San Francisco, CA

Another early start – up at 5am to ensure we reached the airport in plenty of time. After the seemingly customary minor delay and gate change, we were on our way. One nice things about the design of today’s plane – we finally had the opportunity to “turn left” after boarding! Within minutes of getting away from the airport one word sprang to mind: Character. Rows and rows of lovely old terraces somehow clinging to ridiculously steep hills. Before long we were at our own lovely old terrace – the “Inn On Castro”, a terrace converted to a small hotel. And sure enough it too is full of character. A small room, but wood-panelled with a big bay window, even with a glimpse of water in the distance. Off we went for a wander to check out the local area – The Castro is the gay and lesbian centre of town, a bit like Oxford st in Sydney but it covers a few blocks instead of part of a street. And it has trams. And trolley buses. And trains. I didn’t even know cities still had trolley buses, so there you go. We jumped on a tram (ok, a streetcar, not named desire) to see more of town. I’m happy to report it’s so very different to LA. It has a really friendly feel to it, and it felt somehow familiar, a little bit Melbourne – maybe it’s the trams, and the cold. The cold! Yes we were warned, and they were right. The sun is nice but oh that wind is bitter. They even have a Westfield – I thought we’d left San Francisco and ended up in Miranda for a moment. Oh and just for the record I guess curved escalators aren’t so special – this Westfield had them in abundance. For dinner we wandered about, past the delightfully named Squat and Gobble restaurants and the Sit ‘n’ Spin laundromat, to end up at The Sausage Factory, where an hilarious waiter brought forth the most delicious Italian food, along with, to use his words, “a dirty joke to help ease digestion”. I won’t repeat it here, but yes, I think it served its purpose – I’m not sure was more funny – the joke itself, or the fact we were being told it by a waiter in the middle of a beautiful, oak-panelled Italian eating establishment. Whatever, he certainly earned his generous tip that night. San Francisco, so far it’s been a delight!