Day 17 - San fran sights

After an amazing sleep we were up at 8am to shower and get ready for our busy day. We were all ready by 9, and had made lots of plans to fit in everything we wanted to see/do. We left and discovered how cold it was! We decided to go to the car to get some trousers and hoodies as shorts were a definite no. The fog was around so the air was wet and windy, felt good to get into some warmer clothes. We left for Lombard Street’s crookedest part which was just around the corner, where we encountered our first steep hill and wow it was steep. We made it to the bottom of the crooked part to get some pics, there were quite a few tourists here all looking tired from the walk. We continued up Lombard St where we planned to get a bus. However we were chatting away and didn’t realise how far we’d actually walked, so decided to just walk to Golden Gate Bridge instead of catching the bus. This was a 3.9mile walk (didn’t realise it was this long) but the views of the bay were fab. There wasn’t many tourists about it was mainly joggers and people doing various exercises along the boardwalk. We picked up a hot chocolate as we were freezing which definitely helped. We finally made it to Fort Point and there were amazing views here, shame about the fog though.

From Road Trip USA

We nearly got splashed a few times by the waves which were coming up over the road. We went in to the gift shop and bought a large coffee to warm us up some more before heading up to the bridge.

We took lots of photos of the bridge, but decided not to cross as we were cold and had lots more to do. We did a camera swap with a family from Los Angeles, took me a while to work out how to use their phone for their pic but managed it in the end. From here we caught a muni bus that would take us to the Golden Gate Park. It cost $2 for a transfer which means you can use any buses for 90mins (although ours lasted longer) which is a pretty good deal. The bus got quite crowded with lots of students from UCSF which is right near the park. Luckily we got off at the right stop and could see signs for the Japanese Tea Gardens which is where we were headed. The park was quite quiet as the weather wasn’t too good and it was still quite early, around 11.30. It’s huge though and we walked a lot here, our feet began to ache.. We got to the Japanese gardens but it cost $7 each so decided we’d rather the money to spend on food! We could see in though and it did look beautiful, maybe some other time.. We walked to the De Young Museum which currently had Picasso’s art inside, but was shut on a Monday so couldn’t get in. So we went to the Carousel which was built in 1912, and had a hotdog while watching it go round.

After refuelling on hotdog, we went out of the park to find a bus to Union Sq. We easily found the 21 trolley stop but just missed one so continued on until one came. The 21 stops at Alamo Sq too so we jumped off there to take some pics of the painted ladies, which looked really pretty.

From Road Trip USA

Caught the next bus which dropped us off at the Powell St cable car turnaround. Jon instantly recognized this area, so led us in to a mall where we stopped in A&F and Hollister, but as this was a central area the sales were only 30% off so didn't get anything. We walked around Union Sq. before noticing that it was nearly half 2 and our tickets ran out at 3. So it kinda went crazy as we rushed to Chinatown to have a little look and bought a souvenir before attempting to find a bus to Fisherman's Wharf. We arrived at the stop around 10 to, so we waited until 5 past but no bus... We had no more cash on us so couldn't catch the next bus if it ever arrived, so instead we decided to walk it.

We walked through Chinatown and up the hills past Coit Tower all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf, our feet were so tired. Headed straight for Boudin Bakery where we both had the ‘Best of Boudin’ half sandwhich and soup in sourdough roll. I had grilled cheese and clam chowder, Jon had grilled cheese and chilli. We finally got to rest our feet although the floor was full of birds eating crumbs.

From Road Trip USA

The food was delicious and there was so much of it as always. After the well deserved rest we headed for one last stop before returning to the hotel for a rest. We went to Ghirardelli Sq. which was originally a chocolate factory now done up full of restaurants and shops. We of course headed straight for the Ghirardelli chocolate shop where we received a free sample which was delicious!

Our feet were now crying out for a lie down, so we walked back to the hotel. On the way Jon twisted his ankle pretty bad down a hill, which meant having to pretty much hop the rest of the way. Got back to the hotel and had a nap for an hour or so. Luckily Jon’s ankle was feeling a bit better after a rest as we had planned on eating out at Cafe Zoetrope. So at around 8ish we left, missed the turn but managed to find our way anyway as had kinda learnt the major roads now. Arrived at Francis Ford Coppola’s cafe, which was really nice but we felt a bit under-dressed. Was cool that it had a few of his awards on the wall and pictures from his movies. I had the Malfatti and Jon had the Tony Special Pizza, both were yummy! We walked the 15mins back to the hotel, but got to a big junction and walked back and forth 3 times crossing the same homeless guy until we conceded that we were lost. So we put some money in his pot and asked for directions to Mason St. Bless him, he was so nice and gave us the right directions so managed to get back fine.

Just gone 10pm now, feeling really tired. We worked out we’ve walked around 12.5miles today up and down the hills.. so we shall sleep well. Tomorrow we are hitting the road again down the pacific coast to Big Sur, will be staying at a lovely campground on the coast so may not be able to post till the 13th when we’ll be in our final destination (aww) Los Angeles!