San Francisco

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When we landed in San Francisco Monia was very scared because it looked like we were gonna land in the water. Kiki held her hand and tried to reassure her that everything would be fine. She was right as it turned out the airport was right on the bay.

San Francisco is a lovely place, but it was cold and windy when we arrived. So windy so windy! We took the BART train to Powell Street station and as soon as we got out we were greeted by an over friendly man who looked like an old hippie. Straight away he started giving us directions to our hostel before we even had a chance to look around ourselves. He even gave us maps of the area and when we thanked him he told us that he works on tips. We of course felt obliged to give him some money but are getting a bit sick of all this compulsory tipping business, especially if we are being manipulated into paying. We are trying to stay on a budget.

Another thing that annoys us is that things always appear cheaper than they actually are as tax is added on separately, so you always end up paying more than what's on the price tag.

Anyway, we had to walk quite a distance to the hostel and it was all uphill and we were carrying our heavy backpacks! We were really proud of ourselves when we finally reached the hostel as it was not easy. San Francisco has the steepest hills ever! So steep so steep!

We stayed at Hotel Amsterdam, which was ok. Breakfast was apparently included, but it meant you had to queue in the morning to make your own waffles. On our first morning we were amused to find a bunch of people standing there, patiently with their plates in their hands, like hungry homeless people waiting to be fed. But then again, on reflection that is what we are at the moment. Homeless vagabonds. In addition to this the kitchen closed at 10 which meant we had to get up quite early. Too many restrictions too many restrictions for free souls like Monia and Kiki.

We did a lot of walking and exploring. We walked around the centre, went to Haight Ashbury which is where the hippie movement apparently started. We also managed to get caught up in the middle of the China Olympics demonstrations and found ourselves standing in the middle of the two sides. Tibetans passionately demonstrating their views on one side, and the Chinese on the other side waving their Olympic flags. So intense, so intense.

On the third day we went to see Alcatraz. This was really interesting and we learned some new stuff about it. For example we didn't know that in the 60s Indians (Native Americans) tried to claim the island as theirs, Although they were eventually removed by the authorities they did achieve some change in the law...

When we got back from The Rock we went to Pier 39 and stumbled across some Sea Lions. They apparently came to the Pier and claimed it as their own following the earthquake in 1989. We loved them. They played innocently and swam graciously.

The next day we rented bikes and cycled the whole day. We certainly picked the right day for this as it was HOT! Everyone told us how lucky we were with the weather as it's not normally this nice. It was super clear! We biked across the Golden Gate Bridge which was amazing. Kiki was a bit scared as she is afraid of heights and was therefore extremely proud of this achievement. Monia, a more experienced mountain biker was very patient with Kiki and helped her when her bike was playing up. When we came back to the hostel we realised that we had been on the move the whole day, walking up and down the hills to get to the bike rental place, then biking for hours on end, only to venture out on the hills again to meet Rebecca (whom Kristin knows through people in London) for dinner. Actually we've virtually been on the move constantly in this city. So much to see. So much to explore!

Generally we must say we both love San Francisco as there is so much going on here and people seem to be very active. On top of that the city is beautiful and has numerous amazing vista points! At one of them near the Golden Gate Bridge we felt like real Hollywood stars as while sitting there enjoying the view, we were approached by a bunch of Vietnamese tourists who asked politely whether we would agree to let them have their picture taken with us. Of course we agreed being the posers that we are (we are not afraid to admit it).

On the 12th of April it was time to say good bye to San Francisco. We rushed to the airport and luckily made it on time. Flew back to LA and stayed at Yosefa's grandmother's house and had to get up at 3:30 am!!! to catch our 7 o'clock flight to Mexico. Yosefa, thank you so much for having us and driving us to the bus station at that ridiculous hour!!!!

After such an eventful fortnight in America it was time to go closer to the wild and chill out in hot Mexico......

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Photos

Alcatraz
What a beautiful view from Alcatraz....