Hello to everybody back home in sunny England! Haha! This is now my second blog entry, this time I am writing it aboard the plane from San Francisco to Las Vegas! This blog won't be as long winded as the first one, I promise..... :P

I spent 8 nights in San Fran, I arrived Sunday 21st February, and I departed on Monday 1st March! I arrived in San Fran from New York and there is such a big contrast between the two cities, it is unbelievable, however they were both brilliant in their own way! San Francisco is a lot smaller than New York firstly, plus I felt it was so much more laid back, and relaxed, in New York everything seemed to be done at such a fast tempo and everybody seemed to be constantly on the go, whereas here in San Fran people just strolled about, in such a chilled out manner! The weather here is San Fran was also a lot better than it was during my stay in New York, as there it was snowing and at freezing point the whole week, but here in San Fran, it was a lot warmer the days hovered around the 15oC mark, so it was a decent temperature, and it felt absolutely scorching to me as I had been frozen for a whole week prior, but then I got talking to this English girl in the hostel who had just come from Australia and she thought that it was freezing, lol! We did however have about 3 rainy days, where it absolutely threw it down and I got soaked a few times, but it was still warm even in the rain, and the rest of the days, it was glorious sunshine and I even felt as though I was catching a tan!

As my stay in New York was spent staying with a friend of a friend, my stay in San Fran was my first experience of a hostel, which I was a little apprehensive about at first, I don't know why though because I loved it, I thought it was great, everybody was so friendly, I met so many cool people from all around the globe and will more than likely keep in contact with most of them! I arrived at the airport at approximately 13.10 local time in San Fran, and we went straight to baggage claim where my bag was back in my possession within 10 minutes of me leaving the plane, then I made my way up the stairs to the exit where I found a shuttle bus that took me to the hostel which was about 25 minutes away and it cost a reasonable $17! Once at the hostel I checked in and was given a room on the third floor, room number 301, as I walked into my room I was greeted by an American couple who were if I remember rightly about 23 and 24! They were from Philadelphia, and were really nice! I sat and chatted to them for a bit as I started to settle and unpack! They were still in bed when I got to the dorm at about 14.30 as it had been party night the night before and they were nursing their hangover :P that didn't stop them going out that night as well though, ha!

Once I had found my feet so to speak in that dorm, my other roommate walked in after being to Alcatraz for the day, and he was English, waheyy, and he was also from Norwich, so literally just down the road from Colchester, and he was an amazing guy! It felt as though I had been so lucky and put into the best dorm with the most incredible people but it wasn't until I got downstairs and had my first cuppa tea that I realised everybody was so welcoming! That first night I continued on in similar fashion to what I had been having for dinner in New York previously, as I went across to the shop opposite the hostel and brought a pot noodle for dinner, and some bagels for lunch the next few days as I brought a six pack, as well as some healthy bananas and some not so healthy digestive biscuits!

I decided to have an early night on my first night as I was a little jet lagged as there is a 3 hour time difference between New York and San Fran, with San Fran being behind New York time, so although I went to bed at 9pm San Fran time it was actually midnight New York time! The next morning when I woke up at about 9ish I guess as this seemed to be the time I woke up most days, I tried out the hostels shower expecting it to be freezing cold and not up to much, but I was pleasantly surprised after the initial minute after turning it on when the shower was freezing as after that the shower was boiling hot and I actually found myself turning it down, the bathroom was small but it was an en suite between the four of us in my dorm and it was more than adequate for my stay there! After this I went downstairs to get my free breakfast as much as you can make, either a choice of oatmeal of pancakes, I opted for the oatmeal on this occasion as it was far simpler to make or so I thought, but this was the only time I had the oatmeal because it was revolting, it wasn't helped by the fact that I didn't put it in the microwave which I was meant to, however it was still disgusting even with the bland raisons that I put in it, the best thing about breakfast was probably the tea, this was free 24/7 throughout my stay but I had to get used to putting creamer in my tea instead of milk as they didn't supply milk, but I adapted!

