As far as the transition from Airport to hotel goes this was the smoothest one I’ve ever had. My bag was the first one to arrive at baggage claim and in no time I got a transfer to my hotel in the Mission District in time for a bar crawl I pre booked.

I arrive at a bar on Polk Street only to find out they stopped doing the bar crawl a while back. At this point I was tired, jet lagged, and I’d been up since 7am the previous morning in Dallas, and let’s not forget San Francisco is 3 hours behind Dallas. At this point I imagine most people would’ve lost their patience.

As I start fearing the worst, an Irishman man named Miles took me to the sports bar next door, McTeagues Saloon. He told the bar staff about my bar crawl voucher and said I could have as many drinks as I liked on the house. Though McTeagues didn’t serve food, Myles said if I needed to go for food, I could come back for more free booze. This was music to my ears! I definitely got value for my money when you consider I spent £4.71 on the voucher.

I can’t ever recall going to any bar or pub where the staff, and regulars were friendly (I’m open to hearing about other places regardless of the location). For the duration of the Champions League game between Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid, Myles sat and spoke with me. There were points during our conversation where I’m sat there thinking this guy probably had things to do but sacrificed his time just to make sure I had a good time. I never realised people could be this nice. The staff kept checking in on me to ensure I was good and had everything I needed.

Myles introduced me to Eamonn, he moved to San Francisco from Ireland years ago. He knew the area inside out. Eamonn was the go to man if I want to know the best things to do in San Francisco and where to go. If you ever needed a laugh with someone whose sense of humour was dry and dirty, Eamonn was your man.

Eamonn introduced me to Antal who was part of the McTeagues team. I rarely get jealous of others and he managed to achieve this within 2 minutes of meeting him. As Antal and I spoke about our mutual love for Manchester United he showed me a picture he took with a hero of mine, Sir Alex Ferguson. Imagine someone meeting your hero, then showing you a photo and describing their experience of meeting that person. As cool as it is hearing about it you can’t help but feel a hint of jealousy.

The last 3-5 hours of the day were a blank. The tiredness caught up with me and at this point I’d been awake for about 35-40 hours. No amount of free cider was going to rescue me from the jet lag, lack of sleep, etc so I end up collapsing on my bed. Considering I hadn’t set an alarm I was lucky enough to wake up in time to shower and get a bus to the port to catch the cruise to Alcatraz.

I had a ticket to see both Angel Island and Alcatraz. Our first stop was Angel Island where our guide Robert took us for a drive around the Island and enlightened us with some history of the place. Truth be told, the only reason I bought the ticket with Angel Island included is because they were the only ones left, otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered. Although I enjoyed it I wouldn’t have been fussed if I missed out.

Next stop, Alcatraz, I took the audio tour. It was the first time I’d done an audio tour and I loved every moment of it. The audio headset had 4 prisoners and 4 correctional officers narrating at different points of the tour which made this a unique experience.

The tour ended in the gift shop where I met ex correctional officer George DeVicenzi, I bought his book which he signed and I had the pleasure of a 5 minute chat with him. He’s one of the most interesting guys I’ve spoken to. Apart from the answering the usual questions he probably gets he went detail about the injuries he suffered working at the prison. Lets just say I didn’t envy him.

Normally I don’t bother buying anything from gift shops but there are times when you have to make an exception and I’m glad I did. George’s book is one of the best I’ve read; it’s full of detailed accounts from his tenure at Alcatraz. If you venture to Alcatraz, buy it.

I’d bought the city pass which gave me unlimited travel around the city and entry into some tourist spots for the duration of my stay. I used it at the California Academy of Science which had lot of rare animals. I got to touch a snake which was a weird feeling, I’m no snake fan but there are times when curiosity gets the better of you.

Another place which the city pass gives you access to is the Exploratorium which is public learning laboratory that looks at the world through science, art and human perception. It’s another place which provides a unique experience and one of those places which makes science and being a geek look cool. It’s the sort of place I’d imagine my Sister enjoying.

