Watch for flying cardboard

My second full day in San Francisco was just as packed as the first, but with a very different feeling. Today was COLD and foggy. I had been warned that it would be cool here, but I was downright chilly in jeans and a sweatshirt all day. I even started off the morning in shorts and a light sweater, but had to return to my hostel for a change of clothing after breakfast. Thinking that my breakfast location was fairly close I headed out to walk there. Not so much. Just a few blocks from my apartment a homeless man who hadn't even asked me for anything told me to go f*** myself and threw a pizza box at my head. Seriously--and the pizza box had be flattened down so it flew pretty well in a frisbee-like fashion and I actually had to duck. Good morning to you, too, dude!

After that eventful start and my hilly multiple mile walk to breakfast I was ready for some food. I also tried to West Coast chain Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (which I think is quite a stupid name). I was not impressed to find they use powder for their flavorings and still think Starbucks in the corporate-chain taste winner. I was able to figure out the bus to get back to the hotel, so I missed any more incidents with homeless people chucking random items at my head.

Next up it was time to meet a friend of a friend who lives out here for a mural tour she suggested. I headed to the part of town inhabited by mostly Mexican immigrants and was transported back to a place that I spent a month in during May and June (except cleaner and with safer tap water). Everything was similar to Mexico right down to the men making kissy noises on the street. The murals we toured were pretty cool and it was interesting to see the way they have transformed some neighborhoods. After the mural tour there was time for lunch at (where else?) a Mexican restaurant before using the BART train system (if we're counting it's mode of transportation number four for SF) to head out to the Embarcadero. From there I caught a street car (number 5) to Pier 33 and loaded up for my bay cruise.

The only photo from this trip with my not doing a terrible self-shot with a weird look on my face. Thanks Alex!

I decided not to go to Alcatraz for the reasons of 1. It's creepy, 2. It takes most of a day, and 3. It was sold out by the time I got around to checking into it. Okay, so it was mostly reason number 3, but in any case I didn't actually land on the island. I did take a cruise that took me under the Golden Gate Bridge and around the Alcatraz (three times, and I could have done without the third trip around). Yesterday this cruise was probably lovely and relaxed, but today it was damn cold. I chose to sit in the very first row on the second (open air) deck, but I was also worried about seasickness and figured this might help. I am, after all, the person who threw up on the Circle Line ferry to the Statue of Liberty in New York. However, the fierce freezing wind took my mind of all matters of seasickness. I would have given a lot of money for a pair of close-toed shoes, but who brings close-toed shoes on a trip to California? Not me.

The bridge was a little fogged in, but I still took a million pictures. I reminded myself of the time my family went to New York and my sister took about 45,000 pictures of the Statue of Liberty from the ferry, 44,999 which looked exactly the same. Oh well, have to take the pictures when you're there, right?

The Golden Gate Bridge with some fog right before we pass below it.

Alcatraz. I still think it's a creepy place.

After the cruise I got some coffee to warm up, as I was so cold I couldn't use my fingers properly. I then went on my own picture-taking tour of the house where they filmed Mrs. Doubtfire, the Full House opening shot (again), and Haight-Ashbury. I did it all on the public bus and was pretty proud of myself. On the last leg of my journey a man got on the bus, stared at me, and then asked if I was Russian. I said no, but he was obviously Russian, so I didn't want to insult him. He commented that Minnesota was cold (although Russia is probably colder) and then told me to enjoy visiting my boyfriend in San Francisco. Got to say that I've met my share of weirdos, from the lady who took off all her clothes on the street yesterday to the pizza box thrower to my Russian friend, San Francisco has not disappointed.

What ever happened to predictibility? The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV? You miss your old familiar friends, but they're waiting just around the bend. Everywhere you look (everywhere) there's a heart (there's a heart) I'm here to hold on to... I can pretty much see the picnic scene from the opening credits right now.

I saw an old hippie with a peace sign around his neck and a guy trying really, really hard to look like John Lennon during the 5 minutes I was in this neighborhood. Apparently the 60s live forever in San Francisco.

That was pretty much it for me. I'm going to bed so I can get up early tomorrow and start my drive back down to coastline to LA. I can't believe how fast the time has gone up here. San Francisco is pretty happening.