We began the day with glorious sunshine and blue skies.We caught a ferry across to Alcatraz State penetentiary where we differed in our cultural perspectives as I remarked on the history of the Native American occupation in the 1960's, Susie was Nic Cage spotting : "Nic Cage stood here and over there and up there and hid under there... Nic Cage is SO hot.' We saw the infamous walkway from 'The Rock' known as Broadway and listened to an audio tour of the harrowing history of Alcatraz and marvelled at the ingenious escapes plotted by the prisoners.
After desperately attempting to avoid walking up any of the 46 San Franciscan hills we finally conceded defeat and headed up Vellaggio Hill to Coit tower, huffing, puffing and moaning all the way to the best view in town. The iconic Trollies bustled up alongside us as we whined about them being inappropriately expensive at $6 for a short journey upward.
The next stop on our scenic itinerary was the infamous Golden Gate Bridge, we arrived just in time to catch the sunset over the bay and took the opportunity to take multiple shots from every angle imaginable.
Day 2 saw yet more unexpected sunshine and cloudless skies, we took the opportunity to see Golden Gate Park and have a leisurely stroll around the grounds. We gawked at the unbelievable entrance fees to the Museum and Science centre, San Francisco is not a cheap city for tourists, nor the people who live there as suggested by the vast numbers of homeless people we saw on our travels. The park led us on to Haight street and the Mission area for quirky shopping at the Goodwill Store, unplanned nose piercings, huge Burritos and a chance encounter at the Red Vic Hotel with Kate, the receptionist who invited us to an 'Artists' live-in Warehouse for a show/party that evening. This Southerly part of the city was bustling and alive, if time had allowed we would have loved a couple more days to check out this weird and wonderful area.
We glammed up in our thrift store fineries, shared a little tipple with the Jewish comedian at the hostel and paid a visit to the aforementioned party. After a swift hello,goodbye and some cheap plonk we made our escape from the 'arty' crowd to the bars on South Market area.
Somewhere between the party and the first bar we were adopted by a couple of friendly locals, a Nic Cage look alike and The Mexican a.k.a. Julian and Josh. They kindly gave us a mascot for our vehicle in the form of a gold encrusted scorpion paperweight. Our 11pm curfew gradually crept further and further back whiling away the evening with laughter and sarcastic banter, perfecting the 'Mace-Knife dance' our challenging method of protection akin to patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time : Spray, stab, spray, stab and repeat.
San Francisco was a wild city, thriving with life and culture, a more raw and edgy counterpart to the cities we've experienced so far.
Definitely a must for any traveller seeking the West Coast experience.
Peace and Love,
Jan and Sooz.
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