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Published: March 19th 2006
The Golden Gate Bridge
Driving through on our way to Muir woods in Marin CountyAfter a lazy start to the day on Friday 17th (yes, had a bit of a night out on the 16th) we jumped in a car with a group of other travellers from our hostel and took a trip to Muir Woods, an hour north of San Francisco. This is one of the last pockets of Redwoods (Sequioas) in the State, and the only one in the Bay Area. It was a beautiful sunny day, the air was very crisp and clear, and we were walking in a stand of trees over a thousand years old.
We also took a side trip to Muir Beach, just south of the woods, and looked out over the Pacific Ocean from a different perspective. it was strange to think of home lying so far away, but still connected by that body of water. It's pretty icy water here, and the wind was biting cold, but the beach felt very familiar, and with the waves pounding on the rocks and the carpark set back behind dunes and a swampy creek, it felt very much like home.
Of course to get there we had to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge! We were all
Huge Redwoods
Thousand year old sequoias in Muir Woods. hanging out the windows taking photos of the bridge, regarded as the most photographed man made structure in the world. There is a wonderful lookout from the Marin County side of the bridge, from which you can see the entire Bay Area - the Pacific Ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge and across to Oakland.
Then we were back the hostel for an early tea before taking off on a St Patrick's Day night out with a group of like-minded individuals. (We're our own United Nations here - scottish, kiwis, english, americans, french and german - fun to watch some americans trying to pick where we're all from - I've already been mistaken for Irish and South African!)
There are quite a few good Irish Bars here, which of course do a roaring trade on St Paddy's Day. They have found their own solution to overcrowding - publicans don't want to limit the numbers into the bar, but neither are you allowed to drink on the street - so they simply close off the streets around the Irish bars and have massive street parties, with everyone drinking Guinness and Harp lager from plastic
On Muir Beach
Christoph, Juliet, Jenny, Karine, Becky and David by the Pacific Ocean! cups. We spent some at one such party just around the corner from our hostel. The street was packed, there was a lot of green, and there were Police with guns around the perimeter making sure everyone behaved themselves....
After a while a splinter group of us decided we needed more dancing, so we took off across town and found another bar with a live band, where we danced the night away. Finishing up with a local specialty - the Philly Cheesesteak - made the perfect ending to Juliet's night: a hotdog bun filled with steak mince and onions mixed with a generous amount of cheese, mmm mm. Nothing ever tasted so good at 4am!
Photos coming....!
x Ju and Jenny
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Sarah M
non-member comment
Aah St Paddy's Day
Glad to hear you're having a great time. Am very jealous. St Paddy's day Invercargill style was pretty good too - lots of wine and green face paint. Even had to queue to get into a pub (always surprising down here). Have fun :-S