San Francisco

Hi Everyone
San Francisco - what a city we loved it. Everything you see in the movies is there and more. The cable car rides up and down the steepest of streets, famous Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown( the next biggest outside of Asia), the quaint hippy trendy suburbs of Mission and Haight, Castro the Oxford Street of San Fran, the Pink Ladies(houses that are in movies and TV shows such as Mrs Doubtfire), the notorious prison and island of Alcatraz and of course The Golden Gate Bridge.

Union Square just down the road from the hotel

look closely that is Mez to the right of the pic

SF from the ferry back from Alcatraz

The Pink Ladies that we got 2 buses and a cable car to see but the view of the city from Alamo Park that Mez is in was worth it. 

In the short time we stayed here, 4 days 5 nights, we managed to do some of it, we could spend weeks in this area of California.
The weather was very kind to us as well having rather hot days and only one morning of fog. When we arrived we had to wait for our room to be ready so sat at the bar and chatted to a very helpful local who told us that every day the fog comes in and sometimes stays and then other days burns off. The day the fog rolled in it burnt off early.
We stayed in a upmarket(definitely very much more upmarket from some of our accommodation) hotel right in the heart of the city near Union Square called the Sir Francis Drake and it was just perfect. Being on the 19th floor of a 22 floor building we had fab views of the city. The cable car pulled up at the front door and the other transport systems that they have such as the bus and subway were all close by.

Cable car passing the front door of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel

Mez and the doorman

Of course you cant come to San Fran without a ride on the cable car and on one occasion the only room left for us was on the running boards holding onto the outside of the car. It was great fun but you had to watch out for parked cars and road obstacles just in case you hit them, again this would not be allowed in Australia for safety reasons.

A typical street in SF

A view looking down one of the streets from the side of the cable car

We did the tourist thing and went to Fisherman's Wharf and had lunch at The Wipeout Bar a really cool place with great food and interesting decor.

Fisherman's Wharf and we only had those fries as they were full of GARLIC - good for us

Wipe Out Bar full of old surfing bits and pieces 

We also took a bike tour of the bay area and rode across The Golden Gate Bridge. Didn't realise at the time the number of hills that would be involved as the tour was to follow the bay. It was very tiring but so good to ride over the bridge and go to a hip town called Sausalito. We then boarded the ferry from Sausalito back to Pier 39 at the wharf. 

Don't we look a treat in our helmets with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

We wandered around Chinatown and had some authentic dinners, strolled through the streets of Mission and had drinks at a local hangout in Castro called Twin Peaks- for all those that remember what a good TV show that was I loved it.

We took the boat across to the famous Alcatraz Island and had a roam around the island seeing an 18 minute video of the history of the island from the early military days, to the implementation of the prison and then the settlement of the American Indians until the present day as a tourist destination. They also give you headphones to follow an audio of the history of the prison and the escape attempts as you roam the cell corridors, exercise yards, shower block and the mess hall. A very interesting and comprehensive view of prison life and the many infamous prisoners eg, Al Capone also known as Scarface also Robert Stroud so called 'Birdman of Alcatraz' only to mention a few, is gained.

Alcatraz from the ferry

Closeup of a typical cell and below cell row

Sign as you arrive depicting the different eras of this island

Shower block at Alcatraz

Last night we were very cheeky and hitched a ride on the side of the cable car up from the subway. As the cable car stopped at the lights we jumped on the running board(with the drivers permission) then jumped off a few stops up the steep hill without paying but the driver was cool and had a bit of a laugh.

There must be something in the water here though as there are quiet a number of souls that are weird and wonderful- if you get my drift. 

All in all we had a great time and San Francisco is definitely one of my favourites.

Off to our last stop Los Angeles and then home.