Golden Gate Bridge

Chris made us all another great breakfast, I think Meg is a lucky woman, and then I started packing my stuff. Before I came to California Meg asked me if there was anything that I especially wanted to do (not including Yosemite of course), and there were only two things. Firstly, coming to America was mostly about seeing Meg again, our camino adventure felt like a lifetime ago and I missed her very much. The only other thing I wanted to do was to get the classic tourist photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge with me in the foreground. So that was the plan for today.

It was another beautiful, sunny day in San Francisco, until we got to the bridge, i had forgotten that a lot of the images of the bridge that i had seen were of the towers poking through the fog, and true to form it was very foggy. when we got to the other side it was clear and so we drove on round to Fort Baker. It had been an Army Post up until the late 1990's but was now a swanky park with what I imagine were extremely expensive homes (probably former officer's quarters) and a very expensive hotel. Architecturally the buildings were very 1930's style and there was no difficulty in imagining what it must have been like in the years leading up to WW2.

Chris and I went into the hotel whilst Meg parked the car, we thought maybe we could have a cocktail, but then we saw the prices, neither of us wanted to sell a kidney so we headed for the exit.

We did manage to get the iconic picture as the fog cleared. It was a lovely space, and the view of the bridge, even with the fog was amazing. We headed back into the city, and went for a coffee and cake, it was excellent. we also saw the Hidden Garden Steps, which were as you would expect for San Francisco, very steep, but covered in beautifully illustrated tiles.

After that it was back to the house for a relaxing afternoon. I got the chance to play Chris' Taylor guitar, it sounded great, even with me playing it. I got to meet Meg and Chris' daughter Brae, named after Scara Brae in Orkney, she was lovely and reminded me of my own daughter Ruth, who also has tattoos, loves Lord of the Rings and loves Orkney.

Chris made us all one of the best steak dinners I have ever had, and then I spent some more time sorting out my packing. I was sad to think that my trip was coming to an end. Tomorrow was my last day, the only thing planned was going to church with Meg and Chris. My flight wasn't until 1745, so at least i had most of the day to spend with them.Read more