Californication

"America is an enormous frosted cupcake in the middle of millions of starving people." ~Gloria Steinem


Ohmygod! Talk about a culture shock - who would've thought that arriving back in civilisation would've been so weird. The first thing we did after crossing the border (which wasn't as difficult as we'd imagined, just a 2 hour queue) was head for McDonalds. Terrible, but we needed to break some money. See below for examples of silly looking US notes - all old men and big buildings...

Here are a few things we learnt along the way...

Big is sometimes better.

But not always.

Americans love rules for EVERYTHING.

The Star-Spangled Banner is everywhere.

• We love San Francisco and San Diego.
• It's not always sunny in California.
• FedEx advertising is bigger than Coke.
• Sharing one meal is like sharing two.
• You're expected to tip at least 15% - even when the service is bad.
• The Golden Gate Bridge is actually Industrial Orange.
• California is bigger than the eighty-five smallest countries in the world.
• More turkeys are raised in California than in any other state in America.
• Marin, north of San Fran, has the world's highest concentration of hot tubs and BMW's.
• San Franciscan's hate it when you call San Francisco San Fran or SF.
• Some famous Californian inventions: Barbie Dolls, blue jeans, the boysenberry, the pill, white zinfandel wine, the square tomato, natural soda, the mouse, the wetsuit and theme parks.

Oh! The land of the free and the home of the brave!