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After what feels like forever travelling we finally reach San Francisco for the start of our West Coast travels and the first thing we notice is how cold and foggy it is. Apparently it's always foggy and cold in the summer due to the hot weather hitting the cold sea so we have to get used to freezing our asses off. We checked the weather and it's even hotter back home than it is here!
We jump on the subway to get to Mission street where we are staying. Mission street feels totally Mexican. There are Mexican shops everywhere, latino's playing instruments and singing Spanish songs on the street and even the McDonalds signs are in Spanish. As were walking up to the hostel we bump into Jay, the English girl we met in Atlanta! Such a small world! After catching up and finding out she is heading home in a few days (not jealous at all!) we reach the hostel. The hostel is a mix between a hostel and a hotel. You can quite clearly tell it used to be a hotel by the room layout but they have put in as many beds as they can to make more money. It has a rooftop terrace that looks out over the city but to go up there you have to eat or drink in their restaurant which is ridiculously overpriced.
We arrive at about 4 in the afternoon having been up since 2 in the morning San Fran time so are both pretty tired but we decide to head out anyway and see what downtown is like. We arrive in the financial district and as we come out of the subway we are faced with the big hill with the trollies that is so famous. Have to say it does look pretty impressive and steep!!
We head down to the harbour to have a look at the piers and hopefully get a glimpse of the Golden Gate bridge. We walk round from Pier 1 to Pier 39 which is the start of Fishermans Wharf but get no sight of the bridge (we later find out that it's about a 2 hour walk away!) the views from the piers though are brilliant. You can see right out to the Bay bridge and all the islands off the Bay including Alcatraz. After stopping somewhere for tea we head back to the hostel as we are shattered.
After our 'free breakfast' at the hostel (I actually think homeless people eat more for breakfast than what they gave us) we headed back down town. We got a day pass for the trollies and took a ride up the famous hill that you see on all the movies before jumping out on nob hill. We tried to get on another trolley but we got turned away from about 4 or 5 of them due to them being full. We walked down to the first stop hoping that we would be able to get on there but found a huge queue and over a 2 hour wait!
As we were near the bay we headed down to Fishermans Wharf to have a proper look around and to have dinner. The place is class, on the end of pier 39 they have loads of sea lions just chilling and you get great views pretty much wherever you go of Alcatraz and the bay. They have musicians in the street so there is something always going on in the streets.
We walked over to the pier where you can get the boat to Alcatraz but the tours are sold out till about the 12th August. Good job were back here for a couple of days before heading to Vegas. As there is still a huge wait for the trollies we have to walk around the city (it's not that big but every road is a huge hill!). It's not all bad though because once we actually got to the top were we treated to some great views of the city. We headed to Lombard street which is apparently the curviest road in the world. It is good to see but there are so many tourists trying to get a picture of it, it's ridiculous, I would hate to live in the houses around here. After getting some pics we head over to Telegraph hill which has the big monument to the fire fighters and is the highest point in San Fran. It is quite a hike to get to the top but once you do you can pretty much see right over the city and bay, well worth the hike!
By now we were well sick of walking round but there were still 2 hour waits for the trollies so we had to carry on walking. We decide to head to California street as the trollies there seem a lot quieter and this way we can go via Chinatown and check that out. The buildings in Chinatown are quite smart but the street is the same as any other Chinatown we've been to so not sure why it's so famous. The only different thing is that this had no American bums and only Chinese one's!
The trolly stop at California was actually quite quiet so we were able to get on (hooray!) We got a seat on the outside so I was able to hang off the side of it, much more fun!
After a few rides up and down the hills (had to get our money's worth!) we head back to the hostel as we are tired of walking up and down big hills!
Next day we go downtown and book one of the open top sightseeing buses to go over the Golden Gate. It does a bit of the city before the bridge and tells us all about the history of the city and that OJ Simpsons went to the college here before he got famous so they named the American Football field after him, they later changed it back though, wonder why that was??
The bridge is really good, there are some fantastic views of the city and the bay. The bridge is always covered in fog in the summer, so much that you can't even see the top of it. After going over the bridge we go down to a small town called Sausalido which looks like a Mexican town and apparently has a lot of movie stars living there. The weather here is crazy, it is literally a 5 min drive to Sausalido yet it is fog free and a good 10-15 degrees hotter! We then head back to San Francisco via George Lucas' special effects complex's and the forest where they filmed one of the Star Wars.
We arrive back at Fishermans Wharf and go to a place we spotted on the tour bus, a chocolate factory! Ghiradellis is a chocolate over here and it was first made in San Fran so they have a big shop and a square where it was made. We go up there just to check it out and see what it was like, well to be honest the main reason we went was to see if they do free sample's and they did! You can tell we are travellers!
After lunch we go for another trip on the tour bus and ask to be dropped at the end of the bridge so we can walk it. It was still foggy over the bridge but clear over the city so we had some great views while we were on it. Jodie had quite a brisk walk on as the bridge is quite big and 1.7 miles long and she is scared of them. She done really well to get over it and she was even looking over the side so fair play to her. When we reached the other side we jumped back on another tour bus and headed back.
As we had missed out on Alcatraz (now got tickets for it next time were here with Mum and Dad) we had a day spare to just chill out. We head back down to Fishermans Wharf and get on the tour bus again (they must think we really love the tour!). This time though we get off on the far side of the bridge and walk up the big hill next to the Golden Gate. It's quite a walk up but when we get there we were treated to some great views with the bridge in front and the city in the distance. Just a pity that it was foggy but it was still good, better than the views the tour guides show you. As we had pretty much seen everything we just headed back to Fishermans Wharf to see what was going on. There is always someone singing in the street or something going on so it is really good.
Next day we are heading to Sacramento quite early so were hoping for a good nights sleep and hopefully some piece and quiet in our room. Sadly we got totally the opposite. When we got back to our room we walked in to find some guy stood b****** naked and a girl naked from the waist down! We quickly shut the door and gave them 10 minutes to get dressed and cleaned up. We returned to the room to find them outside on the fire escape smoking, they had obviously just got changed and not bothered cleaning up cos there was used condoms, condom wrappers and tobacco all over the beds and floors. They had even stuck chewy on the walls! Really scruffy b******s. We quickly grabbed what we needed and got out of there.
When we were wanting to head to bed we went back into the room to find them cuddling on the bed (fully clothed!). We quickly got into bed and tried to get some sleep. About an hour after everyone had drifted off to sleep the crazy assed b**** started shout "NO!!!!!!" dead loud in her sleep, she then started shouting "Im sorry" and "it's not my fault" at the top of her voice. To top it off she then fell out of bed and was butt naked. She climbed back into bed and then started to scream in her sleep again! Absolute nutter!
By this time we had had enough and I went down to change rooms. As we were moving the guy came up to us to apologise and told us that he had only met her today and was now scared for his safety cos she was a pyscho! Ha good enough for him, he made his bed and all that!
Our next room wasn't much better for sleep, pretty much everyone that was staying in there was out on the piss so when they came back bladdered they were dead loud and wanted to party! Oh well, I will take drunks over pyscho's anytime.
San Francisco is an awesome city, feels safe and there is plenty going on. Glad we have to come back here.
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