So time gallops on and my next stop is San Fransisco. Once again aribnb worked out well for me and I ended up sharing a three bedroom apartment in the Mission district with some other people that I barely saw. The accommodation was a bit basic but it was in the centre of one of the most expensive cities in the US, so something had to give.

I lucked out as usual with the people I met and I scored and invite for cocktail night at the Planetarium. On a Thursday evenings the California Academy of Sciences opens its doors for a special evening with cocktails and a show, plus a chance to have a look around. These nights are quite popular and so there was a bit of a queue.

Worth the wait though. Inside CAS there is a rainforest

up on the roof

Look! A white alligator

Mr Grumpy

The Mission is a lively, colourful area. Everywhere you look there are murals to be seen.

Another notable person who stimulated my mind was Guppy the ukulele playing tour guide, who took us on a walking tour around the Mission district and talked passionately about how the area is changing and how gentrification has displaced a lot of people and pushed the rents up.

(Sigh), we know a few places like that, don’t we?

In case you are wondering how the murals stay put without somebody graffiti-ing over them, they are sprayed with a substance so that any graffiti would just wipe off.

The Mission was at one time home to many working class Latino families, however many of them have now been pushed out due to rising rents and in their place have arrived the hipsters. Now the place is throbbing with cafes, restaurants, vintage clothing stores and all the other things that Hipsters require to live their life.

It does still manage to retain some of its character though, particularly the part where I stayed near 24th and Mission, which has a plethora of Mexican food available at a good price.