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Published: July 31st 2009
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San Francisco Skyline
San Francisco in all its glory - a cool shot As soon as we arrived in San Francisco on the Greyhound bus we knew we were going to like it in this city...
The bus ride from Las Vegas to San Francisco took 15 ½ hours in total and we were extremely tired from the long journey but very excited to be in San Francisco. Las Vegas was fun but after just over 3 ½ weeks it was certainly time to move on from there! If we had stayed there much longer, Matt may have bankrupted us!
San Francisco has a very relaxed vibe about it. San Francisco is just San Francisco; no gimmicks. It doesn't need to sell itself - it is what it is. It has a really nice atmosphere. Las Vegas is great but there its all about being big, bold and outrageous, nothing like San Francisco which is just chilled out, natural and easy going. It was a nice change.
It was an easy walk to our hostel as it was located just a few blocks from the Greyhound bus station. We had booked into a hostel called Saint Paul which was situated in Chinatown.
Chinatown consists of 24 blocks which are home
to one of the largest Asian communities outside Asia. It is a very colourful place with swaying lanterns and bright signs. The gift shops are filled with hand carved Buddhas, nick nacks, purses, slippers, clothes and samurai swords and in between the gift shops and spice shops are many many Chinese restaurants!
From the hostel we were able to walk to Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square in a matter of minutes. As the hostel was located in such a great, central location, we decided to make it our base for San Francisco rather than move from hostel to hostel.
However, our stay did not start well.....
We knew as soon as we unlocked our room door that the lock was not in a good condition and later on that evening when we went out to get some food we were proved right. As soon as we closed the door and put the key in the lock, something gave way.... the door locked but then the key just turned in the lock and wouldn't come out. We were locked out and it was 11.00pm at night! We went to reception and the security man came up to have
Alcatraz Island
The view of Alcatraz Island from Fisherman's Wharf a look. He managed to get the key out of the lock but the lock was broken and there was nothing they could do until maintenance arrived the following morning! They put us up in another room for the night and the following morning the maintenance guy confirmed the lock was totally rotten and needed to be replaced. He fixed a new lock on the door and by 10am we were back in our room with a nice new lock! An interesting way to start the trip!
One of the first things we did once we were settled was to walk to Union Square where all the upmarket shops are such as Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's along with a selection of art galleries, cafes and local shops. Right in the centre of Union Square is a park where you can chill out and watch the world go by.
We also visited the world famous Fisherman's Wharf where former factories and fishing piers have been converted to shops, restaurants and tourist attractions. It has a real maritime vibe with rows of colourful sailboats, city and bay views, scrumptious seafood restaurants, souvenir shops, an aquarium and sea lions
(hundreds of them - see the pictures)! We spent ages watching the sea lions basking in the sun. Quite an amazing sight!
Being by the sea, the seafood is fresh and scrumptious and as Matt loves his seafood he was in his element! So far we have tried clam chowder, crab, lobster, calamari, fish, scampi and shrimp - yummy! One of the nicest meals we had was in a seafood restaurant called 'Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant' (based on the film 'Forrest Gump'). Amazing service and gorgeous food. We had a window table overlooking the ocean and Alcatraz Island which was brilliant.
One of the main reasons Dianna wanted to visit San Francisco was to visit Alcatraz Island, a former prison which sits on its own island a mile and a half north of Fisherman's Wharf. As so many people had advised us to pre-book our tickets for the tour as it sells out fast, we headed straight down to the pier to book a date. We couldn't pre-book the tickets before we left for our trip as we did not know exactly when we would be in San Francisco but as we were going to be in San
A Mexican Sailing Ship
As we were walking along the pier we spotted this Mexican sailing ship which had docked for the day. We decided to take a closer look and found they were letting people onboard. Francisco for about a month we had plenty of leeway in terms of availability.
The 2 options for the Alcatraz Island tour were: day tour or evening tour. Boats to Alcatraz Island leave every 30 minutes or so during the day but there are only 2 tours in the evening. We opted for the night tour as it would mean smaller crowds and a spookier atmosphere as you are visiting the island at night (plus you get to see the sunset over the bay and Goldengate Bridge). Our tickets are booked for 14 August so we will let you know how that goes!
We also visited Goldengate Park which is 3 miles long and half a mile wide and is one of the world's largest urban parks. We only managed to cover half of the park in a day and had to go back a 2nd time to see the other half! Within the park is a polo field, a golf course, a disc golf course (which is gold but played with frisbees which have to be thrown into chain baskets which is quite cool), an archery range, a botanical garden, 2 museums, countless ponds, waterfalls, windmills and
A Mexican Sailing Ship
Dianna steering the ship a bison paddock. There are also lots of people jogging, kite flying and roller skating. On both days we packed a lunch and just lost ourselves in the woods (we took a map too just to make sure we didn't get completely lost!) Our visit to Goldengate Park would have been perfect if Matt had not laughed at Dianna when she fell over and skidded down a hill on her bum!!
The only downside about San Francisco is the amount of homeless people. Nevertheless most of them are very friendly. Also, the locals are extremely helpful. On the few occasions we have had to stop and consult our map, someone always stops to ask what you are trying to find and to give you directions. One lovely man in particular, gave us a real outline of the area and advised us of what there is to see and do and where to go and NOT go which was very helpful.
So what else have we seen/done while in San Francisco?
The Trans America Pyramid: San Francisco's most distinctive building. It is 853 foot high and very distinctive at night when its hollow spire is lit from within
A Mexican Sailing Ship
Matt steering the ship and casts a distinctive glow above the city
Lombard Street: the 'crookedest street in San Francisco' where the traffic zig zags around colourful gardens at 5mph down a very steep hill!
North Beach: San Francisco's 'little Italy' - this is also where Coit Tower overlooks the city from atop a huge hill. We saw amazing views of the Goldengate Bridge from up there too.
Hills: we walked over many hills! San Francisco is very hilly!!!
Baseball: we went to watch our first ever American Baseball game at the AT&T Park which is home to the San Francisco Giants. Tickets cost £3.50 each!! The San Francisco Giants played the Pittsburgh Pirates and won 1-0 (bottom of the 10th) but neither team scored a home run which was a shame! A great day and certainly something we hope to do again while we are here. Especially seeing as it is so cheap - you'd never get football tickets for that price, not even QPR!!!
We still have so much to see and do before we leave San Francisco so part 2 of our blog will include the following which we should be doing over the next few
A Mexican Sailing Ship
As Dianna was tired from sailing the ship, she decided to have a sit down - it was a bit windy! weeks:
Goldengate Bridge: we are going to hire bicycles and 'bike the bridge'
Cable cars: if Dianna can persuade Matt to ride the cable car up the hills rather than make her walk!
Museums: all the museums are free on the 1st Tuesday and Wednesday of every month so we plan to visit a few while we are here
Yosemite: a days hiking in the National Park
Alcatraz: tickets booked for 14 August
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dean turland
non-member comment
holy shit
i told you america would suit you for food m8. hope you di are well and ill try and talk to you on sunday on skype. arsenal played A madrid today and won 2-1 was a good game. i have got you the new away shirt i have not put any name or number on it ill leave that to you. talk to you both soon