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23 Sep 08, 03:13 AM |
#1
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Guest
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Dollar_Bill and Jools go west. Day 8 San Francisco
Day 8 San Francisco
Written by Jools I woke up this morning with the sobering thought that I was now half a century old Then I thought ah yes but we are in the middle of a fabulous holiday and my mood immediately lightened. As it was only 5.30am I thought I’d let Bill sleep for a bit longer, so I did some surfing on the internet (which was free and a lot quicker than it had been at the Luxor). Eventually Bill got out of his pit and we went to the I-Hop on the corner of the street for breakfast. Service was incredibly slow in here and it was beginning to annoy me as I wanted to be out exploring San Francisco and not sitting in the I-Hop – hah we wouldn’t be going back there that was for sure. We eventually had breakfast and went back to the hotel where we booked a couple of coach trips. The first was for that afternoon and was a City tour and the second was for 2 days time and was to Muir Woods and Saulsalito. We then walked along the bay front to Ghiaradelli Square. It was a lovely morning with temperatures just into the 70s which made for a very comfortable walk. I was surprised to see people swimming in the Bay though as I don’t think the water there would have been warm at all. We later found out (via the City tour we did) that a group of pensioners swim in the bay every day of the year no matter what the weather. They must be a hardy group. As we were in Ghiradelli Square we went into Ghiradellis were I had a chocolate peanut butter shake and Bill had a vanilla one. An American man in the shop was laughing at Bill for being in the finest chocolate shop in the states and Bill had a vanilla shake. We took our shakes outside and sat in the sun just looking over the bay. After all isn’t this what people of my advancing years are supposed to do? I’ll have to start eating sandwiches in the car whilst looking out over the sea at Whitley Bay when I get home. From there we started the walk back to the hotel stopping off at Walgreens (yay) for bottles of water. We were being picked up from our hotel at 1.30 for our City tour. The coach duly arrived and the driver seemed quite insane. We were the only passengers on the coach and sat at the front. Well the driver was talking and laughing and we had no idea what he was talking about. I was pleased when he pulled up outside a tour companies office and said we had to get off there to change to another coach. We did so and this coach had a lot of passengers on it. We were soon on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped off for 30 minutes directly under the bridge. This meant we could really appreciate the size of it as we looked up. Once again it was very warm and there were lots of people cycling, fishing and just walking. It really was just lovely. Bill of course took zillions of photos. He thought he’d taken some of a cute little house until I pointed out to him that they were in fact the restrooms. We then carried on out towards the Pacific Ocean and on to Twin Peaks which is the highest point of the city. We got out of the coach there and boy it was freezing cold and very very windy. I was glad to get back on the coach. We then went on to Golden Gate National Park and drove through there. This was massive and very picturesque. As it was Sunday afternoon there were lots of people in the park and they just seemed to be enjoying the lovely weather. Edited at 11:38 PM. |
23 Sep 08, 03:15 AM |
#2
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Guest
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The tour continued and we had a look up Lombard Street. The street is too narrow and had too many bends for the bus to actually drive up it. We also drove through China Town, and thought that would be a good place to go for my birthday meal later that evening. At the end of the tour we were dropped off in Fisherman’s Wharf, where we walked the short distance back to the hotel. We rested for an hour or so before going out again. We took the cable car to China Town and went into a restaurant called The Emperess for dinner. We were seated at the back of the restaurant in a very small space. It was a bit odd as instead of facing each other we were seated side by side in what appeared to be a box like structure similar to when seated in a box in a theatre. I felt like we were on show to the entire restaurant as the other tables were not set out like that. We had a bit of a giggle about it and one of the servers kindly (or maybe unkindly) took this photo of us. The food was delicious, we both had beef Bill had Scezwan and I had Empress beef, which was pretty spicy. We had a good night and a good meal anyway. We were totally clueless as to how to get back to Fisherman’s Wharf so asked one of the servers if he would mind phoning for a taxi for us. He was very helpful and called the cab and said it would be outside in 5 or 10 minutes. We paid our bill and went outside, and true to their word the taxi was there within 5 minutes. Within a further 10 minutes we were back at the hotel for the taxi fare of $7. Once again we’d had a busy old day so had an early night. It was lights out by 10.30 for us, ready for our trip to Alcatraz the next day. Edited at 11:40 PM. |
23 Sep 08, 08:26 AM |
#3
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VIP Dibber
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Wow, those photos are brilliant, there are a couple not loading Bill.
I like the sound of that tour, have to get some more information from you about it Fantastic day and couldn't think of a better way to celebrate a 'special' birthday
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23 Sep 08, 08:42 AM |
#4
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Imagineer
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Fantastic pics again Bill - I too have a couple not loading. Belated Happy Birthday Jools - glad you had such a lovely relaxing day - you need to be careful at your age! Meal sounds great too!
Pam.
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23 Sep 08, 09:03 AM |
#5
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Guest
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I am really enjoying your report, its whetting my appetite for our trip next year as well as giving me lots of tips and ideas for what to do when we get there!
Glad you are enjoying yourselves! Diane x |
23 Sep 08, 09:12 AM |
#6
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Guest
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Fantastic photos, I'm really enjoying reading your reports.
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23 Sep 08, 01:37 PM |
#7
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VIP Dibber
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Did you not read the warning in my trippie about IHOP ? ( I assume it's the same one )you have not been taking notes- slap on the wrist !
Love the photo of the restrooms ! and you saw the bridge without fog- how lucky ! looking forward to more.
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23 Sep 08, 01:41 PM |
#8
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Imagineer
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Lol I did indeed see that in your trippie but Bill still wanted to go in. He wanted to go in again last night as it was quiet but I said no. We've also seen the bridge without the fog. It's a fantastic sight
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23 Sep 08, 02:21 PM |
#9
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Imagineer
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Happy birthday Jools!
Lovely photos again. Very cute restrooms I'm torn now about whether to do a bus tour - your sounds excellent - or the Fire Engine Tours. Oh decisions decisions! |
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23 Sep 08, 04:01 PM |
#10
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Guest
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Love the san fran pics - really does look like such a beautiful place xxx
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