San Francisco

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We travelled from Newark airport (in New Jersey) to San Francisco, it was an 8hr flight on a basic plane 'US Airways' (not as nice as our flight from London to New York when we flew with Virgin), but it was an evening flight so we slept most of it. We were a little unorganised at this point and when we arrived in San Francisco at 10.30pm we had to find accommodation. We decided to spend the night in a four star hotel so we could get the rest of our trip organised, it was true luxury and a short shuttle ride from the airport. The hotel "The Dylan" was great, very helpful staff and delicious food.



The next day we left the lovely four star hotel to go to San Francisco city, we booked 3 nights in a hostel called the' Green Tortoise' which was central to the main attractions and included a fresh breakfast (that we took full advantage of). The hostel was quite quirky and had a range of people staying there from business, hippies, travelers and even a family with small children. On the first day we explored a little of the city and ended up at one of the main attractions' Fisherman's Wharf' 'pier 39'. There was lots of entertainment, restaurants and shops and our favourite spot was watching the seals, the noises they made and how they interacted. The following day we went on a cruise to visit Alcatraz Island, it was a fantastic trip the island was rich in history and stories. We listen to a 40 minute audio guide around the cell room, it was great in making the prison come to life and gave a recount of the history and events. In the gift shop there was an ex inmate signing books he had written about his time as an inmate on the island( Bill Baker). He told one lady next to me of when he had to spend the a night in the hole (worst area of the prison) for making homemade brews out of yest and sugar. I would definitely recommend visiting the island. Our last day in San Fransisco was spent completing an 18 mile coastal walk. It was great although it was a colder cloudy day, we firstly walked along the Golden Gate bridge, this was again another area rich in history and stories which was interesting to read about as we went along the bridge. Continuing along the route we visited Baker beach, where we witnessed a marriage proposal; a very romantic scene (message in a bottle style). We also visited Lands end beach, Ocean beach and Golden Gate Park, they were very quiet areas and not as well presented as the city and Fishaman's Wharf area.



Hope I haven't bored you all too much!! We're now going on a coach ride to Vegas that we booked through the hostel, it's an overnight trip and it has bunk beds on the coach which will be a new experience. Hope your all well speak soon love Tricia and Dave xxx

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