Day 7 - San Francisco Cont.

Today's plan was Golden Gate Park and the beach. We stopped off at a place called Mel's Drive-In (which somewhat of a misnomer since you couldn't drive in - at least not without smashing the place up a bit in the process) for breakfast where I ordered Las Vegas Silver Dollar pancakes. It turns out they're called silver dollar for their small size, but what they lacked in diameter they made up in number - I don't think I've ever seen so much pancake on one plate.

After we'd stuffed our faces once again we headed up one of San Francisco's many hills to a row of houses known as the Painted Ladies, on account of their being painted a variety of different colours - it's hard tell though if the neighbours agreed to paint them those colours or they just couldn't agree one what colour to use.

Between there and Golden Gate Park lies Haight Ashbury, an area with a mix of uber-trendy shops and hippie shops selling tie-dye clothing and drug paraphernalia (a bit like Camden really). The shop we were interested in though was Amoeba Records, a huge music store that sells new and second hand CDs for as little as a dollar (even albums, nice). After an hour or so we left the shop $40 poorer and 10 albums richer. That should keep us going in the car for a while.

Eventually we made it to Golden Gate Park, and the tranquil Japanese Tea Garden, a shady break from the California sunshine. By this point it was getting pretty warm so we abandonded the beach plan and caught a crowded bus up to the Golden Gate bridge to take in the view and feel the cool sea breeze.

In the afternoon we indulged in a spot of retail therapy, trying to work out which shops are cheaper than in England (Gap turns out to be just as expensive in America as at home), and how much we can realistically carry back in our suitcases.

We rounded the day off with a couple of drinks (where we finally got our ID checked for the first time) and dinner at The Stinking Rose, an Italian restaurant specialising in garlic. Almost everything on the menu has at least a few cloves in - stinky indeed.