After my horrible breakfast I had an upset tummy the rest of the day which may have been because I didn't microwave it but still...Anyway for my first full day in San Fran, I decided to have a stroll around the city, this took me to Chinatown first of all, which was huge, a lot bigger than I expected it to be, the shops were mainly selling tourist souvenirs or fruit and veg! Chinatown was also only a 10 minute walk to the hostel! After visiting Chinatown I headed to union square which was even less of a walk, only about 5 minutes, and was a cool place to chill on a bench if it was a sunny day, but there wasn't really much to see there, one little restaurant, and a big heart statue on each corner of the square, there was also a statue in the centre of the square but I can't really remember what it was to commemorate! It's all in the pictures I took anyway! From here I went to Fishermans Wharf, which is a good 45 minute walk from the hostel, I did like it here though, because as soon as you get nearby you get this instant fishy smell, the restaurants here all looked amazing as well, they had crabs and lobster all on display alive and dead! Loads of the restaurants also served this really cool soup in a bread roll thing, its a huge bread roll that had the centre cut out of it, like when you remove the middle of a pumpkin, then they pour soup in and the bread that has been cut away is used to dip in the soup, then when the level of the soup lowers you can start, removing the bread from the top of the bread bowl and start dipping that in the soup as well!

At fisherman's wharf there is also a well known pier called pier 39, and although very touristy it was definitely worth a visit, as from here I could see the sea lions, which were sunbathing on the bay and making the most awful noise I have ever heard! Also in pier 39 that day was a show where this magic man, got a volunteer from the crowd to tie him up in a 100 foot long thick rope then he had to escape from it whilst doing the hokey cokey....well sort of! It was a little cheesy but it was free and it was something to do, after this I walked back to the hostel, where I decided to have something different from a pot noodle for dinner......supernoodles lol! Beef supernoodles, as well as a yogurt and an apple that was humongous, but it should be for flippin' $1.20! The following day, which was Tuesday, I missed breakfast which I was distraught about, as I slept in until 10am exactly when breakfast finshed, so I had to settle for a banana for breakfast even though I wanted to try the pancakes out! But as you will find out later, I did make up for lost time J It decided to absolutely throw it down, all day long, this day, and seeing as ost of the attractions in San Fran are outdoors, well most of the free ones anyway lol, I decided that it was impossible to sightsee in such bad weather, so after looking up things to do that were indoors and relatively cheap, I decided to go to the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art (SFMOMA), because there had been one in New York as well, that I didn't go to but had heard good things about! It was only $9 to get in with student discount anyway! Having said that I think I could have spent the $9 better doing something else as art museums really aren't my cuppa tea, I can understand that the museum would have been brilliant if you were into that type of thing however as even I thought there were some amazing sculptures in there but it was the paintings that didn't really strike me as being that amazing, the sculptures yes but not the paintings, I managed to get round the museum in about 2 hours as it is quite small by New York museum standards!

For dinner this night I decided to push the boat out and get a burger king, which consisted of a whopper meal with a chocolate milkshake as I couldn't be bothered to cook anything, and the meal was delicious but at $8 was expensive as I good have survived for a couple of days on that much money, so I decided that would have to be a one off and it was! After this I had a great pool and table football sesh with all my roommates which was pretty cool,as the hostel had a free pool table, it's just a matter of whether anybody's on it or not!

The next day, Wednesday, was the real highlight of my trip just pipping the golden gate bridge, because this is the day that I went to Alcatraz, which was fascinating and soooo informative, I went there that day not knowing too much about it to be honest, but I came away feeling as though I knew everything about it and I hadn't found out wasn't worth knowing, the tour was so informative and in depth, it covered absolutely every angle! I walked down to pier 39 where you have to get the ferry from to get to Alcatraz, and left at 11.35, it is only a 10 minute ride before you reach Alcatraz! I was there until 4pm before I got the ferry back to San Fran, the ticket for Alcatraz which included everything was $26 which was the main expense forme on an attraction in San Fran, but for me it was worth every cent! When I arrived, we were briefed about what the day had in store for us then I went and watched this short 20 minute national history programme on Alcatraz, then from here I got a tour from a guide around the whole of Alcatraz, and believe me she really knew her stuff! You could tell she loved her job and enjoyed letting everyone know every minute detail of the goings on at Alcatraz, then from here we all got an audio tour of the cells where the inmates were kept, and on the tour you could hear some of the inmates talking which was kind of creepy especially when walking past their old cell and seeing it like it was back in the day! Believe me you wouldn't have wanted to have been locked up in one of those cells, they were small, dark and would have been so tedious to stay in as there was nothing to do!

