San Francisco

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For our last day in Sydney, after Jonny had left us, we did very little but see out our visit to Australia. The flight on the 6th was the longest one that we have had so far and I did try to sleep, but it didn't happen. I ended up watching five films and not a lot else, resulting in it being very confusing when I landed in California having had no sleep, but the time being 9am. We met up with Luke after a 20 questions session with passport control and after realising that none of my cards were working, thankfully got Luke to buy me a train ticket to Powell Street, Union Square. The sun was shining in Union Square, but the temperature was definitely not warm unless you were standing in direct sunshine, due to the freezing cold wind.
USA Hostels on Post Street was easy enough to find and we were immediately impressed with the access to free WiFi along with some other free things including pancakes for breakfast. The hostel was easily one of the nicest that we have stayed at. That afternoon we all had a quick sleep which lasted slightly longer than intended and after a quick wake up for an american fast food meal we went back to sleep until 1pm the next day. Zach and Luke had woken up slightly earlier and got a bus tour around the city, while Alex and I decided to get our bearings and went for a quick walk around (which ended up lasting about 3 hours). The hills here are extremely steep and living here must get tiring, but from a tourists point of view it is amazing. The cable cars (trams) are everywhere and really make the city unique. On our long walk Alex and I managed to locate Lombard Street (the famous zig-zag street) and we went down to Fisherman's Warf, where we got a distant view of the Golden Gate Bridge, resting in the clouds.
For our second day in San Francisco, while Zach and Luke used up their day 2 bus pass we went to visit the Golden Gate Bridge. Although there was wind, it wasn't as strong as the previous days and the sun was out for most of the day (it gets dark much later here than in Australia). We stumbled upon the correct bus to get and after much confusion with change managed to get a free bus trip due to the generosity of an American girl. Seeing the bridge was very surreal, being that it is so famous and walking across it gave some impressive views of the city.
On Monday we walked down to Fisherman's Warf again and met Luke and Zach at the Alcatraz trip pier. The day before we had booked tickets for a reasonable price and decided that it was something we all wanted to see. You can tell by walking through the prison and looking out of the windows that it must have been torture to be able to see the shining city of San Francisco just across the water and not be able to get there. The cells are all extremely small and the whole place reminds me of 'The Shawshank Redemption' (it would probably remind me of the film 'The Rock' if i'd seen it). Alex and I walked around the city in the afternoon and saw a great view of the Bay Bridge and the whole city from the top of one of the steep streets.
After stocking up on free pancakes Tuesday morning we checked out of USA Hostels because unfortunately they didn't have any more free rooms. We made our way around the corner to San Francisco International Hostel, which was probably one of the worst mistakes we have made. Although the hostel has free WiFi, it is very basic and there is only one toilet and shower on the whole floor! The dining room is also under construction, so there is no where to eat except for the tiny kitchen. We did very little on Tuesday evening, because according to Alex's uncle we are in quite a rough area of the city, so it is best not to wander around at night, but we did make a quick trip to Hooters, for a very interesting American meal of BBQ wings whilst watching Baseball and Basketball on different television screens. We are actually eating plenty of fruit though, so it's not all bad.
We walked to City Hall yesterday to meet Alex's uncle and he treated us to a Chinese and also offered to give us a lift to his house where we can stay tonight and hopefully tomorrow night. I can't wait for that, because we will be out of the city and in the Californian countryside which should be a completely different experience.

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