San Francisco

Sunday August 23rd and it was time to say goodbye to the KIA. As much as I wasn't a fan of the car when I first saw it, it had done me proud, serving as my base of operations for the past five days. I had tea and hot oatmeal with Daniel and drove to the airport to drop it off. I was a bit worried as when I was driving on the interstate I had hit a part of a tire and it had nicked the driver's door, also there was a mark on the passenger side door mirror which I was pretty sure I had caused. Here's hoping they wouldn't notice. They didn't and my $500 deposit was safe. From the airport I had to catch the Bart, the local train, back to the city, which was an experience in itself.

I walked from the Bart station to my hostel and dropped off my bag as it was too early to check in. Then I felt at a bit of a loss, I had done so much the previous day I seemed to have lost my sight seeing energy. I went to Union Square,two blocks away from the hostel and sat in the sun. That's another thing I didn't know about SF,it can be cold and miserable by the bridge, but sunny and warm in Downtown. This was one of those days when it was warm,so I sat in the square and listened to some Jazz. Not a big fan of Jazz, but it was free and I didn't have a schedule.

After a few hours of loafing in the sun I went back to the hostel to check in and take care of my personal hygiene, again. Before this trip I had always pretty much showered or bathed every day, now that wasn't always an option. Not sure what I think about that, I guess it's OK as long as I don't smell too bad. I also did some laundry. So freshly showered and in clean clothes I hit a bar and preceded to enjoy happy hour. I hadn't felt able to drink while I had had the hire car and to be honest couldn't face another run in with the law. Twice was enough. The bar was around the corner on the same block,well within crawling distance. I've become a light weight since leaving Japan, I only had four Margaritas before I called it a night and grabbed some pizza to take back to the hostel. A successful second day I think.

I wanted to be more active the following day and I definitely got my wish. I started by going to City Hall. This building is totally at odds with the rest of the architecture in the city,maybe that's why I love it. It reminds me of London and it should, the architect studied in Paris and took a lot of his ideas from the public buildings there.I joined a free tour and got to see a lot of the building with lots of facts thrown in, we even got to see the Mayor's office. Not that he,Gavin Newsome, is there very much at the moment. He's running for the position of Governor and so is a bit busy with other stuff. The hall is also where Harvey Milk was shot, along with the current mayor of the time, whose name I don't remember.

I walked along Market St. to the Mission area of SF. This is the part of the town that was originally settled by Mexico before the Europeans arrived. They built a mission as a base to protect the area. The Europeans took this idea and built missions all along the coast of California. The Mission is still "the" place to get a Burrito in town. I didn't get one, not sure why.

I took another long walk and went to St. Mary's new cathedral, having confused it with old St. Mary's cathedral. My map reading skills seem to be going out the window, which is not good here as taking the wrong route can make a difference of hours rather than minutes. You can either take the flat, slightly longer route, or the hilly,kill your calves route. Not sure which is shorter, but I know which I prefer.

The next day would consist of my visit to Alcatraz. Touristy I know, but I don't care. I can't imagine visiting this city and not going to Alcatraz. Pointless.