Hello from Sunny San Francisco!!
This is the first chance we've had to get near a computer, the last few days have been jam packed! Arrived in a muggy Hawaii after a lonely plane ride - Xtian managed to sleep almost the entire 10 hours while I only got a couple hours in!! Got to San Fran another 5 hours later and dropped our gear at the hotel. We took a walk that night to get our bearings and find some food. Only thing we could find within the block was Jack in the Box - curly fries anyone? We weren't sure what to say when the guy asked if we 'wanted buttermilk with that'... hhhmmmm, no thanks.
Saturday we got up to a sunny but chilly day, about 10 degrees. Walked for about an hour to look around and got a coffee before heading back to pick up our bags and make our way out to Andrews on the BART (the transport system that gets you accross bays). We caught up for abit at his place in Berkeley then started making our way back to San Fran for our cruise to Alctraz. The cruise took almost an hour with wicked views of the city and golden gate bridge, then we had an audio tour of the prison which went for just over 2 hours. Such an incredible exprience, including some really creepy parts, like being in the hospital ward which was lit up only by a small lantern. Something about the stainless steel operating table which was rusting in the middle of a massive echoing room sent shivers up our spines! Great to hear all the excape attempt stories - only 1 man was ever charged with escaping Alcatraz, while around 32 had attempts!! And crazy to walk in the footsteps of Al Capone, really creepy. The cruise back was a definate highlight. The city skyline all lit up looked so beautiful. After getting back on the mainland, we took a walk down the famous pier 39 at Fishermans Wharf. We found a nice restaurant that overlooked the bay and had the best clam chowder (was thinking of you Don, you would have LOVED it!!) ever!
Sunday we headed into the city after leaving Andrews and met up with Matty V at union square. Did a spot of shopping at Maceys (the boys took over the mens building while I got lost in the 7 levels of the womans building) then headed to the top of the building to the Cheesecake Factory and some awesome views of Union Square. Matt and Xtian got some Cheesecake which we ate in the square then we made tracks to Haight. This is easily both mine and Xtian's favourite place in all of San Fran. Such an excellent little hippy community with lots of neat little shops. Also found the biggest music store I've ever seen in my life - Amoeba Records. We didn't know where to start!! Found a Manson picture disc, but left after that because it was getting too dangerous... my money would disolve in that place!! And aparently the LA one is even bigger!! Eek! We stayed in Haight till around 8ish, drinking in a sweet little bar and checking out the shops. Definately will visit that place again one day!!
So, that brings us to today! We took a walk with Andrew over in Berkeley this morning. Went to the Berkeley university campus where Andrew studies/teaches. Such beautiful grounds. We had breakfast then walked through this litte forest on the edge of the campus. This is where we saw our first squirrels!! OMG, they're the cutest things in the whole world, I wanted to grab one and put it in my bag! They were relatively friendly, let us get close to take a bunch of photos and video. So skittery too, they look so funny the way they dart around the trees and ground, burying their nuts, hehe. So after the facination of the squirrels, not much could compare, but alas, we said goodbye to Andrew and took our packs over to Matt's hotel in Civic Centre. We jumped on the cable car (just like full house! You can even hang off the side of them, crazy!!) and headed over to Lombard St - the crookest street in the world (?? could have that wrong, but it was pretty damn crooked!!). Amazing views of the city from up there too. The steepest streets I've ever walked up in my life are here. I can't get over how hilly this city is, you get over one hill, and there's an even steeper one just over the rise!! Anyways, after getting to the top, we walked all the way back down again to Fishermans Wharf. This time we walked the whole way down the whalf to pier 39 again, and checked out the sea lions that hang out in the harbour down there. They smell pretty bad, but they're so cute. We had some more clam chowder at the Sea Lion cafe, watching over them, then made our way over to Chinatown. Some neat buildings, but by that stage we were getting sore feet so Xtian and I left Matt to do the rest of his shopping at Chinatown and went back to the hotel. Which is where we are right now! Matt just arrived home and we're having a few drinks here, before we head out to see Between the Buried & Me in an hour or so.
So! Now you're up to date! We've had such an awesome time here, and are really bumbed to be leaving. The past 3 days have gone by so fast. We're really surprised at how friendly everyone has been. Kinda sounds bad, but we weren't sure what to expect.
Tomorrow we pick up a car and drive over the golden gate to Muirwood. We decided it was worth it to make the extra 45 minute trip up there to see the redwood forest. Then we're gunna head down the coast and hopefully we'll get to Monterey not too late and crash there for the night.
Anyway, almost time to head off to see one of our favourite bands in one of our new favourite cities! Life doesn't get too much better....
Will write more when we get a chance....
Hope you're all doing well!
Love J & X
xx
