San Francisco - hot, clear and mist-free!
Trip Start
Jun 14, 2008
1
9
28
Trip End
Jul 05, 2008
San Francisco,
California,
United States
Friday, June 20, 2008
As the weather was so hot there were a lot of people and initially I had to sit downstairs. However, after the first stop I was able to move upstairs (made for a better view). The stop where I got on (Union Square) was fairly near the end of the tour loop so I made a note to myself to stay on the bus and do a complete loop before getting off. When we reached Fisherman's Wharf we had to get off the bus and wait for another one to start the tour over.
I stayed on this tour for the complete loop, so we started in Fisherman's Wharf and then travelled through the Embarcadero towards South Beach and SoMa (south of Market district). We passed the Convention Centre and the Yerba Buena Gardens before driving through the Civic Centre and seeing City Hall (which looks just like the Capitol building in Denver - even down to the gold dome). We then drove through the Tenderloin District, so name because the police there got so rich through bribes they could afford to eat tenderloin steak every night. We then headed back to Union Square, home to Macy's, Tiffany's and the Levi flagship store (San Francisco being the headquarters of Levi Strauss). We then travelled up through Chinatown and saw where the largest population of Chinese people lived outside of China. We passed through the Financial District and saw the 'evil' Bank of America building and the insurance pyramid, the tallest building in San Francisco.
Moving on, we passed the church of St Francis of Assisi; patron saint of animals and whom San Francisco is named after. Even more interesting was the Catholic Church located at 666 Filbert Street - this was also the church where Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were not allowed to get married. A bit further down we crossed over Lombard Street, the 'crookedest street'. A funny little street marked by a number of very sharp turns to stop cars from speeding. We finally arrived back at Fisherman's Wharf about 90 minutes later (and sooo hot!) and I disembarked.
The first thing I saw at the famous Pier 39 was the Hard Rock Café, which was good timing because it was definitely time for me to get some lunch. I found myself a nice spot at the bar and ordered a HRC burger . This was a nice, spacious Hard Rock Café and they definitely did the best burger! After eating, I popped into the shop and got my pin badge and a t-shirt. I then walked around Pier 39, a large pier with two floors of shops and cafes. I bought some souvenirs and browsed until I came to the end where the sealions were all basking in the sun. The idea of lounging in the cool water was definitely appealing as I am fairly sure the temperature was well up in the 90s.
At around 4:15pm I wandered back towards the pick-up for the tour bus. I popped into Walgreens for some water/pepsi/contact lens solution on the way then boarded my bus (top deck of course!). I had the misfortune of being on the SuMo bus (Suzanne and Mo) - truly, the woman was *the* most aggravating tour guide ever. Interesting, but annoying. The bus travelled back through rush hour so it was interesting to see where all the traffic built up - busiest bit was the queue to get on the bay bridge over to Oakland (receives the 4th highest amount of terrorist threats apparently).
The area around Fisherman's Wharf used to be underwater, but the land was reclaimed by sinking ships that came during the gold rush and using them as foundations and land fill. Very interesting. We got back to Union Square at around 6:30pm so I had a browse around the shops (checked out the Levi's sale but didn't find anything). I then took my souvenirs back to the hostel before heading back into town to get some more luggage. I did want a duffel to match my Hilfiger suitcases but sadly they were out of stock - I made so with a samsonite bag on wheels. Sweet. I also bought a 3D map of the US in Borders before deciding it was time to head back. I got another bottle of water and then returned to the sauna that was my room. I took the opportunity to do some washing and watch some baseball before turning in just before 11pm.
