California without a car Day 2

[ali-s]

California without a car Day 2 – San Francisco Aug 10th


I didn’t sleep too badly on our first night – in bed at 7.15pm, awake again at 11.05, then managed to sleep until 4.30am which is the time I usually get up for work – this set a pattern for the holiday, my body clock seemed to readjust quickly and most mornings I was awake ( and seriously annoyed about it ! ) at 4.30am! The boys woke shortly after and we were all down at breakfast by 6.30am. Holiday inn express provide a good buffet breakfast of cereals, bread, English and American muffins, bagels, eggs, burgers, biscuits (scones)yoghurts and fruit.Also coffee, juice and hot water for the insipid teabags – needed 2 to a cup to colour the water ! We had our kitchen hotpot in the room ( bought in Orlando last trip ) and our Tetley teabags, but we never remembered to bring the teabags to breakfast with us.


As we were up nice and early, we headed out to Walgreens ( turn right, then right again )for milk and cinnamon sweets – altoids, tictacs, gum ,oh and hot tamales – don’t think I’ve ever bought so much candy so early in the morning ! We also bought some hot chocolate mix – we were missing the Disney refill mugs and our traditional cocoa nightcap ! We didn’t buy water this time as I’d read that San Francisco had the best tasting tap water in either the state/country ? it certainly tasted better than what comes out of Floridas taps!.

We dropped our goodies back at the hotel and set out again for the short walk to the streetcar stop. These are the trollies/trams that run on the overhead wires. They have a collection from all different places.


We were getting the F line, which runs from the wharf to the ferry building, where we were starting our ‘comprehensive city shuttle tour’. Obviously, we didn’t have Muni passes and I was hoping ‘correct change’ wouldn’t be required as I only had a small selection of notes. Luck was with us, the guy infront of us stopped to ask the driver a question and the driver told us ( rather impatiently ) to ‘keep moving, keep moving’, rather bemused, we took seats thinking maybe a conductor would come along to take our fare – but there wasn’t one, so we got off , 10 mins later, at the ferry building having had a free ride !



We checked in with our tour guide, I asked her about muni passes and got the expected reply – ‘buy at the turntable – but the kiosk will probably be closed by the time the tour is finished ‘ ! (2pm ! )I’m beginning to think they don’t want tourists buying these passes !
We had plenty of time to spare, so went for a wander around the Embarcadero centre and nearby wharf/pier. They were setting up a craft market at the Embarcadero centre- paintings, jewellery etc and there were some nice fountains and sculptures around. We also saw our first homeless. They never bothered us- think we got asked for money once in 2 weeks, and that was in San Diego, but pheeew ! the smell, I’m afraid you smell them before you see them.





Our tour started at 9am. Maybe about 25 people on the mini bus. I chose comprehensive shuttle tours as they have the most ‘get off the bus’ stops, they have a driver and guide , and the guide gets off the bus with you and you do a bit of walking. Our first stop was Lombard st , we walked a couple of blocks here. There were a few hills, but we were mainly walking downhill, hardly a big effort. We were up by the guide and she told us how she was always impressed by how the Europeans managed to keep pace with her ! I spotted a parrot in one of the trees- they come across from telegraph hill, which is where I was hoping to see them, so I was chuffed to have spotted one already.


We had a little walk around Chinatown



Then onto golden gate park and Alamo square


Nob hill and grace cathedral, palace of fine arts ( which unfortunately was covered in scaffolding ) and over the Golden gate bridge ( stopping for photos ) to Sausilto. The fog was coming in as we crossed the bridge, looked very weird.



I’d been looking forward to Sausilito and the 9am tour gave you the opportunity to stay here longer and return in your own time on a later ferry. We had a quick wander and some rather expensive fish and chips for lunch , then decided it was way too crowded for comfort, so took the early ferry back with the tour. It was also very warm – we had been warned we would need fleeces in San Francisco and were carrying these and wearing jeans – we were now more worried about sunburn- I had left the suncream in the suit cases for San Diego !

Back at the ferry building earlier than intended,I did a quick reshuffle of my itinerary.We crossed the street and jumped onto the California/Vaness cable car ( checking first that the ticket office was indeed closed ! )We had to buy a one day pass- available onboard and costing $11 each ( as opposed to the $18 each for a 3 day pass ) We rode all the way to the end of the line- DS9 being brave and hanging onto the side, then jumped off ( you have to get off at the end of the line ) reboarded ( no queue on this line )I was brave and joined the boys in hanging onto the pole as we rode back to powell st , where we got off to visit the cablecar museum. This is free and you can see all the hidden workings- the cables going around and disappearing under the street, they don’t look strong enough to haul a full cablecar up a hill.


We bought a couple of things from the gift shop, then back up the hill ( so many hills in San Francisco ! )and back onto the California/Vanness cablecar.


Getting off at the end we had a wander around the now packed craft market, then over to the nearby F line stop to get the trolley back to the wharf. Now what we didn’t realize was that the F line ONLY stops at the F line stop – but other lines also stop at the F line stop. We realized this when we jumped onboard a trolley that immediately took us back in the direction we’d just come from !- Waving at the cablecar we’d just got off ! it wasn’t a big deal, San Francisco is a very easy city to find your way around- all the streets are in a grid pattern, when we recognized a street that ended at the wharf, we jumped off the trolley and got onto a bus (using our muni pass ) all the bus stops are clearly marked and the buses ‘speak’ to you- telling you which stop is approaching etc.We were soon heading back to the wharf- through the rather ‘iffy’ tenderloin area. A bit of sightseeing I didn’t intend ! apart from an increase in tattoo parlours, booze shops and homeless, it didn’t look much different to any other area.

Back at the wharf we ended up in Rainforest café for dinner, the boys choice and the most expensive meal of the holiday-$94 for 2 main courses, 2 kids meals and 2 drinks.The best thing about it was the smell from the fountain – it took me right back to downtown Disney !
We had a wander around the rather tacky shops on the wharf, went and said goodnight to the sealions and back to the hotel to discover we had indeed got sunburnt in San Francisco – is that a first ? Early to bed, tomorrow we bike the bridge .

[wickesy]

Another great day. We also loved the cable car museum and I think we were both lucky enough to catch SF in the middle of a rather unusual hot spell.

[Cyclospora]

What a busy day!

DH got sunburned too when we walked from Union Square, through Chinatown, Little Italy and Telegraph Hill back to Fisherman's Wharf!

He burnt his scalp and forehead and spent the rest of the holiday in a SF baseball cap!

[pelsey]

Brilliant photos, your room looks nice.

[k2sul]

Photos are great! Looking forward to hearing some more

[Jools]

That's a lovely photo of the bridge with the fog drifting over it.

I really enjoyed your report

[Michelle]

Excellent photos Allie

[Guest]

Beautiful photos Ali

[The Durrigan's]

WoW..SF looks awesome

[Sarah84]

Sound slike a great day, love your photos esp the one of the bridge with the fog coming in