IF YOUR GOING, TO SAN-FRAN CISCO... BE SURE TO WEAR... SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR

Heading south from Vancouver, my next stop was to be Seattle, and sleepless I was not! Three days of rain and an influx of middle aged men smoking 40 a day in my hostel, my first impressions were, lets say, not great. None the less, I was willing to give the city, which a lot of people I have met on my travels so far have said is a lot of fun with a great vibe and plenty of things to do and see a chance. So bearing the cold and the rain I headed out for a stroll around Pike Place Market Centre and along the waterfront. Most things were shutting down though as I arrived so after a couple of hours of familiarising myself with my surroundings I headed back to the hostel and had a relatively early night. The next day, it literally poured it down all day...however I braved the conditions and in the process found out that my waterproof jacket, is not actually waterproof! I did though go and have a look around the Experience Music Project. Although the weather was s***e, it was not actually a bad time to visit the city, with most museums and attractions free on the first Thursday of every month. The EMP takes a look back at how music has evolved over the past 10 decades, showcasing the highs and lows of many a great artist's career and none more so than Jimmy Hendrix. A huge tribute to the man himself is the centre stone of the whole exhibition. With a live band and a chance to play real instruments, do some mixing on the decks, record your own music in a sound proof studio if yow want, you could literally spend hours there. However, I needed to be back at the hostel for a free dinner so I had to cut my musical adventure short. During dinner I bumped into Jimmy, a guy I met in Montreal and got chatting to a few other people. that mnight we headed out on a bar crawl and I'm sure I don't need to tell you what happened next. The next morning I was checking out, but had the whole day spare before my flight down to San Francisco early the next morning. i didn't do much as again the heavens were wide open and most the day consisted of watching film after film in the hostel before heading to Seattle airport where I had a 6 hour wait and not much sleep until my flight hit the skies.

Arriving in San Francisco I was very excited about this part of my trip, and inparticular, catching a few rays down on the west coast of California. Immediately after checking into my hostel, a little out of town in the Mission District, where most people speak Spanish and not English, I met two guys, Tim from Belgium and Aduard from Spain, who seemed pretty cool and seasoned travellers. Aduard in fact told possibly the best story I have ever heard about how he, with no experience of sailing and a german guy he met whilst out one night sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Brazil to South Africa, taking them 56 days in probably, from what he was saying was the worst boat ever! Anyhow, after hearing that story and checking out Downtown SF, the three of us went out for a few beers that night. the next morning we decided to go to a gospel church service. A very interesting experience in itself. Song after song, people preaching, and us three trying to hold in our laughter and remain semi-serious, we certainly got in character and were welcomed into the group with hugs and handshakes and told we could come back anytime. Recovering from that early morning workout, Tim and I walked up to the waterfront and along to Fisherman's Wharf where hundred of Seals just chill out on their floating wooden panels.

The next day Tim and I attempted to go to Alcatraz, however, arriving at Pier 33 we were told they were sold out for the day and we booked our tickets for the following day. taking advantage of the situation we boarded San Francisco's famous cable cars that take you into Downtown, up and over many of the 43 steep hills that SF sits on and in the process offering great views of the city and a traditional experience at the same time. After an early night, we did go to Alcatraz the next morning, famous for being SF and America's most secure federal penitentiary. Today it is merely a huge tourist attraction but it has probably been the highlight of my time in SF. A great 45 minute audio tour takes you around the main prison block, where you are joined by former Alcatraz inmates, correctional officers and residents as they reminisce about life on Alcatraz. With famous inmates such as Al Capone and Robert Stroud you are taken on a journey around each cell block, the yard and reminded of the many stories and some escape attempts that came out of Alcatraz. In the 29 years that Alcatraz served as a federal peniteniary, 36 prisoners tried to escape the Rock; all but 5 were recaptured or otherwise accounted for. three who were unaccounted for participated in the same breakout, the June 1962 escape. The prison closed in 1963, because of high maintainance cost, but many people believe it had lost its credibility after the escape of 1962, even though, those that escaped were pressumed drowned in the freezing water and raging currents of the bay.

the next day, me and a few guys from the hostel headed up over the hills of SF toward the 'Twin Peaks' a small mountain, which supposedly offers the best view of San Francisco from ahigh. Setting off in clear blue skies and blazing sunshine we soon incountered fog, drizzle and a maximum of 20m visability as we reached the summit. We did though climb it and the pictures are there to prove it! After a trek back down the mountain we all later went to the cinema to see 'W.' a film about the life of George W. Bush all the way up to the recent end of his Presidency, obviously containing a number of his comical mishaps and jumbled up sentences.

The next day I met up with a guy, Twan, from Holland, who I met in Seattle. We rented out some bikes and embarked on a massive bike ride in scorching sun over the Golden Gate Bridge, into the town of Sausalito and then further into the next town of Tiburon. All in all we covered about 30-35km and my bum is still absolutely killing. It was though the perfect day for it and the Golden Gate Bridge looked picturess with the Pacific Ocean in the background and clear blue sky ahead. Today, my last day in San Francisco, I caught a few rays in the Golden Gate Park, and read a few chapters of a book I am reading (yes I know, reading a book) called Shantaram, the story of a prison escapee and his new life in Bombay. Seeming as I no longer have an iPod, drastic measures were called for!

Tonight I travel down to LA, where I plan to spend most my time on the beach. I have not heard that many great things about LA from most people, but I suppose I will be my own judge, and I will be sure to let you all know about it next time I write...