A nap and shower later, making the most of one of the city’s
many open topped bus tours to get our bearings and explore the neighbourhoods
beyond Union Square.
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| City Hall as seen from the Big Bus |
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| San Francisco traffic |
Like all large American cities, San Francisco is a sprawling
metropolis with many distinct neighbourhoods.
Big Bus ($50 for a 2 day unlimited use ticket per person) is a good way of
getting a feel for some of the more colourful parts of town that are too far to
walk to.
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| Pier 39 |
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| Yacht marina at Pier 39 |
Pier 39 our first stop.
One of the many maritime piers that line the harbour area and premier
grockle attraction being full of tacky souvenir stalls and snack huts. It also has a population of resident sea-lions. Here they are lazily enjoying today’s
glorious sunshine.
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| Sea-lions lazing in the sunshine |
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| You're over the line |
Golden Gate Bridge is San Francisco’s iconic landmark and if
you can see it then think yourself lucky as more often than not, it’s shrouded
in a thick layer of fog (another thing San Francisco is famous for). Strapped into our top deck seats, we braced
ourselves for the bridge crossing. The bus
hurtled across into the thick fog, whilst we were assaulted on all sides by a
vicious, cold wind that could have frozen the very marrow in my bones. Newly washed hair now looking like a
porcupine in a wind tunnel.
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| Bridge - what bridge? |
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| Oh you mean that one |
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| Golden Gate Bridge |
Aside from fog, San Francisco is famous for its hilly
streets and when I say hills, what I mean is a suburban mini Mount
Everest. Forget clutch control on one of
these gradients and only Jesus is going to save you. However, the locals have got round this natural
phenomena by inventing cable cars which have the pulling power of a team of
shire horses and are great fun to ride though not cheap. ($6 fare per person)
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| Powell & Mason cable car - all aboard |
Most cities across the globe have a large resident
population of Chinese people and San Francisco is no exception, with its
Chinatown suburb sprawling messily and noisily across a large area just off
Grant Avenue.
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| Chinatown |
We stopped for a bite to
eat in one of the local restaurants (Yee’s) and being budget savvy travellers
opted for the combination plate, a good filling dish of noodles, sweet and sour
pork and veg for only $7.50 per person. Yee’s gourmet offerings included crispy fried
pork intestines and pigeon (Diet has taken a hammering these past few days what
with the free cookies and now this … )
Chilling out after lunch in the laid back suburb of Haight,
which seems to be pot-head central and is renowned for its Bohemian shops and
even more Bohemian characters. Apparently,
this hippie neighbourhood is one of the most popular areas of the city to live
in and most expensive in terms of property prices although I’m not sure I’d
really fancy all that free love. Maybe
they give out free space cookies in the hotels round these parts.
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| Psychedelic shop fronts of Haight |
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| Victorian houses |
Fog has lifted since this morning so it’s back for a second
helping of Golden Gate hair and a few more photos of the iconic structure
before nightfall.
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| Ah look there is a bridge there after all |
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| Flat-iron building in the financial district |
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| Francis Ford Coppola owns this one |
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| San Francisco - it's far out man |
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