San Francisco

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October 4th 2009

Published: October 7th 2009

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LynseyG

Cable Car

Cable Car going up Powell St

I've just spent a great week in San Francisco seeing all the sights and meeting loads of great people both fellow travellers and locals.

So I arrived in San Francisco last Monday afternoon. My hostel was just around the corner from union square and the trams so I had a wonder round that area walking up the first of many hills!

The next day I woke up to a glorious weather and set off on a trolley car to pier 33 to catch the boat over to Alcatraz. On the boat over we had great views of the city and both golden and gate and bay bridge. On 'The Rock' I did the audio tour around the cell house learning about the infamous inmates (Al Capone, The Bird Man, etc). Then I went on a tour by a Ranger around the less accessible areas of the island and learnt about the 200 year history of the island and more about the various attempted escapes. After Alcatraz I explored the Fishermens Wharf area and enjoyed the Clam chowder in a bread bowl. Whilst walking along pier 39 I heard, saw and then smelt the multitude of sealions lying on the

Alcatraz

pontoons! On my way back to the hostel (up and down a huge hill) I stumbled across Lombard St apparently the most crookedest street in the world having 8 hairpin bends!

On Wednesday I went on the free walking tour organised by the hostel taking in China town and the North beach area and then walking up to Coit tower where we had great views over the city. We walking down telegraph hill and stopped at a small park at the bottom to listen to a band playing there. After this Jackie ( a fellow brit on her way to New Zealand and Austrailia) and I went off to explore the Castro and Mission district taking in the murals in this area and also going to an icecream shop where we sampled brown sugar and roasted banana icecream ( they had many unusual flavours also including lavender and honey). We walked up a huge hill to Buena Vista park for more stunning views over the city. We finished our mammoth walk with a stroll through Haight and Ashby the hippy area and onto the Golden gate park.

The next day we hired bikes and rode across the Golden

Alcatraz

Bay Bridge

Gate bridge (taking hundreds of photos) to Sausilito where I had a humungous steak sandwich and then caught the ferry back to fishermans wharf. That night I participated in the Hostel pub crawl organised by a local guy. I managed to try some of the local beer (Anchor Steam) and met loads of people.

On Friday I went to explore more of Golden get park visiting the Japanese tea gardens and then went back into the centre an relaxed in Yeuna Beuna gardens before wondering over to look at the city hall. Then I went back to the hostel to wait for the Bugbus to Yosemite!

Additional photos below

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