San Francisco
Does time speed up towards the end of a holiday? Sure seems like it and there is so much we want to do! Good way to be I guess.
The trip from Montreal was quite long with a delay at Chicago and the 3 hour time difference (backwards) made the day very long. When we arrived at San Francisco we decided to get a cab in to the hotel as it was easiest, even though the alternative of BART (train) was far cheaper. Turns out it was a good move as the taxi driver was so friendly telling us of his move to SF in the "love years", being the 60's, and of his family as well as very many tips about SF, where to go etc. What a great introduction to this very friendly city!
Our hotel (Compton Place) is a block from Union Square which is a great central part of SF and easy to get other transport and walk from - as long as you know which way to go to avoid the hills!
We decided to make the most of our time and ventured out for a walk. It was a little chilly, probably 16 degrees with a wind, as the SF fog was coming in (not in the city though). We visited Union Square, which had recently had a multi-million dollar facelift and then walked down Market St to the waterfront. All this was slight downhill. There was an amazing huge sculpture/fountain there that you could walk through, so I played there for a while (hehe). It had huge square pipes coming out at different angles with water gushing out of most of them. We then walked around the dull but flat and smelly waterfront a long way to Pier 39. This is an attractive wooden large touristy shops complex. I liked it there and thought, for what it was, it was well done. There were not too many people there, but it WAS crowded.
We walked around to the Boudin Sour Dough factory and I remembered the sour dough starter kit Erin brought back for me many years ago. We explored the shops in the Cannery, had dinner at a fish restaurant near Fisherman's Wharf and caught the cablecar back to Union Square. It was such fun on the cablecar, even though it is such a touristy thing to do.
What a long day that was!
On Saturday we decided to wander around various areas and also discover what it was like to walk UP some of the hills. So, with adventurer and super-fit wonder-woman Eva I spent the day playing "catch-up". We went to a huge food and trinket market at the end of Market St and had the best peaches and apricots ever. There were so many shops there - 4 choc shops even!
Went by Fisherman's Wharf again, saw the nearby sea lions (were they alive??), explored the shops at Cannery and Ghiradelli Square and tasted some chocolate there. We went up Columbus St to the North Beach area where there is Washington Square and a number of churches (including the one where Joe di Maggio and Marilyn Monroe got married) but more importantly a number of italian cafes and gelato bars. Yum! Had lunch there and it was all a buzz with nice food and coffee. Lots of flags flying for Italy in the World Cup Soccer final the next day.
Walk-a-thon Queen then took us UP to Telegraph Hill and the tall cylindrical Coit tower, where we caught the elevator up to the top for panoramic sunny views of SF. We met two guys and chatted a while with them. Honestly, we have met so many nice people along the way, it has been fantastic!
Hill-climbing Eva then took us UP to Nob Hill and through Chinatown. We saw some older people struggling up the hills (besides me) and wondered if this exercise was good for them - I guess it was. After queuing up to go to the movies, but not getting in (grrrr) we went out to dinner in a small lane that had 5 restaurants side-by-side there. Very interesting, and we settled for the Italian one called Tiramisu (thought of you Chris), and the food was delicious. The place was buzzing with people which added to the fun of being there, and the Californian Chardonnay we had was very nice too! We watched an in-house movie back at the hotel (Eva is amazing, she can watch movies with her eyes closed) to make up for not getting to see one!
Sunday was our bike riding day and we left Blazing Saddles on Columbus St at 10:30am and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge. It was nice riding the bike paths along the waterfront, and there were not too many hills along the way. That day, the golden gate should have been called the Gray Ghost as it was shrouded in fog. It was the most amazing experience riding over it. Unlike the fog I'm used to in Australia, which is very still, here it was windy which meant that the fog moved. So, we got glimpses of the water far below, then it was gone again. Various structures of the bridge loomed out ahead and then disappeared again. Awesome! I guess when it is clear it is also nice 'cos you can see the water and the city, but this way was fine for me.
We continued on to Sausolito, a lovely bayside, touristy place. I should say, that apart from crossing the Gray Ghost Bridge, it was a clear and sunny day all day. We watched the second half of the world cup in a pub there, had italian sour-dough rolls by the bay for lunch and watch an old guy (hey who is old these days??) balance rocks in an amzingly impossible way by the water. After a wine-tasting in a shop we rode on to Old Mill Park to see some large redwood trees and some beautiful houses set amongst them. We completed the ride to Tiberon and caught the ferry back past Alcatraz to SF. I guess we rode about 40km and we were tired by the time we gave the bikes back at around 7pm. They certainly have a great system for selling these bike rides, as there would have been about 80 bikes on the ferry, and they stacked them very expertly. For dinner, we went out to a French Restaurant (tried not to gloat about the soccer) and it was a very cosy place - though the food was not too good. Eva said my Coq-au-vin is better.
So, that was really the end of our stay in SF. On Monday we had a slow day, having a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, doing some jobs and Eva shopping while I updated the blog and diary.
Tomorrow we will hire a car and drive to Napa Valley to taste wines and then head down to LA to get our flight on Saturday.
