San Francisco

City by the Bay. First visit to America and I end up in San Francisco. Will I get a falsely rosy view of the USA?

A beautiful city with superb views. Steep inclines with cable cars (they look like trams) trundling along. Just like the movies/pictures/postcards. And of course the Golden Gate Bridge. The unforgettable Bridge. One of the most beautiful bridges in the world with its distinctive red. Golden Gate Red. Although I must admit I turned my back on the Bridge to look at a Kildeer and scrutinise a Scaup.

Less well known are that there are so many beautiful houses in SF. Whole streets of them. I don't mean the mansions but the terrace type things constructed probably early years of last century. And well maintained too.

Joined an interesting walking tour around parts of the City by an enthusiastic volunteer on the jet-lagged day I arrived.

The next day visited Muir Woods where there is a grove of old growth Redwoods. The tallest trees on Earth. They are old and large. Majestic things. "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep," Robert Frost

Passed through Sausalito too. A pretty sea-side town across the bay from San Francisco downtown. Similar to places like Williamstown near Melbourne. Took the ferry from there down to the City with great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, that infamous prison.

Stayed at the Youth Hostel initially then with a long-lost-recently-found friend, the ever smiling Ben Quah. He lives in Oakland across the Bay.