The streets of San Francisco

Wednesday 12 September 2012 – The Streets Of San Francisco – Happy Anniversary to my fabulous husband.

Day 153 and 5 days to go

Oh such a wonderful night’s sleep and what a difference a bed makes. It was so good that I didn’t wake up until 9.30am to the shower. Paul was up and organising himself but I didn’t want to leave the comfort of the wonderful bed. I did eventually force myself out, have a shower and then dressed.

By 10.30 we were ready and out on the street looking for breakfast. There was a small café down the road doing eggs so we stopped in for our fill. When we were done we made our way to the bus station, catching the 30 closer to the bay.

When we passed Lomabard we got off the bus and walked up the street. This sounds easy but the street is STEEP, like many of them here. We made the crawl up the street to the Leavesden cross road. At this point the street then zig zags further up the street. This street has -->has the title of the most crooked street in the world.  
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Now worn out we made the decent down Leavesden towards the pier area. We located the Segway company and then we went for a walk along the front. Get collared by a camera seller we went into the shop and listened to the sales pitch and were dazzled by the bits he had to show. He must have been good at his job as I cam out with 2 new lenses, 2 filters a bag and an 8gb card plus the promise to send him a West Coast Eagles poster! An expensive day out. Happy Anniversary darling

We continued to walk along the piers as we did a lap of the block and returned to the Segway company where we signed the disclosure and then watched the safety video before getting out on the Segways. We were again the only people to have ridden before.  We had a group of seven with four from here, us and another girl from Perth. Small world.

We did our training which was all quicker than Chicago and then we were out on the road. Literally. San Francisco laws dictate segways are not to use the footpath so we were out amongst the traffic and travel on the crappy road.

Our first stop was behind pier 43 to check out an old submarine and navy vessel built in 58 days by women during the war.

We continued to take the segways on to the road heading up some of the smaller hills to and then down others to return to the water and out to a long pier encircling Aquatic Park. From here we had great views of Alcatraz and back over the city. It was a great afternoon. The fog had lifted and it was stunningly blue. We could also watch the yachts whizzing by. Next year they will be back to compete in the America’s Cup.

Our next stop was Marina Green. To do this we firstly rode into the suburbs to check out the houses. This area has been created through landfill and suffered greatest when the earthquake of 89 occurred. The home owners here can not get insurance for protection for any future disasters. The homes are worth 1 – 3 Million, it seems such a waste. They could all be swallowed by liquefaction and they will be left with nothing.

After checking the homes out we made our way back to the water’s edge where we had a good view of the Golden Gate bridge that is painted the colour ‘International Orange’. We were also taken by a cyclist doing tricks on his bike. He was happily bouncing from wall to chair to stair on one wheel.

Our final stop was the Palace of Fine Arts building. We had passed this yesterday during our drive and I was glad we got the chance to return and check it out.  It is a large, ornate building that was built in 1914 for the World Trade Expo. It was originally designed to be removed but was adored by the people so the city decided that it should be recreated in materials designed to last and as such is still there today.

With this spot finished up we took the segways back through the  suburbs

-->on our way back to the Segway office where we returned our Segway reluctantly and then we made our way across to the pier where Paul bought a jumper as he was feeling the cold. It was certainly cool now.

Our next stop was the amusement arcade museum where we had a wander around checking out the old games that still work. They were really cool.  Paul even found a laughing sailor that he remembers from when he would visit Clacton Pier in England, with his folks, as a little boy.

Also along this pier were many seafood restaurants. After checking the various menus we chose Aliotos where we could eat with a view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge that was now being swallowed by the sea fog. Our meal was delicious and it was a lovely way to celebrate our anniversary.

We left the restaurant and walked to the famous Pier 39. As we walked along we could here the unmistakable sound of the seals. We were able to stand and watch them for a while before completing the lap of the pier. There were plenty of tourist shops to keep people happy.

It was now getting quite cool and with tired feet we made our way to the bus stop to catch the bus back towards the hotel. We were glad to finally make it back to our room at 8pm but we didn’t stay for long, getting into our bathers and heading to the spa.

It was once again so wonderful to relax in the warm water but we didn’t stay too long returning to the room where I loaded the pictures and blog while watching the TV. Before we knew it the time ticked over 10.30pm and it was time to call it a night, our last one not only in the US but also on foreign soil. In a few short days we will be home.