Drizzly San Francisco

Well it was a drizzly, overcast in San Fran today. We must've been tired, cos we didn't wake up til 10.15... breakfast finished at 11. Still catching up on sleep. We did a walking tour, by Fog City Tours (she was great and knew her stuff really well) , from our hostel. First we went to the Grace Cathedral, after climbing a steeep hill (Nob Hill *immature giggle*). Nice stain glass windows and some cool paintings, but nothing on the Cathedrals of Europe hehe. We learnt about the huge earthquake and consequent fires that destroyed most of San Francisco in 1906. We went into the Fairmont Hotel (posh!) and had a look at the photos from 1906. The hotel has been in some famous movies, like Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry.

Next was Chinatown, where we visited a fortune cookie factory and had a free, fresh and hot sample. Yum. No fortune in it though - these were the reject cookies. No pictures, cos they cost 50 cents haha. The alley where we saw the factory had some 'authentic' tables and boxes and things which our guide said weren't usually there. She asked around and apparently they are filming a movie there about Ernest Hemingway's life. Cool!

We then went to Jack Keroauc Alley and checked out the paintings on the walls there. He was a member of the Beat Generation, which we learnt about at the Beat Museum. He and Neal Cassidy read lots of books, thought about them and talked about them and were quite revolutionary in their thinking. It was the 1950s and they were part of the movement which lead to the hippie times of the '60s. Allen Ginsberg wrote the poem 'Howl' which was banned in bookshops and which was also the Beat Generation's manifesto.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/179381

Lunch was next - a big tasty chicken Caesar salad, which we thankfully shared!

Fudge samples at a factory was after lunch and I had my first taste of 'saltwater' taffy. Very sticky, not good for the teeth, but quite a tasty 'candy.'

Another walk up a steeep hill and we were on Telegraph Hill. Coit Tower was there, but we didn't go up. Had a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge... except for the fog! We could only see one pylon, so might have to go back when the weather is better. Lots of cool paintings in the bottom level of the Tower, of life in San Francisco and it was nice to see some eucalypts and bottle brushes. A walk down a steeep hill, past some lovely green gardens and the tour finished not far from Ferry Building. We walked back to the hostel, resulting in sore feet and a tired Jen and Will. A slice of pizza and a walk to the supermarket for drinks has completed our day, and now we are waiting for the awesome $5 dinners at the hostel and continuing to chat with our new Aussie mates, some of whom we met last night at dinner and some we met today on the tour. Probably have a much slower day tomorrow!! We need to find an RV... more tomorrow!