San Francisco

I've just had my first bout of unpleasant travelling experiences...and instead of being able to share the troubles with someone else, I had my mad five minutes and scraped myself off the floor....

First, I had a ridiculous amount of money in liquid toiletries taken off me at Sydney. The recent terrorist paranoia of the United States have created a situation where barrels of the stuff is being taken off uninformed individuals.

Then...I don't think you have driven until you have driven in San Francisco...give me Australia any day, this was scary..and I had satellite navigation!!! Before embarking on this drive to my city hotel, I picked up my car...they have given me a really fun 'Chrysler' style car with lots of character. I noticed a few dents on it and reported them straight away but on arriving at the hotel, the valet parking guy noticed another small dent on the bumper. I called the car rental place to report yet another dent to add to the growing number and guess what? They had no record of my previous complaint!! I had to inform them all over again, express my anger at their complacent attitude and tell them I would (and I did) take photographic evidence..

It was such a rough start to an otherwise great day.

I only had late afternoon onwards to explore the city (I shall be returning in just under a week). You know, I love San Francisco already... It has such a good feeling about it, so cosmopolitan and so effortlessly cool. I can only describe it as New York on great slopes and muscle relaxants!

I got sucked into the fabulous shopping opportunities (of course), saw jeep limos so big and 'box-like' they needed all two lanes and the pavement to turn a corner, and went to Chinatown.

Chinatown is huge! There is a strong chinese and spanish population in San Francisco. In Chinatown, it really is like stepping into Beijing, although it is not so flat and there are more cars. The area is so authentic, the Chinese even have their own banks! I had some delicious sushi and made some friends in the restaurant (people are generally really friendly).

There are some great street artisits in San Francisco. I have already seen tap dancing and a beat box set. There are also lots of mini protests...usually about the sin in the world and the importance of marriage. All of this seems quite pointless as San Francisco is gay capital of the world...and people are open and happy with it..it's how it should be!

I'm leaving early for my journey along the coast tomorrow...perhaps the driving will get better!