Highlights:
Seeing the Full House houses
Biking over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausolito (and back!)
Clam chowder in a bread bowl - yum!
Cherry and cinnamon flavoured 'candy'!
Shopping
Bulk photos:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/wandering_surveying_triathlete/k8qZ6s
The unabridged version: (for everyone who have missed Stacey travel stories for the last six years :-p!)
Well, I still can't believe I'm on holiday. The flight was pretty good. Had some Moira's Power Balls as a midnight snack - thanks Moi! Watched the Grand Budapest Hotel. Liked it! Got a wee bit of sleep, but not heaps. Sat next to a guy from Chch who studies over here. He pointed stuff out as we landed which was great. Got to hotel and got a parcel - new goggles - yeah!!! My hotel room doesn't appear to have a jug - just a coffee machine - boo :-( ! Then realised I didn't have a converter for my phone - first world problems! Who forgot to pack that? Went to the mall for it, and by chance got offered some free tea samples - brilliant! Couldn't find a converter in the mall but luckily a guy at Bloomingdales pointed me towards Walgreens. Stocked up on nuts and beef jerky and the like too (when in the US...)!
Went back to hotel put phone on charge and freshen up and then went out shopping. So many potential things to buy!
Had some Californian roll sushi - would have been rude not to! Then grabbed the phone and decided what next. Walked down Market Street to the water and along the water front. Saw the Oakland Bay bridge and the ferry building.
Walked along to Pier 39 - had a pretzel - um yum! Saw Alcatraz.
Saw the Golden Gate Bridge - vaugely...!
Wandered round till it got dark then up Taylor Street to wait for the cable car - it took about an hour a hanging out with a whole heap of impatient tourists! :-).
Had an awesome sleep on Sunday night. Pretty sure I was asleep before I hit the pillow!
Went to Fisherman's Wharf to hire a bike. The plan was to bike along to the bridge, and then over and down to Sausolito and catch the ferry back. I was a bit late getting there, and although I had reserved a bike they said they were running out. They managed to find one, and then told me they were out of helmets... Yes mum, I know you told me to pack one, but, I couldn't be bothered packing it. By the time I mucked around a bit, they had found one - phew! Biked along to the bridge stopping along the way to take photos. The bike dude had said there were two main hills and that he recommended not riding up them - I figured that was a good challenge! So of course I rode up them! I went under the bridge for a look.
Pretty cool!
Up on the bridge, I had to remember to watch where I was riding instead of looking up at the bridge structure. Seeing the rivets and cables and stuff close up was pretty cool.
As was the view of the city and Alcatraz. Riding across the bridge was pretty crazy. Pedestrians and cyclists going both ways on a shared path.
Once on the other side I rode down the hill. There was a sign saying 'max speed 35'. Took me a minute to realise it was in miles, as I was pretty sure I would have been close to 35 km/h! Yay for the fact the Mark I was in miles and I knew I could go up to 50km/h. Top speed was 48 - it was a fun ride down! Got I to Saulsolito and went to book a ferry - found it was a going to be a three hour wait. So, I decided to bike home. Up the hill I had just ridden down :-). Walked up this one, well, most of it! Back over the bridge and back to Fisherman's Wharf. I think it would have been about 25 kms in total. Went to Boudin Bakery for the clam chowder in the sour dough bowl - good recommendation thanks Nigel!
Next mission was Coit Tower - walked up the hill, and got there a few minutes after the last admission. Luckily five minutes later they decided to let more people in - random, but awesome! So, here I am standing in the queue, multitasking while I wait. Beautiful day so looking forward to the views!
The views from Coit tower were good - stoked I was lucky enough to see them. Did I mention it was a beautiful day? Got to ride in an 'almost original' 80+ year old Otis elevator too.
From Telegraph Hill walked down and up to Lomard street - the worlds curviest street... :-)
Tried to get on cable car but the wait was too long, so shanks pony it was. Walked the cable car route until I got to Chinatown. On the way stopped to buy water and am apple. Bottle of water = $1. Apple = $1.35!!!!!!! Madness!!!
Expensive fruit!!!
Wandered round Chinatown. Was hoping to find a street with some protein on a stick, but it was all restaurants. Carried on through the back streets back to the hotel and found a steak house.
The steak was kind of average but it was a good meal and had an interesting chat to a Canadian guy and his son while we waited.
Next morning did a bit of shopping, and then went on a mission through The Tenderloin (thanks Cody!) and on to Alamo sq. On the way to The Tenderloin I found a gallery called 'The Art of Dr Seuss'. Went in for a look despite the fact I wasn't really dressed for it. It was small but pretty darn cool!
The tenderloin is not a typical tourist area but really interesting to walk through and I didn't feel uncomfortable.
Onto Alamo square to see the 'painted ladies' or as I like to call them the Full House houses :-). Unfortunately one was being repainted so was covered in scaffolding. I sat in the park and had play lunch and enjoyed the view from the park to the houses and the city beyond.
Then, it was off to the airport! I was flying Virgin Atlantic and they allow you to buy an extra seat for a not to shabby price. So I did, and ended up with three seats for the flight - stoked!!! I watched the Lego movie - which I enjoyed!
That pretty much covers San Fran - I'm definately keen to visit again.
Hope everyone is good! :-)
