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Published: December 30th 2010
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Day 32
Long lie in after the journey and then set off in search of the best view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Local buses were found to be the best method of getting around and only cost $2 each per trip regardless of how long. We were going to the end of the line so 40 minute trips were really great value. With one of these buses we got up to the Presidio, which used to be a military camp (enormous) but now a national park. From there we got the photo opportunity of the bridge and, as the rain had started, we had a snack in a café where our view was unrestricted across to the bridge. We then walked back past the Palace of Fine Arts (just a façade, originally built in 1915 out of wood and plaster to last one year, and eventually recast in concrete in the 1960s), past Gough Street of course named after, er someone called, Gough and arrived at Ghiradelli Square, famed for chocolate and ice cream making.
In interval between bouts of heavy rain, we looked round the Marine Reserve, and found a four-masted rigger (the Balclutha) built by a
Mr Charles Connell of Glasgow. As the rain continued but heavier we beat a retreat by bus to Union Square where we were staying and tried some retail therapy in Macy’s. We didn’t buy anything - nothing in the right size – except for one stamp 30 seconds before the Post Office counter shut. For dinner we stuck to our own hotel and were surprised at how good the meal was. Claire had a fillet steak that would have cost a small fortune in the UK and Richard had fish and chips out of newspaper (replica of the London Times 1851)! Best of all was the triple chocolate cake. We can’t really describe how big it was but it was delicious. See photo some time.
Day 33
The night was windy and very wet but we were tucked up warm indoors. The morning brought a change in the weather, and clear blue skies, so we set off back to Fisherman’s Wharf so that we could take the harbour tour. Bit of an incident on the bus when the driver failed to bother with the brakes until the last moment and then jammed his foot down hard. Consequently the
passengers all went forward rapidly but one Chinese woman didn’t hold on and seemed to hit the seats very hard. The driver didn’t seem to realise that perhaps he was to blame but we got off the bus and left them to it, catching the one following.
Anyway, the waters in the Bay were choppy but the boat still went. We had an audio tape to explain all about SF and the tour took us right out to just under the bridge. We would normally have gone underneath but the skipper chickened out as the currents were too strong. We staggered around the deck like landlubbers do. On the return, we had a close up view of Alcatraz but didn’t land. Just as well as it’s a difficult place to get off!
On landing again we had lunch in a harbour side restaurant – clam chowder in a sour dough bread loaf for Richard and a fish and chip sandwich for Claire. As the sun was shining we walked first to Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower, which commemorates the volunteer firemen of SF and should have had a viewing platform but this was shut for maintenance. Next was
up to look at the only zigzag street in the city (Lombard Street). Tourists delight in driving down this at 5 mph just to say they have done it. Just before we got there we found a very small private park open to the public and in the trees there were lots of green and red parakeets.
Next stop was the SF Cable Car Museum where we had the history and could also see how the current system worked, even though we never got to ride on one as the queues were so long due to the holiday season still in full swing. We then went back to base via the food shops of Chinatown. Amazing what they had on offer from weird dried stuff to cooked Peking ducks with heads still attached to live frogs, terrapins, tortoises and fish of every size and shape.
Tomorrow will be the last day with time just to pack, get to the airport and fly home to what promises to be a colder UK than when we left it. But looking forward to returning home after a wonderful time away – having travelled around the world, been on 4 of the 7 continents and covered over 4,000 km in motor vehicles, written 11,500 words and taken 800 photos.
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