San-Fran-Fun

San Francisco. Another legendary American city...So many pop-culture references, so much history. The Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Fisherman's wharf, The Beat Movement...and lots and lots of lovely queer people! It is most excellent. If you imagine Melbourne as a huge, international city - you'd be getting close. And yes, it is cold! The first day I was here it was sunny and clear, but windy and cool, like a nice autumn day in Melbourne. Today it was flipping freezing and the notorious San Francisco summer fog hovered across the city and the bay. It is so pervasive, you can't see the top of the sky scrapers! And you can see it moving, crawling across everything...oooooo! Eerie!
COOL THINGS I HAVE DONE IN THIS LOVELY CITY
* A Lord Of the Rings Style Bike Ride all over San Francisco: I rode a bike (yes, I am capable of some degree of physical exertion) across the Golden Gate in the wind and the fog - it was splendiferous! I went with Ruth, a lovely Irish girl whom I met in L.A, who is a far, far better cyclist than me (she was very kind not to leave me behind...). After the bridge, I rode down to Sausalito, a small coastal town on the other side of the bridge which has it's own distinct weather from San Fran (it was sunny down there!), checked out the spectacular view of the bay and ate salt water taffy. I then rode back over the bride through Presidio Park (lots of Military stuff in there - including a cemetery to "honour the fallen dead" of the US) to Golden Gate Park where I drank Jasmin tea in the Japanese Teahouse Gardens, before riding back through the city to Fisherman's Wharf. I think my legs might fall off...then you can all call me Legless Rachel, limbless pirate extroadinaire!
* Drank beer in Cafe Vesuvius, Jack Kerouac infamous haunt, with two fellow Melbourne girls, Claire and Tanya.
* Ate pasta at the Stinking Rose, a restaurant in Little Italy where everything has garlic in it. (I pity the people sharing a dorm with me tonight...)
* Ate Vietnamese Soup in San Fran China Town
* Went to Fisherman's Wharf and giggled about rent boys and sailors etc while trying to avoid the famous clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.
* Did the ye-old-cable car ride which is not as amusing as taking some of the 1950's style trams that operate here - these are far more functional and far more hilarious.

So yeah, San Francisco has been exceptional. Tomorrow I'll be ferried out to Alcatraz. Hopefully I can make a boat out of rain jackets, or a parasol or something else obscure to paddle my way back to the mainland.

Thankyou for your comments, chaps! I will post pictures as soon as I can (Li Kim, I promise! I just can't work out how to do it on this freakin' Mac...)

Down, down, down we go - into that little rabbit hole!

XXX OOO

Gen - yay! You got the badges! Gald you liked em' hun...
Mads - You must come here! You would love it. Glad to hear everything is going well for Jarad. And yes, I did load all of those mp3s. Wow! I hope you gave Blake my Botanical love...
Esther - EEEEK! Yay! I'm so excited about the new doctor. I had a good feeling about him... OOOO! I wanna see it now (damn this international traveling business!)
Nix - You devil! Silhouettes! Everywhere!