After my amazing day out, I decided I had to go for a budget dinner tonight after my burger king cut into the budget the night before, so I was back on the supernoodles but this time chicken, they were better than the beef, I also got a can of peaches! I also had another good few games of pool this night, and after not playing pool for years, I was starting to improve a little, I was still terrible but getting better at least! The Americans in my room also got me alcohol this night and we were up into the early hours!

The next day, Thursday, was another great day, just a fraction under the greatness of the previous day, this day I woke up to making myself 5, yes 5 pancakes for breakfast which on their own wouldn't have been all that but with a bit...no a lot of golden syrup and sugar they tasted alright! It was make as many pancakes as you can eat all for free, and when you're travelling you realise you have to make the most of freebie opportunities like this one haha! By the fifth pancake, I did start to feel a little sick though I have to admit, anyway whilst eating this mountain of pancakes, which I had mastered the art of making, I was chatting to these two English girls, Rose and Katie who I had met a few days before, and we were saying the usual, 'So what are you doing today' type of thing and we realised that we had the same sorta plan for the day, so we decided to join forces and have a daytrip together, which was good for me as it made such a nice change to have someone to see the sights with rather than just wandering around on my own, even if it did mean I had to do a bit of shopping in Haight Ashbury with them! This little town in San Fran is quite a retro sort of town, it feels as though you go back in time as you walk along the street, with all the brightly coloured houses and shops and all the walls having wicked graffiti on them, as well as having loads of great souviener shops which I got to see a lot of as I done a fair amount of shopping with the girls I was with, even though they were the ones buying as they were near the end of their trip, whereas any gifts I buy would have another 5 and a half months of torture in my backpack! We got the bus, called the muni to all the places throughout the day that we went to and it cost just to $2 to get us round the whole of San Fran and included about 5 rides which was excellent value!

After Haight Ashbury, comes Golden Gate Park, right at the end of the town, so we decided that being as it was a gloriously sunny day, to have a picnic in the park, and there was a McDonalds nearby so Rose and Katie each brought a McDonalds and I had my 2 bagels, a banana and 4 digestive biscuits which is what my lunch consisted of everyday, however I was still full from breakfast so I saved my digestives for later for when I felt a bit hungrier! After our 'picnic' we got the muni to the Golden Gate Bridge, which was huge, you don't realise the size of the thing until your standing right next to it, it took us about 1 hour and 45 minutes to walk across the bridge and back again and by this stage night was falling as we were walking back which was quite a picture! It was so windy on the bridge as all the cars flew past us walking on the 'sidewalk'! There were quite a few people biking the bridge as well that got annoyed if you got in their way! Hehe! I could now say though that 'I have walked the Golden Gate Bridge'. Following this we went to fisherman's wharf, which I knew I had already been to but the girls I was with hadn't so we went there on our way back to the hostel, and as I had got used to by now they were doing more shopping, and they went into this really cool shop that sold loads of varities of toffee apples but with a twist, so some had oreos, others has m&ms, another had coconut, and so on there were all these wierd and wonderful versions of the toffee apple except there were called for example the oreo apple, there were cool but expensive so a picture was suffice for me! Plus I like apples and I like the stuff that its coated it but I don't like the two things mixed, separate yes but not combined! We also stopped by in the street to watch come bloke do these incredible paintings of San Fran from scratch in just a few minutes and they looked superb! It was crazy how he managed it without making a mistake and getting the pictures to look so perfect! Following this we made our way back to the hostel, we had intended to do more in the day, but the time was beating us, as we were out for 8 hours that day, it went so quick as it was such a good day out and even better to have company for the day, so having arrived back at the hostel, we decided to all cook a meal together and split the cost of the meal three ways, so we made pasta with broccoli, mushroom soup, cheese and garlic, it may not sound like much but I would say its the best dinner ive had since ive been on my travels, we all helped in our own little way to make the dinner, and being as im not the greatest chef in the world, I just cut the broccoli and washed up so I could do no wrong, and I have to say I really enjoyed that dinner!