Not sure when or where the next update will take place, but we are both well and happy.
Till next time.....
The trip from Montreal was quite long with a delay at Chicago and the 3 hour time difference (backwards) made the day very long. When we arrived at San Francisco we decided to get a cab in to the hotel as it was easiest, even though the alternative of BART (train) was far cheaper. Turns out it was a good move as the taxi driver was so friendly telling us of his move to SF in the "love years", being the 60's, and of his family as well as very many tips about SF, where to go etc. What a great introduction to this very friendly city!
Our hotel (Compton Place) is a block from Union Square which is a great central part of SF and easy to get other transport and walk from - as long as you know which way to go to avoid the hills!
We decided to make the most of our time and ventured out for a walk. It was a little chilly, probably 16 degrees with a wind, as the SF fog was coming in (not in the city though). We visited Union Square, which had recently had a multi-million dollar facelift and then walked down Market St to the waterfront. All this was slight downhill. There was an amazing huge sculpture/fountain there that you could walk through, so I played there for a while (hehe). It had huge square pipes coming out at different angles with water gushing out of most of them. We then walked around the dull but flat and smelly waterfront a long way to Pier 39. This is an attractive wooden large touristy shops complex. I liked it there and thought, for what it was, it was well done. There were not too many people there, but it WAS crowded.
We walked around to the Boudin Sour Dough factory and I remembered the sour dough starter kit Erin brought back for me many years ago. We explored the shops in the Cannery, had dinner at a fish restaurant near Fisherman's Wharf and caught the cablecar back to Union Square. It was such fun on the cablecar, even though it is such a touristy thing to do.
What a long day that was!
On Saturday we decided to wander around various areas and also discover what it was like to walk UP some of the hills. So, with adventurer and super-fit wonder-woman Eva I spent the day playing "catch-up". We went to a huge food and trinket market at the end of Market St and had the best peaches and apricots ever. There were so many shops there - 4 choc shops even!
Went by Fisherman's Wharf again, saw the nearby sea lions (were they alive??), explored the shops at Cannery and Ghiradelli Square and tasted some chocolate there. We went up Columbus St to the North Beach area where there is Washington Square and a number of churches (including the one where Joe di Maggio and Marilyn Monroe got married) but more importantly a number of italian cafes and gelato bars. Yum! Had lunch there and it was all a buzz with nice food and coffee. Lots of flags flying for Italy in the World Cup Soccer final the next day.
Walk-a-thon Queen then took us UP to Telegraph Hill and the tall cylindrical Coit tower, where we caught the elevator up to the top for panoramic sunny views of SF. We met two guys and chatted a while with them. Honestly, we have met so many nice people along the way, it has been fantastic!
Hill-climbing Eva then took us UP to Nob Hill and through Chinatown. We saw some older people struggling up the hills (besides me) and wondered if this exercise was good for them - I guess it was. After queuing up to go to the movies, but not getting in (grrrr) we went out to dinner in a small lane that had 5 restaurants side-by-side there. Very interesting, and we settled for the Italian one called Tiramisu (thought of you Chris), and the food was delicious. The place was buzzing with people which added to the fun of being there, and the Californian Chardonnay we had was very nice too! We watched an in-house movie back at the hotel (Eva is amazing, she can watch movies with her eyes closed) to make up for not getting to see one!
Sunday was our bike riding day and we left Blazing Saddles on Columbus St at 10:30am and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge. It was nice riding the bike paths along the waterfront, and there were not too many hills along the way. That day, the golden gate should have been called the Gray Ghost as it was shrouded in fog. It was the most amazing experience riding over it. Unlike the fog I'm used to in Australia, which is very still, here it was windy which meant that the fog moved. So, we got glimpses of the water far below, then it was gone again. Various structures of the bridge loomed out ahead and then disappeared again. Awesome! I guess when it is clear it is also nice 'cos you can see the water and the city, but this way was fine for me.
We continued on to Sausolito, a lovely bayside, touristy place. I should say, that apart from crossing the Gray Ghost Bridge, it was a clear and sunny day all day. We watched the second half of the world cup in a pub there, had italian sour-dough rolls by the bay for lunch and watch an old guy (hey who is old these days??) balance rocks in an amzingly impossible way by the water. After a wine-tasting in a shop we rode on to Old Mill Park to see some large redwood trees and some beautiful houses set amongst them. We completed the ride to Tiberon and caught the ferry back past Alcatraz to SF. I guess we rode about 40km and we were tired by the time we gave the bikes back at around 7pm. They certainly have a great system for selling these bike rides, as there would have been about 80 bikes on the ferry, and they stacked them very expertly. For dinner, we went out to a French Restaurant (tried not to gloat about the soccer) and it was a very cosy place - though the food was not too good. Eva said my Coq-au-vin is better.
So, that was really the end of our stay in SF. On Monday we had a slow day, having a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, doing some jobs and Eva shopping while I updated the blog and diary.
Tomorrow we will hire a car and drive to Napa Valley to taste wines and then head down to LA to get our flight on Saturday.
Not sure when or where the next update will take place, but we are both well and happy.
Till next time.....
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