America: Here, I could live.

Eugene to San Francisco, via Eureka, is a beautiful drive. Part coast road, part Giant Red Woods and all epic. We had touched the coast road between Portland and Eugene, which is where we saw the Haystack, but this was our first long drive along the coast. It was nice to see the Pacific again, even if it was on the wrong side. I also noticed that there is a bike route along highway one, all the way down the west coast. I've already started planning another trip with fewer wheels.

We arrived in San Francisco, set up camp in a nice, central hostel and went for a bit of a run. We were aiming for the crookedest street to catch the sunset. Unfortunately, due to a need to do washing first and a few navigational fails, it was dark when we got there, and I have some photos of darkness. Not to worry, I had another go a few days later and had better timing.

You'll have to wait for those photos though, because I'm going to do this in order, and the next day we went to Alcatraz. The tour of the island was the first properly touristy thing we'd done since Chicago, with the exception of a museum in Seattle, so I wound up the camera and let loose.

The ferry ride offered a great view of the bay.

Alcatraz island.

Warning
Persons procuring or concealing escape of prisoners
are subject to prosecution and imprisonment.

There's history in them there walls.

Alcatraz has actually had four incarnations. During the original San Francisco settlement, it was an army barracks and fortification, part of a triangle of cannons that protected the entrance to the bay. The army built the first level of the main building on the island, but ran out of money.
During prohibition, the American public wanted its more violent criminals removed from society, so they put them on Alcatraz. Later the emphasis shifted to rehabilitation of criminals, so Alcatraz became unoccupied once again, until some Native Americans of all tribes moved in as a form or protest. They wanted the US government to give them Alcatraz in compensation for their native homelands. Whilst they were never given Alcatraz, the protests there were ultimately successful in seeing the government begin to recognise Native American land rights.

The fourth incarnation is of course as a national park and tourist attraction. Whilst the tour does mention the history, most of it is about the prison, because that's why all the films were made.

The view from Alcatraz.
San Francisco and the bay.

The recreation yard with the bay and mountains.

With a view like that, why did the prisoners even want to escape?

Oh, right. The cells.

They're really quite small.

And the guards seemed pretty intent on keeping them there.

These days, of course, there are more actors on Alcatraz than prisoners, so they let us leave. The best views of San Francisco are from the return ferry.

Well, you could probably get the same shots from the back of the ferry heading out, but that's not how we did it.

The next day we took a Fog City Walking Tour run by a Brit, Kelly Anderson.

The tour gang on Nob Hill.
The less well-off San Franciscans nick-named it Snob Hill. Why? The original name has a perfectly good joke built in.
The old trolley system still works.
Gets up some of the hills better than the cars too.
Downtown...
And the nightclubs.
Seams a bit drastic.

Fortunately there's very little evidence of airstrike, so I guess they're claiming success. I have to say, I agree.

This is the crookedest street I was telling you about.

The view is from Coit Tower.

And this is Coit Tower from the crookedest street at dusk.
I told you I went running again.

That night we went out and hit the bars. Including The Saloon, apparently the oldest bar in San Francisco, and a blues bar to boot. I was so happy I bought a CD of the band that was playing. I'm told I danced too, but fortunately there are no pictures of that, so you can't prove anything.

We spent our last day in San Francisco was spent walking around in the sunshine with a new Australian friend we met in the hostel. I've decided that I like San Francisco, I could definitely live there, even when it rains, which I don't think is all that often.

San Francisco gets my seal of approval.
Get it, seal? OK, I'll stop now.