san francisco: the beat goes on

as a huge fan of jack kerouac (especially 'on the road'), and other beat writers, one of the things i really wanted to do in san francisco was see city lights bookshop and explore the history of the beatniks in the area. city lights is a haven for book lovers with a whole floor dedicated to the beat writers and poets as well as an impressive history itself. although on a strict budget (and weight limit!) we did pick up a few treats including, rather appropriately, allen ginsberg's howl and, the rather unique, graphic history of the beats. 

we also popped to the beat museum just across the road, easily recognisable with it's picture of jack kerouac and neal cassady outside.

the beat museum was really interesting and we spent a good few hours inside enjoying the exhibition and watching the 90 minute film about kerouac. something i found quite interesting was this information on what authors were on the bookshelves of the famous beat writers. 

we also had a drink in the vesuvio cafe, a historic bar next door to city lights bookshop (on the aptly named kerouac alley), famous for its previous clientele. it was beautiful inside, really neat and charming. we delighted in having a drink at this slice of north beach history.

the next day we went to mama's in north beach for breakfast. mama's is famous in san francisco for its breakfasts and we had already been forewarned that we would be waiting for at least 30 minutes outside for a table. we actually waited for an hour and a quarter (in the rain!) to get our table for two. it was worth it though. jamie had french toast and i had eggs benedict. the rather exciting photo below is demonstrating the queue! the door is where the stop sign is.

and here is jam's chocolate french toast. 

one of the great things about san francisco is how diverse it is. especially considering the size. the city is seven miles by seven, 49 miles square, so it is pretty compact but within it there are all these different districts and areas - chinatown, north beach (little italy), nob hill, russian hill, fisherman's wharf, soma, haight-ashbury and japantown. the list goes on. japantown was actually our last stop in san francisco as we went to the sundance cinema there to see dallas buyer's club (flippin' brilliant). after the cinema we went to a japanese bbq restaurant for dinner. they actually bring out the food raw to you (meat and veg!) and you cook on a bbq grill it at your table. it was so much fun and one of my favourite dinners in the whole time we've been travelling.

i did ask our waitress if anyone has ever burnt their table down. she laughed and turned down our grill.