to meet you ladies. Safe travels!

I’m writing this because I’m putting off ironing a shirt. Tomorrow’s the first of my working days so I need to snap out of holiday mode, albeit briefly before the Thanksgiving holiday. I don’t know either of the guys I’m meeting, so should be an interesting day. Claire’s made her excuses and isn’t coming with me so I’m on my own (she’s due to start work in that office soon). As I won’t see her or Joe again now, I’ll take this opportunity to thank them both for their company and services as guides. I hope I see them soon, but realistically it might be a while…….

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