27-11-06 SAN FRANCISCO

I have officially fallen in love......with a city. The great city of San Francisco. As soon as i got dropped off in a place called Emeryville, i had to get my transfer to SF city centre. It was here that i got my first glimpse of the city. The bus Travelled over the Bay bridge, which if im honest is a bit more impressive than the Golden Gate, only because of its sheer size. It has three spans in total, 2 more of that of the GG. Anyway, i got dropped off in the centre, in a district called Ferry Building. The day was bright, and sunny, which was ideal for me. It also had a light chilly breeze, which was in fact welcomed, as i was able to wear my North Face comfortably. So i had come armed with 2 hostel addresses for the city, one called the Green Tortoise, the other, a USA Hostel. What i decided to do was just decide on the place when i got there. The nearest one, the green tortoise was the one i went for, so i went up street and checked in. The Green Tortoise is a massive hostel pretty much in the best location in San Fran you can get. Its a massive Hostel, which was good as it meant it had such a diverse group of people, so i was sure, now travelling on my own i was going to meet some cool people. That i did. but anyway, ill explain that later. by now it was about 2pm. Should have been around 11am, but in good old amtrak style, we were late. anyway (god dam that widely used word) i planned a walk, to which the guy at the hostel assured would take the rest of the afternoon up, but get me back in time for the free dinner the hostel was laying on, which was the most important thing. So i took a walk, along the coastal walk, which took my along and to a place called pier 39.

Pier 39 is basically the equivalent to a posh llandudno peir. It has loads of shops, restaurants and small nik nak shacks. Its actually one of those places thats good just to walk up and down a couple of times, just because of the atmosphere, and the fact that on your way up, your bound to miss out on some place. I took a walk to the end of the pier, which looked out over the water the Alcatraz. It actually didnt look that far from the coast to the Island, but i guess the problem that arises if people were to try and swim across are the strong pacific currents, which are infact evident if you look closely. But i wasnt going to try it anyway. As i took a few snaps, i turned around the corner, and was greeted by an arena with a load of floating jettys. On these Jettys were hundreds of seals, and sealions. The stench was horrible, but it was pretty cool looking at them all for a while. Some were sunbathing, others were fighting, it was quite eye grabbing to watch them. Time was pressing on, and the idea of the route i was to take, was so that i would get to the Golden Gate Bridge (GGB) for sunset. so i took a walk, along a place called fishermans wharf, which was the place where all the seafood stalls were, selling loads of fresh fish, and other sea related food. Supposedly you have to try the seafood chowder here as its meant to be some of the worlds best, but i had already eaten, i reckon i will next time i get here next week though. so i carried on walking up a road.When i say up a road, it was literally up, probably more than a 45' angle, it was the steepest road i have ever seen. This was to take me to the "wiggly road". You know, the road you see people driving down on films etc. When i got to it, and stood at the bottom looking up, i was actually suprised to see how much smaller it is in real life, but still it was pretty good to see. i took a walk up to the top, and over heading towards the park and marina. Here i got my first realy glance of the GGB, which from afar, looked pretty impressive, so it was here that i started taking my 300 photos. Ok, so i didnt take 300 photos, but i took a lot, all of which have been uploaded onto the net. so i took a walk along the marina towards the bridge. When i originally set out, i had a street map of SanFran, which gave me a basic scale. What i didnt notice is that the inch to half mile scale i was working to actually changed half way through the map. This meant that instead of it being 0.5 miles to an inch, it was 2.5 miles! oops. so yeah, it added about 5 miles onto my trip. oh well. i eventually reached the bridge after walking down the coastal beach, again taking photos as i went. By the time i reached the GGB, it was about 4:30, which was perfect for the sun. It was casting this golden colour onto pillars of the bridge, which must have been where they got the name from as it was a really nice goldeney red colour. ok, yeah im colour blind, but i could definately define it as being red. it was amazing. so i walked up a little windy path so i could get onto the bridge itself, an took a walk across. I didnt realise how far it was across from one side to the other. it must have taken me at least 30mins to cross, but it was worth it. When i left the bridge shortly after sunset, it went from dusk to pitch black in the space of about 10 mins. So i ended up walking back through some parks in pitch black, with no1 around, but the occasional runner, or dog.

The worrying thing for me at this point was still the fact, was i going to make it back to the hostel before 7, for my free dinner. Turns out i did. i got there about 6:45, which was perfect. So anyway the hostel laid this dinner on, which was pasta, salad, garlic bread etc, which was really really tasty, and probably the 1st nutritional meal i had had in a long time. Next morning i had to get up early to get my train back down to LA, early enough to leave before breakfast was served. whilst i was packing up in the common room, i met this guy called andy. Luckily, he was heading down to LA also that day, the same way as me. This was great as i had someone to talk to on the train etc.

28-11-06 TRAIN FROM SAN FRAN TO LA

The train ride down was ok, again we were running late, but made back sometime, so that we only arrived in LA about 45 mins late. From here we had to make it to the hostel. I hadnt been able to book, as when i came over here, i forgot a credit card, and most of the hostels, only accept online bookings with a credit card. anyway, andy had booked into this place called USA Hostel, over in Hollywood, which was exactly where i wanted to be, so i decided to head over there to see if they had room. Luckily for me they did, but only just. i think they said i got the last bed. phew. so all we did that night was go to the upstairs bar and have a few before bed beers.

29-11-06 HOLLYWOOD

After a comfy nights sleep, i awoke to the sniffling of this old guy below me, who had contracted a cold from the previous occupant of my bed. so i got up, showered etc and headed to the kitchen for some breakfast. At this hostel they put on an all you can eat pancake breakfast, so i got my ladle full of mix and started making it. i must had got the biggest ladle, as my pancake was about a 1/4 inch thick, and i only managed to eat the one!! oh well, ill try again tomorrow. Today, andy was heading over to vegas, so i got the subway with him part way and got off in beverley hills. The whole of LA, including Hollywood has been a bit of an anti climax for me. i think if you come here you need to do the whole Universal studios and the disney in Anaheim (disneyland) but as i was on a budget i couldnt do them, so just ended up walking around. There wasnt much to see really, so i just headed back to the hostel and had a relaxing night in. so here i am, writing this entry in the hostel. tomorrow i head down to San Diago, where i will stay with some family friends for a night then head over to the Zoo next day. Really looking forward to it, so ill let you know.