I wake up bright and early and eager to explore. So where to first? I check out Alcatraz - this could be a major blow - I remember looking at this a while ago and the word was that it gets pre booked weeks in advance, so I might be screwed. However they still have tickets for Tuesday, so although I'm eager to go on a boat, it will have to wait a few days. In that case I decide I'll go for a stroll, check out the waterfront some and find the GB offices. Before leaving I wash all my clothes (well not all of them, obviously) and leave them to dry in the bath. An evening of drying clothes with a hair-dryer awaits. So I first go to the home of CBS interactive. It's about 15 minutes walk from my hotel. On the way there I can see some of the monstrous skyscrapers up close.
It's November and near the coast so you'd expect it to be cold, but I'm still melting in this double coat thing I bought. I go back to the hotel and dump the outer coat. Next up is the sea front. It's 5 minutes walk and I'm there. The bay bridge takes my breath away as it comes into view - it's just so big and so far away.
I wander northward along the front just soaking up the atmosphere. It really is like a clean crisp summer's day here, it's kinda crazy to imagine back home it's both cold and early evening. I reach the exploratorium. I wasn't totally sure on it, but my feet are indicating they are approaching a threshold, so I decide to go in. It's basically a science museum kinda thing on a pier founded by Dr. Robert Oppenheimer - the brother of the other one. Lots of exciting exhibits and a temporary display on automata - Steve would love this stuff. Loads of little creatures and model people that animate and do cool stuff when you press a button. Plenty of other interesting science stuff too. Probably the best bit was that they had some rocking chairs at the end of the pier that I could just sit in and look out at the bay and treasure island. I tell a lie - the best bit was that they had the exhibits, but they also showed you how the sausage was made, so for instance they had a whole section on cells, and they had literal laboratories behind glass windows with microscopes pointing at things which were piped out to TV screens. They also had the prototyping workshop where they make all the physics-based exhibits, and that looks like an awesome place.
Anyway, I buy the obligatory mug and make my way back to the hotel. I swing by the old Whiskey Media offices on the way, and they look a bit beaten up - crumbling brickwork for sure.
Its only mid afternoon, so I could do and see more, but I decide to chill and give my feet a rest - I have done a lot of walking this week. I swing back past the safeway and grab a drink and some lip balm (Why am I plagued with these constant trivial ailments?) and then after typing this up I pop across the street to the Walgreen's pharmacist. Pharmacies are kinda crazy in the US - they sell pretty much everything you need - sure the drugs and medicines, the beauty products, but they also have rows of fridges of drinks and entire aisles of food products. Small electrical items too. They have the best selection of Snapple yet, but still no banana. I don't think it's going to happen.