Sitting on the dock of the Bay........

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Tonight we begin packing for our next road trip down the West Coast, after spending 5 nights in San Francisco. First impressions here I will admit weren't great, but we certainly warmed to the place. The iconic Cable Car was our day 1 initiation to the city, and we have used them daily ever since. For those who haven't been here San Fran is built upon 43 hills, and when I say hills I mean steeper than a roller coaster, making cable car trips a cheaper option than Disneyland. Not to mention they let you hold on to the exterior and ride on their side steps, whilst traffic zooms past your assss......their liability insurance would be pretty hefty I suspect. Fishermans Wharf is the place to be, from the myriad of seafood restaurants with their daily catch served up and their doormen heckling for your business (very much like Lygon Street, Carlton), to the shops along the wharf and all the tour companies. It's the hub of San Fran, busy during the week but the weekend is like going Christmas shopping it's that packed with people. The seals at Pier 39 are very popular with tourists, and a must see. We managed 2 full days going through the main pockets of the city on the hop on/off buses seeing the main areas from Fort Mason, Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge, Alamo Square and it's Victorian houses (called the painted ladies), the hippy-infested Haight and Ashby, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplins homes, Coit Tower, Joe Dimaggio's home town North Beach and the church where he a Marilyn Monroe were married........the dingy an dirty Tenderloin district. Yesterday we took a tour to Muir Woods to see the hundred year old redwoods, photos will not fully depict their true size an stature. Then we finished our day at the waterside village Sausalito, shops and restaurants-a-plenty. We left the best until our last day in San Fran, that being Alcatraz......what a place, if only walls could talk. Definitely a must do for anyone visiting San Fran, the history there is amazing.

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