CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

San Francisco

Lovely sunny day, sorry about the squinting but the perfect shot to start the blog!

Our first full day was packed but at a lovely relaxed pace. We walked down to Fisherman's Wharf then along the 35 piers until we got to the main street into the city centre. Then into the city centre to the Tourist Information Office. The locals are so friendly here, every time we stopped to look at a map someone offered assistance, it is so lovely of them.

Harbour seals making themselves comfortable at the pier



'Riding' the historic cable cars, this one was
actually stationary but you are allowed to
ride on the side

To finish off our day we caught the historic cable car, after watching the staff manually push it round using the wooden turntable, to the top of Lombard Street & walked down the 'crooked street'. We have all seen it in a dozen movies, I even have a jigsaw puzzle of it. Being winter, the gardens were nothing special but the staircase down the side (you're not actually allowed to walk on the road & who would want to - it was full of cars) was crowded with people going in both directions.

Lombard Street, the most crooked street
in the world & the star of many a movie!
It is prettier in Spring with lovely flowers
decorating the zigzags

We had set Saturday aside specifically to walk the Golden Gate Bridge. First we caught a bus to the lookout area on the southern side (where the bus turns round) & we joined the other 'million or so' people walking, running, rollerskating & cycling. The views were amazing, the wind was cold, the bay was full of sailing boats in some sort of regatta & the crowds were a nightmare. The crowding was made worse by the fact that one of the two pedestrian walkways was closed for renovations.

 

View from the footpath up into the rigging



Panorama taken from the centre of the bridge, Alcatraz Island in the centre of the bay, city skyline on the right

There was no access to a bus on the other side, not that we could find anyway, so we walked back! The distance wasn't that great only a couple of kilometres & although you go up in the centre it is a very gradual rise. Bus back to near home then we walked along Union Street shopping strip, some really great shops here but I kept my purse firmly locked in my shoulder bag. This district is called Cow Hollow & there were plenty of lovely painted Victorian style homes around that had survived the fire of 1906.

Renovated Art Deco theatre in Cow Hollow

The rest of the week was go, go,go so I thought I would list some of the main things we saw or did:

Alcatraz Island tour,

A cell, bed with metal slat base, toilet,
basin & a shelf that's about it



Guard's Tower

Numerous trips round, across, over & under town in the cable or trolley cars,

Such fun, it was like riding the big dipper with the man behind you
 operating the brakes which is the only control they have

Wells Fargo & the Pony Express Museum & all the wonderful memorabilia they had on display,

An actual stagecoach from the 1800s

The Embarcadero which is really a boardwalk along the piers many of which have been renovated,

Historic buildings, including this market, line the embarcadero & piers

Golden Gate Park with its Japanese Tea Gardens, lake with paddle boats & art galley,

Haight Street made famous in the '60s as the home of the 'Flower Power' revolution & still full of hippies & alternative lifestylers, 

Shop signs are a give away to the type of community this is

Painted Ladies of Alamo Square, they are the gorgeous Victorian mansions which have survived earthquakes & fires & are as pretty as ever,



Ladies all lined up with the city skyline in the background



An example of the architectural features
on the homes round Alamo Square

Coit Tower built on the top of Telegraph Hill with money bequeathed to the city (You guessed it, by the Coit family) for beautification projects,

Coit Tower, 64 metres tall

A T & T Baseball Park tour, even though we know nothing about the game it was interesting to tour the facilitiy & see the pitch, dug-outs, sponsors boxes etc,

Getting the pitch ready for the upcoming season

Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 with its resident seals, trolley cars that run underground through the main city area, amazing city buildings,

Flat-iron shaped building, one of several
built around the early 1900s



Four clocks, four water fountains
& four lights on top, sorry couldn't
fit it all in the one shot!

San Francisco is a great spot for a holiday, plenty to see & do but the city is small enough to be able to walk lots, plenty of fresh air & sunshine (bit foggy though if you get up early), a happy mix of old & new buildings & residents.  Off on the road for about a fortnight now.....