I had a week off between finishing at Babson College in Boston and starting my placement at Sun Microsystems in Menlo Park - near San Francisco. Ruth came out to stay with me for the week, and to explore...
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I decided to take the water taxi across Boston harbour to meet Ruth at the airport.
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The view back across Boston into the low sun was amazing.
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The next day we went for a walking tour round Fenway Park.
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Now that is a seriously big floodlight - no wonder it felt like daytime when we went to see the game!
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Ruth settles into the press box - I bet she'd look even happier in an executive box!
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Photographing the photographer.
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Now that is a LOT of seating...
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Later in the day we took a bus tour around Boston - here is the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, one of our stops.
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In the evening we had a belated celebration for our 4th wedding anniversary - cocktails in the bar on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Tower.
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The next day I showed Ruth around the campus - this is a HUGE globe...
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Ruth in front of Hollister Hall.
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The theatre of electricity at the science museum.
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The appartment I'm staying in for the next three months, in a nice part of Palo Alto.
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It looks allright inside too!
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The cable cars run over the top of the hills in San Francisco, but even midweek they are popular with the tourists and there is a big queue...
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...when the car stops at the far end, it's still on one of them!
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The view from the boat on the way out to visit Alcatraz - it looks kind of imposing...
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...until you get close, when the landing dock looks really quite friendly.
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The view back towards San Francisco is pretty good too!
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"Indians Welcome" - a notice left over from a Native American occupation of the island after the prison closed.
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There are guard towers everywhere. In bad weather, it looks like a pretty exposed place to work!
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The water tower - one of the features of the island that gives it a distinctive profile.
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It's hard to see the inside of the cell block as the prisoners did when it's full of tourists.
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Ruth tries one for size. Unfortunately it turns out that $10 wasn't enought to pursuade them to lock her in and that's all I had...
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Looks pretty spartan...
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... but some of the prisoners took up art and brightened their cells up...
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...while others excavated their way out through a vent!
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Row upon row of cells, all in a single block right on the top of the island.
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As we toured around, the fog started to come down over the bay.
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The exercise yard - hard to imagine this being the highlight of the day.for anyone.
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The next day we took a trip down the coast - including this wee stop at Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
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The coastline is really quite beautiful...
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...but you know I can't stop taking photographs of lighthouses right?
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Next we visited Ano Nuevo state park to see the elephant seals moulting on the beach. This one is flipping sand over itself to cool off!
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The beach is literally covered with piles of seals. The house on the rocky island is part of the remains of an old light station.
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Ruth was very pleased to see the seals.
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It was pretty windy, and spray was being blown off the top of the waves.
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The seals seemed happy enough basking in the sun.
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That big one with it's head up is a male - he moved all over the beach while we were there, just clombing over any rocks or seals that were in the way.
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Walking back through the dunes the tops were indistinct due to all the sand being blown off.
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We did see a lizard on the path though. We're always pleased to see a lizard.
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Yes, it's another beach covered with piles of seals!
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Acres and acres of grass on the coastal plain.
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It's a big coastal plain though - there's still room for the occasional lake!
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The San Francisco skyline.
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The Golden Gate Bridge - the same colour as the Forth Bridge but somewhat more famous I suspect.
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Ruth poses for the camera... I think I may be starting to annoy her by pointing it in her direction...
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When we headed up the hill on the North side of the bridge to get some more photos, there were some guys on the dissused fort doing some kind of skateboarding photoshoot. It seemed to involve a lot of distinctly inelegant tripping up...
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The guardian of San Francisco Bay.
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There's a big container port in the bay so there are always lots of ships coming round Alcatraz on their way in or out.
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A giraffe at San Francisco Zoo, our destination on the morning before Ruth's flight home.
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Ostrich.
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Giraffe. No, Ruth. No, Giraffe. No, it's Ruth. Argh?!? I'm so confused!
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I love otters, and this one was particularly cute taking a nap on a branch.
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Aww, it must be ottery love....
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...what just happened? Was that a camera clicking? Oh no, we've been caught!
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Penguin with (distincly artificial) burrow.
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Lioness. The big lion came and lay down next to her but they're clearly having a row as she immediately got up and stalked off.
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"What did I do this time?"
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Polar bear. It seems comfy on the concrete, but I don't know how - I wouldn't be!
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This flamingo is pretending not to be paying any attention, but it still had it's beady eye on me!
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A zoo resident free to come and go as he pleases - no cage for Mr Squirrel.
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Mr Peacock isn't caged either, he's just wandering around checking out the exhibits.
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Parrie Dog on the lookout.
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Baby Prarie Dog having a wee snack.
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"You were supposed to be on lookout duty but look at you, I've really caught you napping this time." Yes folks, there's more domestic strife in the animal kingdom than in a week of soap operas!
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My, what a sharp beak you have!
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A fresh water turtle on a log.
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This flamingo is making no pretence about it - he's watching me!
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Just before we head off to the airport for Ruth's flight home we head back to the Lemurs - always a favourite. Bye bye Ruth - miss you! xxx
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