Day 4 - San Francisco

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A day of seeing the sights in San Francisco although to some extent I wasn't expecting the sights I did see, the day began aroun 9.30 with a quick stroll to find some breakfast when it became apparent that there was going to be a parade of some description - hey presto I had tumbled upon the Gay Pride 2007 parade. After standing around for about an hour, there was the very noisy rumbling of motorbikes - the Dykes on Bikes were here, followed much more quitely by the Mikes on Bikes.

A special mention must go to 'Safety Kurt' who kept the crowd in check - I think he may have been gay, but not sure, check the pics and see what you think (then check out the looks on the faces of the crowd in the background).

Unfortunately I couldn't hang around to watch the full parade (which was about 3 hrs long) as I had a date with a Ferry to Alcatraz. So queued for about 45 mins at the bottom of Powell Street to get on of San Francisco's famous cable cars down towards Fishermans Wharf.

Alcatraz itself is the sort of place to say - Hey, I've been there - rather than a blow your mind kind of experience, although after saying that, the audio toor is very good. A lot of the Island however is closed off for tourists and is kept over for the seabirds. Personally, the best thing for me about Alcatraz are the views back to San Francisco and of the Golden Gate bridge, although I am sure that there are better of the latter.

A couple of hours later and I am back on dry land for a leisurely stroll down the waterfront to Pier 39 and Ghiradelli Sq. Pier 39 is very simply your every day tourist trap, lots of souvenir shops and themed restaurants, not much else. Ghiradelli Sq. seemed to be undergoing some redevelopment and what was there was poor, the redevelopment is due to be completed in 2008.

A quick drink and then back to the cable cars and 'home' - time for food.







A quick note that I have posted some video of the drive through Yosemite (17 mins worth) in 4 parts see the links

Photos

On the Cable Car
Taken hanging off the side off the car - yes you really can and do

Comments

[Jane]

You've really cheered me up. One question - Gay pride - Did you cop?

[Nath]

Haha
Hi dad, nice 'Dykes on Bikes'. I think Safety Kurt really is gay, by the look of it from the pictures. Hope your having a nice time there and me and mum are enjoying reading the posts. Talk to you soon, Nath.