An over-night flight gets me to New York early morning, and I head straight into Manhattan to stay with my friend Dasom (who is from South Korea, I met in Canada, and is doing an internship in NY!). Dasom was an awesome host, and she basically memorized an entire New York City guide! So she was giving me lots of information as we walked around. Better than the BS I usually make up haha
The weather was beautiful (contrary to all the forecasts I looked up!) so we headed via Wall Street to the Staten Island Ferry, for the best (and free) way to see the Statue of Liberty! We had heard before that there is nothing to do on Staten Island, and most people just get straight back on the return ferry! We tried to find something however, and there is a nice 9/11 Memorial near the water. Other than that, we couldn’t find anything else really worth seeing! So we did just get back on the next ferry.
Continuing around the harbour there is a large statue that looks kind of destroyed, on inspection we read that it was actually inside the World Trade Center Plaza for three decades before the attacks on 9/11. The damaged statue was moved to the park as a memorial and a constant flame lit in front of it.
We walked to the other end of Wall Street to see the infamous Bull (grab his balls for good luck?) and up to Ground Zero where construction is well under way. There is a beautiful memorial opening on the 10th anniversary this year, so we were not able to see that, but there is a small memorial exhibition near by.
After a rest (and a drink!) at South Street Seaport, we walked onto Brooklyn Bridge, before Vegan Dim Sum in China Town! An awesome-action-packed first day! 
New York, Day 02 »« Golden Gate Bridge
So leaving it to the very last minute, after Alcatraz I walk around to Fort Mason and get the bus to the Golden Gate Bridge!! The most iconic site in San Francisco, featured in endless Movies and the intro to Full House, you have to see it. I won’t bore you with statistics you can read on wikipedia or depressing stories about how many people commit suicide off the bridge each year (or week/day!). Just look at the pictures!
Actually I was kind of shitting myself walking along the bridge (yeah I’m not so great with heights), so I just took the pictures I wanted, walked half way, and retreated back to solid land!! Then slowly made my way to the airport. Next stop, New York!
New York, New York! Day 01 »« Alcatraz
My visit to Alcatraz was a lot “less nicolas-cage-and-sean-connery” and more “tourists-on-a-boat”, but its a great tour. The island was a Military fort and prison before a becoming a federal prison from 1934-1963. The Rock was literally just that, until families, staff and eventually prisoners, started gardening and planting on imported soil. Today, large trees grow on the island and the flower gardens are still maintained.
Its claimed there were no successful escapes from Alcatraz, but there were numerous attempts, often ending violently, and in 1962, 3 prisoners carried out an intricate plan. Using spoons, they dug around their cell vents, climbed up through the wall space and made it to the island shore with their makeshift raincoat-rafts washed up on nearby land! Mythbusters did an Alcatraz special, and concluded that it was possible! So while officially noted as drowned, their bodies were never found, and a paddle washed up on Angel Island.
So will we get a death-bed-message from the last of the 3 one day? Or perhaps a post-dated biography of the events. It would be a hell of a story!
Golden Gate Bridge »« San Francisco Mission District
The Cable Car in San Francisco is a bit of a rort at $5 a go, but you gotta do it. Unfortunately I was pushed inside for most of the trip, but after everyone got off at Lombard Street I was right at the front, hangin’ off the side, all the way down hill From there I walked around San Francisco Bay to Fort Mason and some lady gave me a free ticket to an art exhibition! (Didn’t stay in there long though) I found a Farmer’s Market and a stall selling awesome Vegan Gluten Free Crepes! Strawberry-banana-choc! Good fuel to walk all the way back to Pier 31 to buy a ticket for Alcatraz, and down towards Bay Bridge and back into town.
Next day, a couple of Canadian guys at the hostel had a Convertible Camaro! So we went for a drive in the morning, roof down, before a visit to the Giants’ Stadium. Then in the afternoon I went to the Mission District.
San Francisco Mission District »« San Francisco! Day 1
