Joe’s Here?

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We decide to try to get our bearings by taking a ride on one of the city’s hop-on hop-off buses. We buy our tickets and are latched onto by a sixty something lady who says she‘s travelling on a cruise ship with her grandma. It seems grandma’s opted for a day off … and will be spending it at the casino. Huh? I wonder how often they get centenarians playing the roulette wheels.

The first thing we learn is that the bus has chosen what must surely be the world’s most boring music to accompany the commentary - four bars repeated ad nauseum. It’s about a twenty minute wait in our seats before we leave the first stop, and I think I’d have needed to go into therapy if I’d kept the earbuds in any longer. Why then do I find myself constantly humming this ridiculous excuse for a “tune“?

We head off towards downtown San Francisco. So first a few random observations. Street signs here just give the name of the thoroughfare, without adding “street”, or “road” or ”crescent” or “boulevard” or whatever. Does that mean that they’re just all streets? Everything seems to be laid out in a rectangular grid, so maybe they are. So where does this leave say Fifth Avenue in New York? Is there also perhaps a Fifth Street, which is just called Fifth, which sounds like it could get a bit confusing? And what about the distinctive fire escapes on the older buildings? They seem to be made up of a series of metal ladders going from balcony to balcony - I’ve seen these in the movies. There don’t however seem to be any ladders from the first floor down to the ground, which is probably just as well if you don’t want to get robbed on a nightly basis. But what if there is a fire? Does everyone then burn to death waiting on the first floor balcony, or try to jump and hope for the best? As usual I think I’m probably missing something here.

We’re told that the bus circuit might take a bit longer than usual today. It seems that the traffic’s a tad on the heavy side … because Joe Biden’s in town. Huh? Scott commented when we landed last night that he thought he saw a slightly dilapidated “former” Air Force One plane sitting on the tarmac as we taxied in. But it now seems that this might actually have been the real thing. I know the economy here’s not in great shape, but you might have hoped the almighty president had enough clout to make sure his personal plane was kept in good working order. I hope he gets home safely.

We pass the iconic Transamerica Pyramid building, which we’re told was the eighth tallest building on the planet at 260 metres when it was completed in 1972. It was surpassed as the city's tallest building only as recently as 2017 by the nearby Salesforce Tower. It might have been surpassed before that if the 1995 Bojinka Plot terrorist attack hadn’t been foiled. The pyramid was thought to have been one of the many targets, including the Pope, the CIA headquarters and a bunch of passenger planes. In the end there was only one fatality; a test bomb killed a passenger on a plane in the Philippines.

Next up is the 1898 clock tower on the San Francisco Ferry Building, the design of which is believed to have been based on the Giralda Bell Tower in Seville in Spain. It was one of the very few structures to have survived the massive 1906 earthquake, one of the most significant natural disasters in history. It and the subsequent fires are thought to have killed more than 3,000 people and destroyed somewhere around 80% of the city. We’re told that the clock tower then became a constant reminder of the quake; it was stuck on 5.12am, the exact time the quake hit, for more than a year afterwards.

We head west into the Haight-Ashbury district, which became famous when hippies set up shop here in the late 1960s. Somewhere around 100,000 young people, many of them “pharmaceutically enhanced” (the commentary’s words, not mine) converged here during the 1967 “Summer of Love”. The buildings and decor suggest it hasn’t lost too much of this original vibe. We’re pointed to a house where Jimi Hendrix lived briefly. It was subsequently painted red as per his song “Red House”.

Then it’s off through the massive and very attractive looking Golden Gate Park with its Botanical Gardens, Japanese Tea House Gardens, and other assorted attractions.

And a bit of a word on the local climate. It’s not overly warm again today, and we’re told that even at the height of summer the top temperature here rarely gets above 21 degrees. And on a similar theme, we’re warned that Golden Gate Park will be the last stop before we drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, where it will be hurricane-like windy and cold, so if we want to retreat from the top deck down inside now’s our last chance. I’m already cold, so I take up their advice, but my brave travelling companions decide to stick it out. The bridge is as spectacular as we’ve always been led to believe. When it was opened back in 1937 it was the longest and tallest suspension bridge on the planet. Whilst it’s been “recognised by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Wonders of the Modern World”, it seems it hasn’t always been plain sailing. On the 50th anniversary of its opening someone decided it might be a good idea to close it to traffic and let people walk across it on the roadway. … which seemed like a great idea until a few more people turned up than they might have expected. As this mass of humanity surged toward the centre span it was seen to sink by somewhere around 4 metres, and such were the safety concerns that everyone had to be evacuated … which took four hours. Hmmmm. That could have gotten a bit embarrassing. Back on dry land again and my travelling companions look like they’ve spent the last few days sitting in a wind tunnel - I think they’re grateful their entire faces haven’t been peeled off. I’m glad I stayed inside.

We’re given a bit of the history of San Francisco and California more broadly. The Spanish were the first Europeans to sail past here in the late 1700s, but it was so foggy that they missed the entrance to the Bay. San Francisco was founded in 1776 by settlers from New Spain. Mexico, which included California, gained its independence from Spain in 1821. It then remained part of Mexico until a revolt by a group of American settlers against Mexican rule culminated in the United States gaining control of the territory in 1847. At that time the population of San Francisco was a paltry 300. The gold rush quickly changed all that and within ten years it had swelled to 10,000.

We take a bit of a siesta, and Issy and I then head out for a quiet stroll up the iconic Lombard Street, the so-called “crookedest street in the world”. Did I say “quiet stroll”? It’s not quite a rope and crampons exercise, but it’s not far off it, and that’s just to get to the bottom. I think that’s our quota of exercise done for today … and tomorrow and maybe the day after as well. It’s all very attractive decked out with hydrangeas, and there’s a constant flow of tourists in cars leaning out windows and through sun roofs photographing and videoing the whole exercise. But our mountaineering for the day isn’t over. Next stop is the even higher Coit Tower - 64 metres high atop the 87 metre high Telegraph Hill. The Tower’s closed up for the day but the views from the base are still excellent.

We head out to the Hard Rock Cafe on Pier 39 for dinner. They certainly seem to go in for large food helpings here. Scott orders ribs that hang over the end of the massive plate, and look like they came off a dinosaur…

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Traffic in San Franciso
The hop on hop off is a good way to get an overview but traffic moves slowly.... not like LA but still. Enjoy a beautiful city.

[DaveandIssy]

Hop on hop off buses
We’ve found them a really mixed bag. We thought the one in San Francisco was great, but in some other cities they seem to move at glacial pace and don’t seem to go anywhere interesting. This seems to apply particularly in Europe where the most interesting bits are often pedestrian only. Maybe we’re just getting picky in our old age….