San Francisco, California
My next stop was Palo Alto, in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Marcia, my cousin-twice-removed, lives. The first thing we did after I arrived was to go into the city where Marcia gave me a personalised driving-and-exploring tour of the city and landmarks like Coit Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge (which, though pretty, I have no hard evidence is actually orange thanks to fog every time I saw it). We learned together that not one of the streets in Chinatown has street parking, but earned a yummy dim sum meal for our troubles, throughout which we couldn't understand a word our waitress was saying.
The following day we took the scenic drive through redwood forests to Santa Cruz, where I hoped I might find surf lessons, only to discover that the only spot that had any real surf combined with not risking being dashed on the rocks by each wave was cleared for the day for another surf contest. Nonetheless we enjoyed the bustling Santa Cruz boardwalk (a little like Blackpool but with suitable weather), the world's first surf museum, some basking sealions, a classic surf diner and the sight of people who can surf properly risking being dashed on the rocks by each wave.
Marcia has season tickets to baseball games with the San Francisco Giants, so it was only fair that we got to see them play a home game against the Milwaukee Brewers and win. Sorry folks, but baseball's more interesting to watch than cricket, period. Of course not only was the game fun to watch and eventually understand, but there was all the American ballgame culture - the big-screen skits during the breaks, the Hammond organ music fillers, the walking food and drink stalls and those "novelty" foam hands - as well as, thanks to the season tickets, a stunning view over the San Francisco Bay. Incidentally, the Giants were already out of the running for the league thanks to a dismal early season but this game did put the Brewers out of contention for the league themselves by beating them.
The following day we went to Alcatraz, for which I echo my friends' recommendations. We took the audio tour which guides you round all the cells and facilities, and lets you check out what solitary confinement was like, with gritty commentary from inmates and other past residents of the island. It was particularly interesting to see how a trio of inmates managed to escape using basically just spoons, through their crafty digging out of their vents.
The same day, I took a ride on the outside of one of the city's famous cable cars - an adventure in itself as there are just inches between you and the ground and parked traffic; their speeding up and braking down San Francisco's steep hills (great views, by the way) relies on the conductor's effectiveness at pulling a great big lever; and the absence of cars on some of the intersections seems to rely on the audacity with which the conductor rings the bells. It's one of these rare oddities which - in my opinion, for shame - would never be approved for construction today thanks to probably breaking every safety regulation in the book.
Over the week we also met Marcia's two daughters and their children (my third cousins) with whom we had lots to talk about their memories of my closer relatives and so on. This tour being in part to get to know more of my extended family, it's been great to meet so many people who already know my immediate family but up until now have barely seen me except occasionally as a child.