San Francisco

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My trip has started.

I landed in San Francisco and made my way to the hostel. It was nice but is surrounded by strip clubs etc. A free meal was given at the hostel and I had an early night.

I had a full days sight seeing the following morning. I booked myself onto the Alcatraz trip for the next day first thing. I wandered through Fisherman's Wharf, which is a touristy old fishing part of town that is now dominated by seafood stalls and restaurants. I also saw the famous Pier 39 seals (or sea lions) that have made the pier their home.

I then took one of the famous cable cars up one of the famous hills. They work by a cable moving under the road, which I didn't realise was the case. They are more of a tourist attraction than a means of transport, but fun all the same.

I took a guided tour around the streets containing the oldest houses in San Francisco which are from the 1850's.

In the evening I had a crab which seems to be the speciality of Fisherman's Wharf.

The folllowing day I took the Alcatraz tour which was really good. The comentary on the guided tour is all by old prison guards and in-mates. It sounded as though it was quite a brutal regime at the prison and no-one ever successfully escaped.

I got back to the city to take another tour, this time about slightly older victorian houses. The terms Victorian and Georgian are used in America, which I find a little strange. After that I had fried shrimp and calamari, another Fisherman's Wharf speciality.

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