San Francisco is my Disco

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The Sound of San Francisco

Greetings and salutations from the Bay City Area. Upon arrival it was cold cold cold here. But the last 2 days have been glorious so - so far so good. After New York I've been most looking forward to my visit to San Fran and as yet it hasn't disappointed. It is very similar to Sydney e.g. city surrounded by Water, same weather at the moment (from what I've heard - it's averaging around 14-16 degrees at most a day here since I have arrived) and people have the same temperament as my beloved city I call home (sometimes pretty good, sometimes....not).

After a 9 or so hour day of travelling from hotel to hotel from Vegas to San Fran on Monday with connecting flights via LAX, I arrived at my hotel in the Castro around 7pm. I hadn't managed to sleep that well the night before but as soon as I sat down on my bed in my room I totally crashed and managed to have a slightly broken sleep for about 10 hours. Tah-hotally needed and overdue. When I woke up I finally felt like my sleeping patterns had caught up and I was actually fully awake. But we'll see how long it lasts.

So on Tuesday I went down to Pier 39, checked out all the stores, did some souvenir shopping, walked up this street of pure evil (Hyde St) which is equivalent to a few steep incline walks on the treadmill. Least I am keeping fit aye? I walked down the odd winding Lombard St and checked out the Cable Car Barn and Museum which showed the history of Cable cars in San Fran and how they are currently run and how they were operated in years past. All rather interesting and boringly touristy but I gotsta do this while I'm here you see.

I then went 'browsing' and came back to my hotel after checking out the Castro for a looksee. It pretty much rained all day on and off and the sun only came out briefly but I had a pretty good sightsee of Bay city.

On Wednesday I had to get some dry cleaning done but I decided to venture up to Twin Peaks which has fantastic views of the entire city. The hike was good and thankfully buses are close by to the peak so if you feel like bailing on the trek you can do so. I decided to trek it up and I got some great photos, plus it was a beautiful day compared to Tuesday so it all worked out quite well.

I then went and visited 'Crystal Way' which is a new age store for some books to read and bought some Tarot cards of my own which I have wanted for a while (for bookings FB me!!!) and then had mexican for lunch which wasn't too spicy (praise jesus!). After that I went to Alamo Square to check out the Painted Ladies/ The Full-House house from the opening credits of the show. It was quite a nice area and also had a great view of the city. Good day good day. To treat myself I decided to go out and unwind a bit. I figured it's better to do it on a different night prior to flying off somewhere so I can get a sleep in rather than be hungover like a bitch on Friday when I go see Kylie in concert in LA. WOO! party time.

So the night was good fun although everything shuts at 2am (boo!) but I met a guy from Sydney who lives here now who was fun to hang out with for a while and it was cool to chat with someone from home and get there thoughts on what it's like being an expat.

On my last day here in Bay City I slept in which was crazay good and then went for lunch, to Haight/ Ashbury to watch all the hipsters and see all the weird stores. I also went to The Golden Gate Bridge which is huuuge but windy and cooooold! and then did some funny hat shopping at Pier 39. I saw it the other day when I went 'browsing' but decided against it. Unfortunately if something piques my interest it lingers in my brain until I have it so against my better judgement I went back and bought it. Good for a laugh though! (pics below).

Anyways if you can tell from the photos it's all very old school in San Fran. The buildings, the layout, the stores (mostly) and the decor - particularly my hotel. They all scream '70's which I guess is good that they are keeping the city for much of what it is renown for; hippies! maybe it's because of the area I am staying in but it's a nice change after the big city of New York and flashy trashy of Vegas. Oh I was walking down a street today and some naked guy with a backpack just walked by....I was like....errr you forgot something when you left the house today dude? it wasn't pretty. But hilarious. Haha.

One down side to the place though is the amount of homeless people. I mean they are everywhere anyways, but I'm finding it more noticeable on the West Coast. I've been sucked in once or twice now and I know I should know better but still....sad to see.

I have an early flight tomorrow before I head to LA so it will be a quiet evening tonight. San Francisco has been fun and reminds me a lot of home which is good - that said I still have a week and a bit to go so not there yet! glass half full! (wink wink Ma).

Blog ya next from Hollyweird!

xx

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Photos

The Big Clam
Clam chowder is all the rage in San Fran

The big stinky seals who have settled @ Pier 39 since 1990
I lasted about 2 mins because the wind was blowing my direction and their stank was wafting my way. Totes gross.

Hyde St
Evil evil evil. But all my own fault