It's Fun to Stay at Le YMCA, N'est pas?

Howdy there folks!!

I'm currently holed up in San Francisco, California!! Not a bad little place, though i've only been here a day... and how much have i covered?! LOTS. I've seen all the sights AND been to A&E - hell yes. What a day indeed! Let's get down to the nitty gritty then shall we??

There's nothing much else to report re: Alaska. Simply, it was amazing, and i'd love to go out there again in the true mid-summer where it doesn't get dark until 2am. Hence the title of my last post - 'The All Night Lights' - Alaska stays lit now right past 10pm, which to me with my dodgy eyes was HEAVEN. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for San Fran - hence me going to A&E, but that comes into play later on in this sordid little tale...

So, talking of titles - why have i named this one accordingly?? Well, it's San Fran isn't it - the US's answer to Brighton (though i don't recall anyone actually posing the question in the first place... so why answer it?) Not my thing, and not the reason why i've come here - i'm more into 'peach melba' ice cream if you get my drift, as opposed to 'rocky road' flavour... the reason for coming here is to see the sights! And goddam there are QUITE a few of them, that's for sure... but again, i'm jumping ahead of myself (it didn't take long did it?) I'll keep explaining the title...

The French bit. It seems that California is the favoured holiday destination of the French! I noticed this in San Diego, and now again in San Francisco - it's like i'm in bloody Quebec or Paris! Everyone i ask a question to is French and denies all knowledge of the English language - why?? Oh, and one of my room-mates is a French dude... which is fine... except for the fact that in the middle of the night i thought i heard someone being severely mauled by a bear. But no... it was no bear, it was his SNORING. Now, y'all know i can't tolerate that right?? It drives me UP THE WALL, incase you hadn't guessed!! Out came the i-pod and 6 hours of the most broken sleep in the world last night... not good. On an aside - girls, how do you cope sleeping next to a guy at night when he snores?? If i were you i'd have already placed that pillow securely over his face and smothered him into the next life.

Anyway - onto San Fran itself (as i arrived here late last night, so saw nothing then - yesterday was purely flying time!). How is it?? As i expected?? Yes and no. I'd heard a mix of things off folks before i came - namely that there are LOADS of homeless and some random weird folks around - both of which are true. Also heard it was a beautiful place... that also is very true! The city has so many things to see and do that i had to organise my day with military strategic planning! Did i pull it off?? Ofcourse, it's me!

Kicked off the day by again cooking another world-class set of pancakes (i unofficially crowned myself in Hollywood, having seen what the girls and Alex could cook up!) and setting off for The Rock aka Alcatraz! I always thought Alcatraz was Alkatraz - i was wrong, but nevertheless, let's not get bogged down in the semantics shall we??

I rocked upto the ticket office to see the sign ''Sold Out Until Thursday Afternoon'' - this alarmed me. Thursday afternoon will see me riding that big ol' Greyhound bus for the best part of 27 hours... i won't be IN San Fran then. Lame! So i switched on the British accent and approached the ticket lady - asked, and she said no. So i tried my best 'puppy dog' look (not a good look for me) and she managed to pull a ticket out of thin air for me - RESULT!! So i happily boarded the ferry and sailed over to The Rock. Have to say - it was awesome, and was exactly what i was expecting. It was just so damn cool to walk around the big ol' cell blocks and see everything and learn about all the ne'er-do-wells that spent time in there aka Al 'Scarface' Capone, 'Machine-Gun' Kelly etc. and also learnt about the only escapees - it was like a real life Prison Break!! Hannerz and Jay - i know you boys would have enjoyed it!! I felt like shouting out ''Now... we run!!'' but there wasn't a prompt and i wasn't feeling that lively!

One thing i noticed whilst there was how many US people use video recorders to record everything on film. That sounds cool n all... but when was the last time any of you actually VIEWED what you'd recorded?? I for certain cannot recall watching a home-movie in recent memory... well, except for ones featuring Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson (not at the same time though... oh baby that'd rule...) but we won't go into that!! I can't ever say i've watched one of my own movies (mine aren't of the same ilk as Paris or Pamela's - believe me, they don't exist!) and i'm damned if i know anyone else who's watched back their holiday movies. Weddings, sure, skydives (hi mum), sure, but holidays?! I recall recording when i went to Orlando back in 1999 and i've not seen it in the past 9 years... probably because it's on a VCR, but that's not the point. Well, what is the point to this paragraph?? There isn't one - it was just an observation / conundrum. I'm afraid you won't ever be able to get back the minute you just spent reading this little aside. Sorry. So onwards...

After that i headed out for some lunch, which AGAIN consisted of Caesar salad (i've gone mad on it - had 5 in 4 days!) - guess it's a rejection of all that meat i had in the south (make a joke out of that... go on... *sigh*). Also happened upon an incredibly hot waitress called Saidy. Boys, we're talking so hot that your eyeballs melt in your sockets when you glance at her... yes! She picked up on my accent (it never gets old!) and sat down and chatted to me about my journeys. I guess in San Fran, they don't care if you randomly take time off! She's actually from Chicago it turns out - where i'll be heading, and she got real excited so i was thinking ''say stay at mine, say stay at mine'' - it never happened, as she's in SF now, but i've got a list of cool places to check out in my wallet, so that should be pretty killer. Oh, and incase anyone cares which Caesar i had - i had fresh crab and shrimp (straight out the sea).

