San Fran

Boarding our plane from London Heathrow we were feeling pretty sad that our trip home was over... until we remembered we had one more treat in store, a stopover in San Francisco, California!

We arrived at our hotel at about 8pm which didn't leave us much time to explore that night but we were up and out early the next morning - excited for a day of fun starting with our booked trip to Alcatraz!

Alcatraz Island

Catching our ferry at 8.45am we were disappointed not to get a view of the Golden Gate Bridge - the famous San Francisco fog seemed to be draped just over the bridge, and nothing else... No matter - we soon arrived on the island and enjoyed a couple of hours exploring, including a fantastic audio tour of the Cell House, home of famous crims including Al Capone and George "Machine Gun" Kelly.

Grim cells

We walked the rec yard, explored the cells, administration quarters and the dining hall - all very much an eye opener into prison life. Definitely felt like a place with stories to tell, and a few ghosts lurking...

Stacked up

The sun was really starting to hot up as we caught the ferry back- giving us a great view of Coit Tower, on Telegraph Hill.

One of San Fran's many hills!

We followed our ferry ride with a stroll along the promenade, interrupted by a quick break at the America's Cup 'village' - already set up in preparation for the Sailing contest taking place there in a week's time. We found a comfy spot and watched a bit of the youth competition on the big screen, cheering NZ on of course!

Brushing up on the rules in preparation
for NZ excitement soon to commence!

Soon enough it was lunchtime and a visit to the Ferry Building for some meatloaf with sides. Matt was a happy camper.

Please note, this is not the Golden Gate Bridge. Pretty cool anyway!

Walking through downtown we came across plenty of the famous cable cars...

Old and new

 ... and Chinatown - a great reminder of Asia and our honeymoon!

Competing with London for best Chinatown award (in our view)

Having seen the hills from the ferry we soon had to walk up and down and few, including Telegraph Hill and the famous Lombard Street.

This photo doesn't do the steepness justice.
Another sweaty flight it is then!

Lombard Street

Finally we got a stellar view of the bridge, even if it was still a bit shrouded by that fog.

International Icon = tick!

Still time for a bit more walking we found us ourselves at the marina proper, where we got a close up view of the youth Americas Cup boats...

What a setting!

 ... and to Fisherman's Wharf for Clam Chowder in a sour dough bowl. Delish.

Tasty as

Matt decided he needed to burn off some of the weight he had gained over the last two weeks, by visiting the old style arcade, where he beat the machine at arm wrestling. That's his story anyway!

Strong man!

And then to the airport. And it really was the end of the trip... Sad faces all round - but what a trip its been. Now to planning for our Christmas NZ tiki tour take 2. Can't wait!