I went back to McTeagues to watch some basketball, seeing as I knew nothing about what was going on Eamonn filled me in on the Golden State Warriors attempt to finish the season unbeaten. He introduced me to Terry and Tish, both of whom had just moved to San Francisco from England. It turned out Tish use to live around 10 minutes from me, talk about a small world. As nice as it is meeting locals it was also good to chat to some English people. They knew just about as much as I did about San Francisco so we swapped tips on the area. I’m not sure I was much help to them.

The next day I went up Coit Tower, which for $8 is worth going for the panoramic view. I managed to get in for free without realising as the man operating the lift thought I had a stamp on my wrist, this was from the previous night at a bar. In my defence I didn’t know there was an entry fee let alone where the kiosk was to pay, I assumed we paid when we got to the entrance.

Although I was enjoying my time travelling there were one or two unsavoury moments. As good as it is travelling I believe it’s important to share these moments as well as the good times.

I was crossing the road minding my own business when I went past a road rage incident. The guy crossing the road opposite had what looked like a heated exchange with a driver. I was in my own world at the time and didn’t really take notice of what was going on around me.  He probably thought I was laughing at him or something. He squared up to me and got ultra aggressive.

I don’t know if this happens to anyone else but usually when I snap out of “my own world” I tend to feel that shock element as I gather the reality of my surroundings. So I’ve got that feeling mixed in with someone who for whatever reason is angry with me.

The last thing I wanted to do was get into any hassle in another country, especially one where gun laws are fairly relaxed.  As I walked off he started following me, there was a bar a couple of metres away so I went inside and he went the other way. If there’s any chance to diffuse a situation, take it!

I thought something wasn’t right with him. A couple of minutes after leaving the bar I passed him, he looked straight through me like he hadn’t seen me before, you wouldn’t have thought we crossed paths moments before.

After chatting to some people later on about what happened, people could only speculate that the guy might have mental issues. I didn’t feel inclined to speculate. I’ve been told the mental health system is poor around here, but for all I know the guy might have had a really shit day.

Of course I couldn’t go to San Francisco without going to the Golden Gate Bridge. The surrounding area was usually foggy because of where it’s situated; it made for a beautiful setting. Most people rode bikes along the bridge, I chose to walk it. It took me around 15-20 minutes to walk the length of it before taking a break to admire the scenery of the city. When you’re there taking in the view you come to realise the last thing you’d want to do is another 15-20 minute walking back the other way.

A short bus journey later I was at the Palace of Fine Arts. The monument structure itself is nice, the place as a whole is good for a stroll and relaxation. You could probably have a picnic there on a good day. As a matter of fact there are many good spots in San Francisco you could have a picnic with a good view: Delores Park, Washington Square Park, Golden Gate Park to name a few.

Having done everything I wanted with a day to spare, I spent the last day going on and off the bus going around Delores Park, Haight Ashbury and North Beach. On the day Barack Obama was in San Francisco and one of the buses I was on drove past the road where his hotel was situated. The road was empty, police cars blocked both ends of the road. Whenever he stayed at a hotel the five floors above and below the floor he was staying on would be empty. I never thought I’d get this close to the President.

I almost missed my flight to LA thanks to the transfer hire company. I was left waiting outside the hotel after checking out for over 90 minutes. I phoned them numerous times with some heated exchanges. The car even drove past me 2 or 3 times, even after I tried flagging it down.

The car finally came with just over 75 minutes till my flight. He claims he was given the wrong address, I told the transfer company the address more than 5 times so goodness knows how bad their communication was internally. After all the panic, I made it to the departure gate with less than 30 minutes to spare.

San Francisco is by far my favourite city in America. I think of it as a bigger, better version of Brighton. The thing with America is there are many different cities which suit different people. If you love theme parks and water parks, Orlando is the ideal place. If you’re looking a place with a good beach, you’ve got Miami.  San Francisco is a vibrant place, there’s always something to do. If I ever move abroad San Francisco would be my first choice.