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Published: September 30th 2010
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Ladies & Gents
Let me tell you about San Fran fukin cisco! Home of Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, crackheads and some of the craziest hills i have ever had the misfortune of having to walk up!!
We arrived having flown in from Boston on Sunday the 22nd at around midday, got a taxi to our Hostel on Taylor street and whilst being driven up Taylor st were greeted my crackheads and alot of homeless people, apparently they all come over to the westcoast cos its warmer!! either way i was praying that our Hostel wasnt anywhere close as thats not my idea of a friendly neighbour hood! luckily it wasnt and we where dropped off at the Amsterdam Hostel and thats were the fun began!
As we arrived quite early and fully awake due to the very relaxing flight over we decided to have a mooch about to get our bearings, got ourselves a map and headed to the harbour called fishermans wharf. On the map this looked like a short walk and we knew there was one hill so thought cant b that bad....we cudnt of been more wrong, 3 hills later (one of which actually had
steps up it was that steep) and some battered flip flops we arrived at the harbour, this turned out to b a mecca for tourist and was rammed to say the least, had a quick look around, got myself a fishwich (basically a huge bit of haddock in a bun) and then got a taxi to take us home as there was no chance we were walking back up the hills!!
San Fran felt like our first real traveling experience as the Hostel in Boston was very strict on no Alcohol on site and a very small common area, the Amstredam however seemed to have no rules what so ever so this is were the binge drinking began, on our first eve we met Eve from New Zealand, dexter from Nottingham and Killa and Rapheal from Austria, this was our group for the next few days and we tought them all how to drink in moderation!! (9 bottles of JD in 8 days is moderation right?!)
Now because of the drinking in moderation the only actual date below that is definitely correct is Alcatraz as that was the reason we stayed in San Fran longer than we expected,
we were supposed to leave on Friday but couldnt get Alcatraz until Sunday so stayed till wednesday!!
Sunday night we headed to San Frans Posh area to see what it had to offer, all we found was expensive drinks and transexuals so we didnt visit that area again!
Monday we had another mooch around were the shops are and then headed on a night out down Polk street to a bar called hemlock, it was abit rocky and abit of a dive (apparently toilet cubical walls or doors are not required, just a shower curtain will do) but it was an experience i have never had before, 2 remaining seats happened to be next to an full on crazy tramp, very rarily do i get scared of anything but this tramp was scaring the sh*t out of me, and the thing i didnt understand was he was covering his drink all night to make sure nobody stole it....come on honestly whos gonna steal a tramps drink!! Funny night tho if a little crazy!
On the Tuesday we hired Gocars which are little 3 wheelers that have GPS to help you discover the sights of San Fran without
having to walk,we had a quick look along the harbour then headed up to Golden Gate bridge but cudnt see much cos it was covered with fog, brilliant!! so we then decided to go on our own route and got a good top speed of 41mph down one of the epic hills (25mph top speed apparently!), u think saw at thorpe park is scary, its got nothing on one of this going down hill with very poor brakes! Brilliiant way to get around San Fran and just have a giggle.
Tuesday night we headed to an area called mission, apparently lots of cool bars and live music so thought why not. Our taxi dropped us off and we found bars with steel doors and lots of those crackheads again...wicked! We wondered around for a while fearing for our lives and then got told by a bouncer to go to a bar down the road as it should be quits busy, a quick sprint past sex tapes for seniors and we turned up at this bar, yea it was busy but something just wasnt right.......ohh right that will b a man kissing another man, necked our drinks and headed back
home!! this was when we realised that San Fran is apparently the gay capital of America.
Wednesday was glorious sunshine so we headed down the beach and got the hawian tropic out, the sea was freezing so i decided not to go in and thought a quick run was in order, this is where i got stranded half way cos the soles of my feet where burning cos of the sand, red hot!
So after cooling my feet down and applying some aftersun to my burnt torso wednesday night was all about broke ass wednedays. A club called the cellar which was stumbling distance from our Hostel were doing any drink for 2 dollars or any shot for a dollar......oh dear we got smashed and got the austrians really smashed, one of our austrian friends passed out in reception, was walked upto his room and then proceded to get into some dutch girls bed.....he cant remember a thing but the dutch girl wasnt to happy!!
Thursday we went to the world famous San Francisco Zoo!! its not really world famous and thats because its not very good, we had polar bears that where playing hide and seek
and cudnt b found, grizzly bears that were spooning eachother and some monkeys!! We had to make our own fun so we wound up some gorillas and word of warning, do not wind up silver backs, there not nice when there angry, we have videos and will upload in good time!!
Friday and saturday are honestly abit of a blur, didnt really do much sightseeing as the hills are killer and we had a few hostel parties as everybody was running out of money.
Sunday however was all about Alcatraz, what a place that is, 26 dollars for the tour and worth every penny. U get a boat over to the island and can pretty much just roam around at ur leisure and then take a voice guided tour of the cell house and the surrounding buildings, its a very strange place steeped in alot more history than i kno about until i got there. Great day out and somehow a lump of rock fell into my pocket so got myself a good souvenir!!
We stayed a few more days only cos we cudnt get our traveling and accomodation sorted for LA but what a town, fully
recommend a visit if u get the chance just pack some warm clothes and some sturdy hiking boots!!!
Ok so right now im in a hostel in San Diego, i will update u with LA Hermosa Beach and Vegas as soon as i get another night off!!
Until next time, peaceout, much love
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