US of A

Arrived after a long journey in Hollywood and went straight to bed!! Woke early the next day refreshed and ready to explore... wandered around the vast streets of Hollywood, saw the Chinese theatre on Hollywood Boulevard - walked the walk of fame and a little of Sunset Boulevard. Saw our first glimpse of the Hollywood sign. Decided that it was all a bit chaotic with the cars (4 lanes of relentless traffic!) and headed up to the Observatory in Griffith Park. (It took 2 buses to get there and was a bit of a mission but we were overwhelmed by everyones friendliness!) Got an amazing view of the city (smog and all) and the Hollywood Hills. The next day we got on the free hostel bus to Santa Monica and had a paddle in the North Pacific. We walked along the board walk to Venice beach which was a major contrast to the peaceful upmarket Santa Monica Beach - almost like Camden by the sea!! Loved the beaches but have decided in general that L.A. is really overrated!! Day 3 we spent 8 hours on the Greyhound bus stopping only once at Coalinga Junction... in the middle of nowhere, it smelt like shit!! The 8 hour journey was worth it though when we drove over Bay Bridge to see the stunning nightscape of San Franciso. Today we set off on foot walking past Grace Cathedral and through Nob Hill (I'm not joking, this is a real place, hehe!!) From there we wandered into China Town which was colouful and lively, around the corner we found the Italian part of town (North beach i think), so bizaar to step out of China, into Italy!! We carried on up telegraph hill and i went up Coit Tower where there were absolutely spectacular views across the city, beautiful! We walked down the hill to Fishermans wharf and watched hundreds of sealions on Pier 39 and saw Alkatraz (didn't really fancy paying $25 to go over to it although i've read a little about it). We carried on along the wharf to the Maritime Historical Park and into Fort Mason Park when we decided it was time to head back uo Russian Hill and back to the hostel for a pitstop before checking out Union Square. I think we must've walked 10 miles but it was worth it and i've fallen head over heels for San Francisco already, I absolutely love it!!