The Streets of San Francisco

Everyone should visit San Francisco. It should be on the list of places to see before you die. It's a real surprise and not at all what I had imagined from my hours of TV watching. For a start it's walkable being only 7 miles squared. This fact comes as a complete surprise to people when you tell then. Then they ad, "ah but it's very hilly." Which indeed it is, but with my dodgy knee I managed to walk from the start of one of the cable car lines to the cable car museum. So if I can do it, then so can you!

There is so much to do in this lovely little city that I'd recommend on having a serious think before you go. You must go to Alcatraz and they advise you book it up well in advance, which you can easily do online. I was lucky to have the youngest guard ever to work in Alcatraz visit the island the day I was there. The audio tour is excellent and well thought through, as the very prisoners and inmates who stayed there, guide you through the smallest accommodation I've ever seen. Go and see the solitary confinement and close the door if you dare. I couldn't do it. I was lucky to be there on a very bright and hot day, but I should imagine that with SF's micro climate bringing in fog and rain at a moment's notice, it must have been very bleak. I could do a blog just about this island prison, but I'm not going to as you just need to go yourself.

Of course you must see the Golden Gate Bridge, but that's if the fog will allow. Having been there for 2 days I was lucky that the fog lifted just as we arrived at the bridge and gave me my photo opportunity. A sad note about the bridge is that around 23 people a year jump off it and so there is a telephone to a help line and notes about not jumping as it is fatal. Brrr! Not something to dwell on I think.

You can shop till you drop with late opening hours and a large variety of shops, from the boutique to the usual ones. And you can eat every type of food you can think of. Our highlight being China Town where our guide took us to a small restaurant that is family owned. The food is excellent and remarkably cheap even though it looks like a small dingy cafe with formica tables.

The cable car museum is incredibly interesting and well worth a visit as this is where all the cables run from. It's worth watching the video that explains why they set up cable cars and what happened after the great earthquake that led to the great fire. And of course no trip to this bright side of the West Coast could be complete without a trip on one of the cable cars. I'd highly recommend a start to end trip, rather than jumping on half way through it's journey and you must travel on a car that takes you over a hill. There are a few to choose from but the views are brilliant if not stomach dropping as you roll over the tarmac hills. What's funny is that on the road in yellow paint there are instructions for the drivers, one says, "let go".

The drivers themselves I believe are some of the best comedians I've come across. They had witty one liners that tripped off their tongues to the inevitable daily repeated questions. The one way journey cost me about $5 and for that and the laughter I'd take the cable car again and again. But you can also travel by bus and the electronic trolley cars are a great way to travel. Mainly because the driver gives you a guided tour as you travel along and also warns you of pick pockets and that it's against the law not to give up your seat to the elderly. I'd like to see that one in the UK, wouldn't you?

The saddest thing though about SF before I go, was the endless homeless people I saw begging. It struck me that as I wind myself through London's busy streets on my motorbike or on a London bus I rarely get approached by an beggars. But in SF I was endlessly asked for money and my hotel warned me never to take a right turn out of the hotel but to always go left. But SF's homeless are a creative bunch and obviously feel that we'll want something in return for our donation. So just outside Fisherman's Wharf you'll find a green shrub that jumps out on you and as he puts it "gives you the biggest thrill you've had in a long time!" Whilst on the streets you'll find the guy with the sign, "verbal abuse received for a small fee!"

Every city you visit will have an negative side to it, and on the one hand I'm pleased that I found little to be negative about but I'm sad that what I did find involved people desperately looking for a focus, a direction and a home. I just thank them for keeping me entertained!