San Francisco

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Before breakfast we decided it was prudent to do a last laundry load before home, and with a late checkout (12pm) it was ideal. Then down to breakfast - waffles no less! - and packed up the car ready to head to SF.

We arrived at our motel on Lombard St early morning. Luckily our room was ready, so we could dump our stuff and head out for lunch. A nice couple gave us their two "all day transport passes" as we checked in - funnily enough it was a girl that Karina had tried to photograph on the way down Van Ness Ave - they'd obviously dressed up for the race (see below). We found a deli nearby before heading off on a "self-guided tour" that Karina had transcribed from the net.

The weather was absolutely perfect, so we headed out in T-shirts. It was a 10 min walk to the 1st bus stop which took us through Chinatown into Union Square. Quite a pleasant area of the CBD. Next, a street car down to Castro, the gay capital of SF.

Hmmm. Interesting. Certainly no doubt that it is the gay capital. The gays here tend to look more stereotypical "70's gay" if that's a look - skinny with short shorts and a mustache. Shirts here are optional. In fact, minimal attire in the bars there appears to be undies and thongs (I kid you not!). Luckily (for them, not us) it was a very hot day! Everyone seems friendly there and more than happy to assist confused tourists.

Next stage, catch the 33 bus to Ashbury-Haight, through a rather affluent area and past the (purple) house where the Grateful Dead used to live. Some 45 minutes later it finally appeared, overcrowded, and impossible to see anything of the scenery whilst standing in the middle of the bus.

Ashbury-Haight, the hippie-centre of SF. I'm not sure if the Bay-To-Breakers race that morning had anything to do with it, but the area was dirty and overcrowded - something like you'd expect Newtown to look if you suddenly dumped 3 times as many people in it and half of them were already drunk.

We dodged the human traffic, which was rather entertaining as we encountered everyone from Wonder Woman and "nurses" in tight plastic uniforms to cowboys and people wearing, well, not much really, and headed for Golden Gate Park.

To say we were unimpressed is an understatement. To be fair, we probably saw it on the worst day of the year, but with homeless en everywhere you look, people either passed out or relieving themselves in full view of the rest of the park, and rubbish laying around, we quickly made a bee-line for Lincoln Ave after taking only a few photos.

We decided to walk from 2nd Ave to 19th - about 20 mins. Then we jumped onto a bus headed for the Golden Gate Bridge, arriving around 5pm. With perfect weather, the only thing that prevented fantastic pictures was the setting sun, but still, in SF we certainly couldn't complain (especially as we discovered the next few days). After way too many photos of the bridge and Alcatraz and the city, we headed back to catch a bus.

Some 20 mins later we jumped on the 29 to 25th & Geary. Here we waited for another 30 mins as the crowds grew and we watched about 5 buses go the other way. This trip was absolute agony. The bus was crammed full, it stopped every 20m, and it was a painful crawl back to union square. I'm sure it took twice as long to get back as it did on the way to the bridge!

I wanted to check out the Star Trek souvineer glasses from Burger King, so we hopped on to another street car and headed down Market St to the BK Karina had seen earlier. By now the wind had picked up and it was getting rather cold. We ducked into BK and ordered dinner - unfortunately the Kirk & Spock glasses weren't available.

By now Karina was absolutely freezing so we sprung for a cab. Only USD$12 including tip, not bad since we saved UD$22 on the transport passes!

Showers, Will & Grace, and bed.

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