Hello from San Fran! We've been having a great time here exploring the city (it's a cleaner, friendlier, nicer version of LA!) The city has a really European feel to it somehow and there is so much going on. We are staying with Jim and Susan Acquistapace (Jim works with my Dad - K) in their BEAUTIFUL house in Berkeley, a college town just outside the city. We have our own rooms for the first time in ages, and this amazing huge house to explore! San Fran itself is great - lots of shopping (eek!), a nice little market area, Pier 39 (a tourist trap - lots of fun!), loads of sea lions barking or whatever they do by the pier, and - of course - Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. We took a ferry to Alcatraz yesterday and went around the old penitentiary building. Some of the cells were tiny, and the worst offenders were sometimes locked up in total darkness as a punishment for misbehaving in their regular cells. We were suprised to discover that families also lived on the island. The guards (or 'correctional officers' as they call them!) had families there who didnt live a much more free life than the prisoners - they had to be locked in their flats when the prisoners were out exercising and couldnt move around the island. The kids got boats to school in the city (about a mile away) and the women went shopping over there but once they were back home they were basically confined to their houses. As well as seeing Alcatraz we got a good view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Which is red. For those of you who, lik e me, thought it should be gold... here's the story: Golden Gate is actually the name of the area it is in, and it was called so even before the construction of the bridge... so the name has nothing to do with its colour, it's just the place it's in. They could paint it gold though... that'd be cool... maybe I'll suggest it... Today we have our last full day in San Fran as we have an early flight back to Los Angeles in the morning. We're going to explore Berkeley today and head up to the campus, which is meant to be pretty cool. We drove through the UCLA campus in LA, which was AMAZING! It was like a whole town! There's a cool place nearby calld College Avenue with lots of cafes and little stores so we may check that out too. Hope you're all ok, see you very soon! Karen and Fleur PS - Dad, I got you the most awesome present to go with your now un-needed ashtray! - K xx