17/10/08
A big breakfast in 'Luckies' before catching a cab to the airport. It was nice to only have a short flight to look forward to again. We arrived at our hostel ('The Green Tortoise') in time to find out that we weren't in the main building but in a nice little annexe down the road, which was much more peaceful. We dropped off our bags and headed back for a free dinner, after Las Vegas something for free was much needed! Skipped the hostel's official pub crawl in favour of a more sedate wander around our new neighbourhood, we must be getting old! Wandered up hill and down hill past go-go bars, topless joints and adult theatres not really finding anything of interest - think we were in a classy part of town!
18/10/08
On our first full day in San Fran we were duped by the sunlight - a bit like Newcastle on a spring morning, nice and sunny but blinkin chilly! Looking like proper tourists in our shorts and T-shirts we headed down to the pier. Ended up glad of our outfit choice though after cycling for 5 hours, over the Golden Gate Bridge and back. Hot, sweaty and with sore backsides by the end of the day.
19/10/08
Back to the pier for our trip to Alcatraz Island. Had an audio tour of the prison and saw inside the cells and learnt all about the history. Joy's commentary conked out at one point so she had to go back and Greg couldn't find her! Back on the ferry to the mainland for a trip up 'Coit Tower' for panoramic views of the city and then a walk down 'Crookedest Street' - it really was very crooked and steep! After all the hill walking we headed to a bar for a well earned beer and burger. Spent a relaxing night watching a video, drinking beer and eating crisps in bed - Very healthy!
20/10/08
Final wander around 'Frisco' before heading to LA - the highlight of the day being a slice of the most delicious chocolate cheesecake from the cheesecake factory. Caught the BART to the airport and after a small delay we arrived in LA and made it to our hostel in Santa Monica at approx 9pm. Ready to relax and have a bit of a break we were looking forward to getting to our room - wishful thinking! We were reserved in a dorm with 8 others - D'oh!! Luckily it was only to be for one night as we managed to change the reservation for the rest of our stay - at a lot of extra expense, so we slummed it like plenty do and after a walk on Santa Monica Pier, squeezed ourselves into our little bunk beds.
