Well, as promised, here are some photos of the first few days of my trip. I'm sorry there's not more - using a hostel computer means there's always someone waiting for you to finish, and the pics are slow to load. Plus, there's no kind of software on here that will even let me rotate photos, so these are the ones I could post without having to make you look at them sideways.
Chinatown, San Francisco, which seems much more integral to the city than Chinatown in Melbourne, which you probably wouldn't even know was there unless you went looking. I went to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory a block or two from here and my fortune from the very first cookie I ate was: "You are about to be confronted with unlimited possibilities". Very apt for the first day of my trip, I thought.
Portsmouth Square, Chinatown, where all the old men spend their afternoons playing Chinese Chess, the women sit around talking in groups, and the children play on a really cool playground.
Portsmouth Square, Chinatown - even "The Goddess of Democracy" can be crapped on by a pigeon. The tall skinny pyramid is the TransAmerica building, the tallest skyscraper on San Francisco's skyline.
The view from Telegraph Hill in North Beach - it's quite a hike to get up here, but the views are worth it. At least, they would be if San Francisco wasn't being true to type and shrouded in summer fog. This looks over the bay to Oakland & Berkeley, and that's Alcatraz out in the middle.
If you walk down the other side of Telegraph Hill and towards the bay, you go right past all these lovely gardens of private homes, which line the steps toward Filbert St. It's a steep descent, and I'm glad I was walking down rather than up! But just as you think there couldn't possibly be any more 'down' left, you turn a corner and find yet another set of steps leading you back towards the city. It's a lovely quiet part of San Francisco, and makes a change from the bustle of downtown.
Union Square at dusk. On my way back from wandering Chinatown and North Beach I stopped in Union Square to listen to a band that was playing. A pretty big crowd had gathered and were enjoying a balmy summer evening. I only caught the last 3 songs or so though, and then went in search of dinner. I think I probably walked about 7km on that first day, and I was jetlagged too, but all up it was a great introduction to the city.
Anyway, that's all for now. More photos to come next time hopefully, but I head to the Rockies tomorrow so I may not find much spare time to post for a week or so.
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