San Francisco

FRIDAY 17th Sept
Arrived in San Francisco after a long flight via Auckland. We had a VERY bumpy landing in Auckland due to a big storm with huge winds. The pilot even advised we may need to divert to Wellington, but luckily managed to land okay and make our connecting flight.
We checked into our hotel and then went out to start exploring San Francisco. We wandered around Union Square for the afternoon, which is the main shopping area and where a lot of the tourist hotels are located. Wow, Americans love to shop! There are some huge stores here including Macy's, Bloomingdales and Barneys - massive department stores and others such as Niketown which is 8 stories of Nike gear! Unbelievable!
We had dinner on the way back to the hotel at an American Diner - hamburgers and fries of course.

Mike:
When the pilot advised us that he would 'give the landing two goes and then divert to another city airport' my heart sank... would we really have to miss our connection...  seems like most others felt the same way.
I've never been on a flight before where the entire plane has a round of applause on a safe landing...   it's an odd mix of feelings... somewhere between 'thank goodness the pilot gave it a go', and 'what was he even thinking trying to land in crosswinds like this'...   It was not so much a rough landing, as a drunken, all-over-the-road, left wing touches the ground, right wing has a go type of style...

San-Fran was not what I expected...   although my expectations were probably somewhat illusionary:

No blokes in pink shirts with daisy chains of flowers to put around our necks...  no car chases up and down the 'Streets of San Francisco',  and no voice-overs as we walked around the city describing the city crime in detail... I didn't even hear Michael Douglas's voice once.  As I said, I might have had unrealistic expectations.

The toilets in USA are just wrong...  anything that requires what appears to be a tidal system to operate can not be right... That's all I'll say on the topic.

Street life is wild...  day and night...  Love the performers, and am saddened by the 'bums', 'hobo's, or whatever they elect to call them over here. To me they mostly just looked like ignored war veterans.  So much homelessness in a country the purports to be so wealthy.   A few blocks from the well policed tourist hub of the city and things get rather ugly rather quickly... numbers of homeless grow, and the look in their eyes seems sadder and hopeless.   Even the sales clerk at Radio Shack was far too diverted by the potential shop lifters to really help me with my requests on laptop gear.

None the less, this is San Francisco, and it's full of life, hope and a strong American feel.  Amongst the street crowd, and the hobo's, there is a strong sense that American is what they are, and they are proud of it.  Proud  flags everywhere which I love and would love to see in Australia.


SATURDAY 18th Sept
We went down to Fisherman's Wharf which the Lonely Planet describes as "tacky touristy" and they weren't wrong. We did however see (and smell) the sea lions that have made Pier 39 their home, much to the disgust of the owners of the yachts that berth there. There was probably about 100 of them there today, but apparently this number goes up to about 300 between January and June.
Rode a few of the cable cars up and down the famous hills of San Francisco while seeing some more of the city.

Cable Car

AT&T Park - Home of the Giants.

Tonight we went to the Baseball. Fantastic atmosphere, even up the back in the stands where we were. The game was a sellout with just under 48,000 people. Apart from the brave few wearing Milwaukee colours we were probably the only ones in the crowd not wearing orange and black Giants colours. The fans here are full-on and were calling out to the players like they could actually hear them! The stadium is fantastic and sits right next to the bay. We didn't see any home runs fly out into the water and the San Francisco Giants went down 2-1 to the Milwaukee Brewers but it was still great fun!




Mike:
I am no sport fan.. In fact if I was given the choice of watching 5 hours of back-2-back baseball on TV or poking my eye out with a blunt spoon... I'd ask to look at the spoon.

Live baseball, however, rocked... it was not about the game, it was the event...  much like watching Natasha and Abbey in sports, the event centres not around the game... but rather the multiple daisy chained antics that carry you through....  A huge crowd in a huge stadium, with fun and laughter everywhere...  nice.
I *might* give footy a go back in Australia... but no promises  ..   Still keen to catch a college  football game here if possible... same atmosphere I suspect.

Golden Gate Bridge in the fog.

"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear
some flowers in your hair".

SUNDAY 19th Sept
Today we decided to catch a bus across the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito, a small village with lots of cafes, galleries and shops along the waterfront of the bay. We could hardly even see the bridge the fog was so thick, but hey, that's San Francisco.
We looked around for a while and had some lunch, Natasha and Abbey enjoyed the Dr Seuss art exhibition in one of the galleries and then we caught the ferry back across the bay to San Francisco. The fog had almost cleared by then and we got to see a bit more of the Golden Gate bridge and also went past Alcatraz.





Mike:

Sausalito... (or San Parino, or San Reno, or Saucy-peno as my faulty brain has been making me say) was wonderful.  It was an odd mix of small Greek/Italian hilltop village and swanky American boat club.  Got to see some Dr Seuss drawings and sculptures in an art shop which while it  'interested' the girls somewhat rocked my world.



MONDAY 20th Sept
Today we went to the Haight, one of the inner suburbs famous for hippies and the summer of love in the mid 60's. "If you can remember it, you weren't really there". There is some really beautiful Victorian houses here, and as opposed to some of the swankier suburbs with the same architecture, the houses here have been kept in their original bright colours. Lots of reds, blues, pinks, purples and gold detailing.
We visited Alamo Square (the park in the picture). This park and row of houses have been used in many movies and there is a beautiful view across to the city.

Tomorrow we are picking up a car and heading to Yosemite National Park.

Mike:

Word of warning, if you ever come to San Franciso.. don't be afraid of the hobo's, or the street cars, or the toilets... however do not wander into a restaurant called 'Cheescake factory' without a friend to share the meal.  Nice food, but about 2 - 3 times as much as someone could be expected to manage. Seriously.

May I explain what looks like crying in the photo of Natasha in Alamo Square...   I was singing at the time.