USA 7

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As was inevitable we got up very late that Saturday. It was to be our last day (or Max & Charlie at least) in San Francisco, for tomorrow we were due to hit the road. Time for some dignified sight-seeing then.

The North Beach area of San Francisco look out towards Alcatraz & The Golden Gate Bridge. The water front has a slightly faux-old world feel on one hand and is a bit tacky on the other, but knowing how these things go it could be a hell of a lot worse. The area is clean and had the weather not been so untypically blithe for that time of year we may have been able to save the couple of hours walk it took us to get to the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge by hiring bikes. I grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza which helped my hangover no end and provided me with the stamina needed to complete this epic trek to San Francisco's most famous land mark.
On reaching the bridge we attempted to cross over it. But I couldn't. I don't like heights particularly but I would never describe myself as suffering from vertigo, or of even having a fear of excessive altitude in any way. But I physically could not cross this bridge. It knocked my sense of balance all over the place. It was the strangest sensation which, I guess, must have amounted to an experience of vertigo.
No big deal, I was tired anyway and it was a long way back.
For tea we ate out properly in one of the miscellany of Italian restaurants in our area. The food was quality and ushered in our first early night of the trip, fresh for the journey ahead.

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