I'm not trying to get out, I'm trying to get in!

Saturday 19th July

So the next morning we went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

It was a quirky little north African restaurant which was a little unusual because it served American breakfasts.

Our waitress was a little eccentric but it was a nice start to the day.

Then we thought we would enquire about a day trip to Alcatraz,  thinking that it would be good to go there today. When we asked about this at reception they told us that this tour was sold out until the middle of August! There was on one other way to get onto a tour, that was to queue up at the ticket office at fisherman's wharf ridiculously early the next morning for a chance at getting one of 100 first come first served tickets that they issue. We figured that if we wanted to go there, and we did, that this was the only way to make it. I find it somehow ironic that from the 1930s to the 1960s prisoners were looking for every which way to escape the prison and now people are lining up to get in!

Reception advised us that the best way to see San Francisco was to get one of the hop on hop off bus tours like I did in LA.  This would take you round the main attractions in the city.... Except Alcatraz!

We opted for this tour however and it was good because it was narrated like the one in LA but this time by a real person.

It took us initially around to the Golden Gate Bridge. By the time we got there the fog was just starting to lift so was able to get some fantastic views of the bridge, alcatraz and over to the city.

The route then extended out to Sausalito, a pretty little town just over the golden gate Bridge with plenty of shops and eateries. We had planned to get some lunch there but the plan was to get back to fisherman's wharf and enquire about alcatraz trips.
So we stayed on until the tour reached fisherman's wharf. Unfortunately lady at the ticket booth could only repeat what the concierge at the hotel said, all tours sold out until August 17th but we could come to the ticket office very early in the morning to queue for a ticket, however there was no guarantee that either would get one. She advised us to get there before 6am!

So the plan then was to get an early night to be up and ready the next morning.

We took a walk around fisherman's wharf and the famous pier 39 which is littered with cafes, restaurants and quirky little gift shops. The streets around have such a vibrant atmosphere of street entertainers, music and hoards of people.

We had a look around here for a while and saw the sea lions that congregate in the bay.  The place hasn't changed all that much since my last visit.... 16years ago.

The streets are still as steep as they used to beof course. Walked up 2 of these which are practically 40 degrees (not sure how accurate that guestimation is.) The view from the top was worth it though. So was the visit to Lombard Street,  home of the crookedest Street.  Here is a steep and windy Road that cars can actually drive down, albeit at walking pace. We walked down it to,  took some pictures of the cars coming down, wow it was steep.

Shortly after we headed to a nice little restaurant done out like a British pun.  Got chatting to some really nice american family again, they said how they loved our accent and asked where we were from.  We had a long conversation with them about all things America and Britain.
 They were from Texas.

From then we headed back to the hotel as it would be a very early start tomorrow... Wake up call at 4am!