By the time I got to San Francisco it was about 4pm, and as I checked in to the hostel it quickly became apparent that I was staying in the middle of the tenderloin which is basically the worst part of San Fran, awesomeeee!
They told me it was best to walk around the area and not to go out at night on my own, so I dumped my bags in my room and quickly went into the shopping area to buy a phone and then went back to the hostel.
They weren't lying about the area: you know in films you see black people pushing around trolleys full of crap well they were everywhere and there was people just sat up against a wall smoking crack, people begging, people arguing, you get the gist!!
Anyway, the rest of the evening wasn't that eventful, I met a German girl in my room who was leaving the next day; I met an Australian guy, a Chinese girl and then an English guy called Josh.

The next day I had arranged to do a city tour of San Francisco and a trip to Muir woods and Sausalito: I got picked up from my hostel around 8 and we were all taken to the main office where we paid and then got split up into groups depending what tour we were doing.
Outside the office I started talking to Margaret and Eaimar, an auntie and niece from Northern Ireland who were really nice and I sat next to them on the bus: on the way to Muir woods we got chatting about travelling, my plans and their plans and it turned out we would be in Vegas at the same time as each other. Margaret then asked where I was staying in Vegas and when I said it was just some hostel she told me about how they had a 3-bed apartment in the Hilton and that I was more than welcome to go stay with them!!
Huh?!? I double checked and yep they were definitely offering me somewhere to stay for free which was miles better than what I had planned and I was pretty sure they weren't murderers, traffickers or wanting to engage in any kind of lesbian activity with me so I was all safe!!!
I obviously snapped their hands off, very politely of course, to the point when she told me off for repeatedly asking if they were sure. Of course at this point I rang my hostel and cancelled :-)
We got to Muir woods and had just over an hour to walk partway through; the Muir woods is a national park full of redwood trees and these trees can grow up to 370feet which is pretty huge, there also just beautiful and have been in a few films so that's always good for me. We walked round, took some pictures and it would have been nice to do a full hike but just didn't have the time on this tour which sucked but I'm glad I did a tour and didn't try to do it myself as it was milessssss away from golden gate bridge: movies lie everybody!!!
Next was a stop in a little city called Sausalito; it's a really cute place and felt quite upmarket compared to some parts of San Francisco. It was really sunny and that made it look even more beautiful; Margaret had gone to sit in a cafe so myself and Eimar walked down to the marina where there is a dock and this isn't any dock.. Oh no, it's where Mr Otis Redding wrote 'sitting on the dock of the bay' after this we walked through the main street and then met Margaret at this Mexican cafe. I had the most amazing plum salad and THE best guacamole I've ever tasted in my life; it was so fresh and better than anything else I've had and Margaret insisted on paying; this lady just gets nicer and nicer.
We headed back to San Francisco and they went off to do their own thing while I went on a city tour for the afternoon; it was a really interesting tour which took us to Castro, Chinatown, little Italy, Lombard street, nob hill and lots of other iconic areas but the bus didn't stop which was really frustrating. The one stop we did have was at the Golden Gate Bridge and flukey old me got the most perfect clear day to go see it; it's famously always covered in fog but I could see every bright orange rivet. That's actually something I learnt, I always thought the bridge was red but it's actually a shade of orange.
I took gazillions of pictures, made a Chinese boy have a picture with me, like you do right?!? Then it was back to the hostel time; well after seeing naked men sat in Castro and driving through the tenderloin while the driver tells everyone this area is bad news.

Back at the hostel I saw Josh from the previous night and we went out to a blues bar called *biscuits and blues* where we met Margaret and Eimar; it was a good night with good blues and good southern food but everyone was tired so we didn't stay particularly late.

Walking back through the tenderloin, even with Josh was pretty scary but I'm still in love with San Fran.