Santa Cruz and San Francisco

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Hello! Here I am in San Francisco where I have been for the past couple of days.

26th Jan 06
Travelled from LA to Santa Cruz on an eight hour bus trip, or four two hour bus trips as I like to think of it. Kelly picked me up - yay! Got to see her for the first time since we were 13.

27th Jan 06
Morning - went shopping in downtown Santa Cruz and discovered we must be getting ripped off in Australia big time. I got some cool socks with Sushi on drawn on them.

Afternoon - explored beautiful highway 1 on the California coast as we made our way to see the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo state park. There were heaps and heaps of them - over 1000 the guide said - and they are very large. It is mating time which is funny because as soon as the mummy seals give birth it is time to be impregnated again. What a bad deal for them.

Night - met up with Kelly's friend in San Francisco. We have been staying with him for a couple of days. He lives opposite the med school. San Francisco is so great I just love it here, except for the whole San Andreas fault line issue. The architecture is cool and there is sooo much to see and do. Stayed up too late drinking wine and watching Jarhead.

28th Jan 06
Went to see Alcatraz. This was really fascinating. And wet, and windy. Also climbed to Coit tower, which gave magnificent views toward the Golden Gate and Bay bridges. Apparently GG is much more popular to commit suicide from. San Fran has the steepest hills in the world, and it seems impossible the way the townhouses are stacked up them.

The public transport is odd. You get on what you think is a tram, the way its connected to an overhead cables and goes down the centre of the road. Then it goes in the underground tunnel at very high speed and arrives at underground stations, and then you think about it and it seems like a train. Just to confuse the issue, the buses run off overhead cables too. Hmm.

Dinner at Cha Cha Cha which is so popular it has one of those waiting bar things. We drank sangria and ate quasedillas and all kinds of delicious foods.

29th Jan 06

Late breakfast at ridiculously fashionable cafe / art gallery / wireless internet office thing where jam and toast is served as "hand cut toast with fruit preserve". Ok I totally loved it.

Morning went to the Zeum with Kelly and partner and her partner's four year old, as well as two other people. The Zeum is a children's museum which is right at my level. I got to make a collage and make a clay character for a claymation video and ride a carousel and it was the best fun ever.

In the afternoon we took in a play called In to It in the Mission district (Latino area). It was really interesting. Now we are having red wine and spaghetti and I bought a big bottle of Baileys to say thankyou to Kelly's friend.

I could sooo live in San Francisco, I just love it here! Its like the best cultural stuff of Melbourne multiplied, and the shopping is awesome.

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Photos

Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico
temple 1. It's very big.

LasVegas, Nevada, US
The strip

Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Cool taxi.