Following this on the Friday, it started off a cloudy overcast day, so I decided to go to Coit Tower which is like a local landmark, it is a tower at one of the highest points in San Fran, but only a small one really, so once climbing the many hills of San Fran to get there and being completely knackered after all this hill climbing I discovered it was $5 to get to the top of the tower which I thought was a joke considering the view you got from outside the tower was just as good as the view you get from the top of the tower as it doesn't take you that much higher up, so I decided not to bother going up as I thought after going up the Empire State Building, paying to go up this little tower seemed a little pathetic! You could see the whole of San Fran from this point and the view was incredible, so I was happy enough!

From here I went to Lombard Street which is supposedly the crookediest street in the world, although I don't think it is, nevertheless it is still a good little attraction and you see the same tourists driving round and round the block just to keep going down this road! At this point it started raining however, so I decided to head back to the hostel where I did my well overdue laundry, I got it all washed and dried for $2.50 I was well chuffed! Especially as I could go on my laptop and it was washing! For dinner that night I was in the pasta mood from the previous night so brought enough ingredients to last 2 nights worth of dinners, so had pasta with tuna and sweetcorn and cheese all for $5, which works out at $2.50 a night and produced humongous bowlfuls, that more than fill you up! I did put a tad too much salt in the pasta though, as I knew that all the chefs tell you to put salt in pasta, so I did but went overboard and had very salty pasta, but I learnt my lesson and didn't do it the nest night, as I just put a pinch in as you're meant too! By this stage the 2 Americans and the Brit from my dorm had all moved on and they were replaced by these 2 Danish guys and a Dutch girl, who were all just as friendly as it seemed everyone at that hostel was!

On the Saturday, I went down to the Ferry Building which is right on the pier and overlooks the seafront with an jaw dropping view, it was perfect weather for the market and it seemed as though everyone had come to it, the stalls all sold local fruit and veg, as well as souvenir items like paintings too! There was also a food demonstration on how to make a particular dish, I don't know what it was called as I got there late but not late enough to miss out on the free food tasting which was a bonus :P

This day was also the day that San Fran was celebrating Chinese New Year, so there was a big market on in Chinatown which I went to check out, only to find all the stall were all in Chinese so I didn't understand a word, and it was chaos, the whole of San Fran was in Chinatown by the look of it, I had to push and squeeze my way through as it was so crowded! Later that night it was also the Chinese New Year Parade around San Fran which was treated as a very big deal, because a lot of the streets were closed off and there were stands put up in the street! The hostel ran an activity to the parade so I went with them and met some more people at this event! The parade had its ups and downs, the dragons were quality but there was also loads of random stuff of people just going past in cars and waving which weren't so good, we then left after about an hour as we thought it was finished only to find out in the morning that they had a 10 minute break before continuing again so we missed the best bit as the ending was meant to be good! After this it was party night at the hostel which meant free booze, and some music, as well as another pool sesh, and chatting to a load more people, the party night was brilliant, and I didn't get to bed until gone 3am!

I was still up at 9am for the free pancakes on the Sunday, however, my last real day in San Fran, after breakfast we decided we couldn't get enough of the pool table and a quick game turned into 2 hours worth, but it was enjoyable before I had a chilled out day and went to the cable car museum, and found out about the history of the cable car and how they worked, it was all really interesting as you could see the cables in motion inside the museum! The cable cars in San Fran were so cool, I didn't get to go on one but they were amazing and part of San Fran's history! From here I had my last stroll around the city before heading back to pack for the flight in the morning! I also had tuna, pasta and vegetables for dinner again as well as a fruit salad for desert, seeing as I missed out on lunch that day except from a banana! After a final pool sesh, and eating the popcorn from the movie room in the hostel, which I added sugar to as they eat salty popcorn with butter in the states, I went up to bed ready for my early wake up at 7am, where I once again stocked up on pancakes as I didn't know when the next time was that I was gonna eat! I got to the airport at San Fran and within 30 minutes of arriving I was through check in, security and at my gate ready for boarding where I had to wait 25 minutes before we boarded, it went like clockwork until there was a problem with loading our luggage onto the plane which held the takeoff off for 30 minutes while we sat in the plane but after that it was only a short 1 hour flight to get to Vegas which is where I am now until Friday 5th March! So I shall enjoy my stay here in sin city and report back in a few days time!

I've just realised that I blabbed on a bit again, but oh well! I'm missing you all back home very much so, love Toby xxx