San Fran sightseeing

...what I forgot to tell you all about my first night in San Francisco is that I'm pretty sure I was tapped up by a bender in the local Irish bar. I was sitting there with a Guiness (which they haven;t got a clue how to pour by the way.....poured it all at once and left a massive head on it.....and at $6 too!!) and I'm minding my own business watching the band in there when this fella comes over and sits at the stool next to me. Anyway, after a couple of minutes he decides that he needs to raise his glass and say hello (by means of a 'cheers')....we got talking and he came across very camp....in fact, the more camp he became the more macho I became (purely to counter his campness)....I needed to put an end to any uncertainty so I asked him where all the Cougar dens were....he then told me hehas only been back in San Fran a week and has been living in London...........he did mention an ex girlfriend, which I think he did just cos he felt uncomfortable. Anyway, he left shortly after which is good! Maybe its the fact Im a skinhead and was dressed smart (nice jeans and a shirt) and sitting by myself!!

So I got up this morning and went down to pier 33 to buy tickets for Alcatraz, Weather was good and sunny and about 70 degrees today!....the only Rock I've ever been to is Canvey and it's just not the same thing (although it has it's similarities.........once you go you never get off, full of dodgy people you don't really want to get involved with....Carl, I hope you're reading this.) I bought my ticket and then on the way back to the hotel I walked past a shop wHich hires out scooters but they also hire out these little yellow buggies (called GoCars.......... very clever) and basically you hire them for a few hours and there is an audio sat nav thing playing (it's a woman's voice) that tells you where to go and it takes you on a tour of the city.....it was pretty cool but I looked like something out of whacky races or King Kong sitting in one of those MarioKart things! I have loads of pictures and when I get my laptop sorted I will try and post them on here foryour entertainment (Im currently using the hotel PC.) The audio thing did get me lost twice but I guess it was a woman so was expected.  The bloke in the shop who sorted the buggy out (a top bloke by the name of Topher....strange name) looked the spitting image of Dave Grohl from Foo fighters and he was a proper chilled out surfer dude kind of character and seemed very excited to be '"hooking me up"....so much so that he;s written down his name for me and asked me to go on tripadvisor and put some good comments on there about him and the shop so that his boss will see it! I said I would.

I've taken about a million and one pictures of the Golden Gate bridge and actually walked on it which I'm impressed with... oh yeah, and I also drove past Robin Williams house although the audio thing wouldn't tell me which one it was out of the four.....I thought about knocking on all of them but decided not to. She then took me towards a beach called 'Baker Beach' and I was not going to bother pulling in as I'd already seen 3 beaches....until she dropped in that it was a nudist beach so I quickly turned right into the car park!...... nothing to see unfortunately although there was a Great White shark attack there back in the 50's apparently and there are signs warning you that' people have drowned on this beach swimming and wading' so I decided not to bother.. There were loads of people surfing and stuff......I just don;t get why you;d go into any water known to have Great White Shark attacks??

Another thing puzzling me is why they insist on giving you a pot of maple syrup with anything you order for breakfast??!! How does scrambled eggs and a sausage and toast go with maple syrup??? I don't understand.

The other big thing playing on my mind out here is this:

Why are American Egg shells white and ours are a beige colour?

Anyway, I'm off to Chinatown tonight...on Lee;s recommendation I'm going to the Empress of China as it apparently has great view of the city and decent food........ just so I can continue my 'man vs food' challenge.