Next... well... this is more like a confession. In my guidebook i saw an advert for ''Cartoon Art Museum'' which immediately peaked my childish interests. Yes, the 10 year old boy inside me (in a non-Michael Jackson way) piped up and said ''go go go'' - you see, i was / am a bit of a comic book geek. I don't read them anymore (honest), but i read them religiously when i was younger - X-Men, Spiderman, Incredible Hulk - they were my Bible! So i naturally had to indulge!!

How was it?? Pretty cool! LOADS of strips everywhere to read and look at. Some of the cells in there are worth in excess of $100,000 - so there's nothing childish about that amount of money! We're talking ORIGINAL Looney Tunes and Walt Disney stuff - wow! Always been a fan of animation, so it was a pretty cool way to pass a couple of hours!

Next on my hit list was the big thing you associate with San Fran... the Golden Gate Bridge! I, naturally, assumed that Americans are just lazy and that i could walk there no hassle - it looked close enough physically. I now put this down to what i have termed ''The Vegas Complex'' - this is something that Hannerz and I found out oh too soon in Vegas. Basically, Americans build all their signs WAY too big, so to a non-US person like you or I (or not you if you're from the US) the place looks really close. The Strip in Vegas seemed to stretch an eternity and the walk to the bridge was no different. After 3 miles, i plain gave up and felt a bit glum as i couldn't reach the bridge and all my photos were blurry messes... so i started to walk home when i noticed a boat advertising $15 boat rides to the bridge!! Result!! Right??

Yes, yes it was. And no, this isn't where the A&E story kicks in, but it's coming. The boat was basically a little fishing vessel, and we drove out and saw the bridge just as the sun was setting, which was beyond beautiful and really romantic... for me, myself and I to experience. Well worth the money and i'm very glad that boat was there, got some crackin' shots to show you all. It's one hell of a big bridge!!

Pull back into port at 7.45 and it's already dusk - this is no Alaska folks, this place gets dark too early! So i quickly beat a trail home - i'm like a reverse vampire - if i 'see' the darkness i'm sure to expire... or at least put myself in A&E ha! Before all that, i happened across Pier 39 - which is home to a huge colony of Sea Lions. Yes, WILD sea lions all belching up their food and making an incredible amount of noise - it was awesome to see! And no, a sea lion did not put me in A&E, though i'm sure it could have.

No, i injured myself when crossing the road - as a tram decided that red lights mean nothing and charged through towards me. I've read enough horror stories about trams to know that you don't let one of them hit you - they don't stop! So i jumped across to the pavement... and missed fractionally, causing me to shear away the top 1/2cm of my big toe on the curb. Straight off. Ouch. Cue some hobbling - it's nothing i thought... then i looked down to see the blood pouring out of my toe...

Those who know me know all too well that me and my blood do NOT mix well. Seeing my own blood causes me to lose consciousness VERY fast. I'm such a wimp. Cut me AND make me eat a tomato and sit back with a bucket of popcorn because you're in for a treat. Though i do get really ratty when i'm bleeding, so don't laugh.

I quickly dived into a hotel where the owners remarked ''oh my god that looks horrible'' - yea, thanks - and they gave me some plasters and cellotape (yes, cellotape) - so i strapped it round me and hobbled on to the pharmacy where the pharmacist told me to go to A&E as it looked like it needed stitches. Ace. So i went THERE. Boy, there are some craaaaazy people in that A&R unit - they scared me, so i just clutched my toe for comfort. I eventually got in to see a nurse who pulled off the dressing to see that the chunk of skin was still attached to me (yea, i'll give you disgustingly in-depth details - i had to live it damn it!!) which she said was good as i won't need stitches. Result! And my levels of consciousness soon recovered. Really, i AM that soft with that stuff.

And that's it - that's my day!! Here i am now, back in my hostel at 11pm typing this to you. No doubt Pierre (that may or may not be his name) is already awakening the Cracken from the depths of the Pacific to come and engulf the boats in San Fran bay with his voluminous bellows, so it's just as well my i-pod is fully charged!!

What lies ahead is a 27 hour bus journey, which is NOT cool. Luckily it's ''only'' 18 hours on the Greyhound, then the remainder on a little bus, which goes through the Rockies - so at least the scenery will be stunning! Or so i hope!! If not, it's i-pod all the way. As ever.

So on that note - it's goodbye from me for now. Should Yellowstone have the capability to communicate information down a telephone line (aka the internet), i'll fill you in on my exploits up there. Will i find Yogi Bear?? Will i see BooBoo?? Will they swipe-a my pic-a-nic basket?? Time will tell!

Speak soon folks!

Aaron! x