"Touring America 2008"
'San Francisco'
All aboard, Powell-Hyde Cable Car
San Fransisco Historic Streetcars
Gateway to China Town
See no, hear no, speak no....not sure what Jane is doing
Two little boys
Fishermans wharf
Morning coffee
Street performer
Fishing boats
Alcatraz
Watching the world go by
Mike
Sue and Bob
Mike and Jane
Pier 39
Jane eating an ice-cream
The sea-lions at Pier 39
Why are they here
Did you know
Who are they
Juggler
At the Golden Gate
Jane at the bridge
The lady's not for turning, Jane outside Tiffany's (where she remained - outside!)
For those who are desparate
The cables holding the bridge up
The chap behind the bush
Under the Golden Gate bridge
Approaching Alacatraz island
First sight of the old prison
This part was the final scene in The Rock
The other side of the island
The landing
The Painted Ladies built after the '89 quake in the Marina District
Cable car turnaround
Its all manual, no automation here
Last slide in sequenceWe arrived in San Francisco with our friends Bob and Sue who we had been to Africa with the previous year; this trip was our first visit to the West Coast of America. We spent two days here at the Holiday Inn off Hyde Street before picking up our RV and made the most of it by making our way to Fishermans's wharf which is the center of most tourist activities, taking a ride on the historic cable cars, having a look round China Town and catching a bus to the Golden Gate Bridge.
We found ourselves a typical american cafe for breakfast in the morning and enjoyed pancakes with maple syrup before jumping (literally) on to a streetcar which for us was the Powell Hyde line taking us from just outside our hotel all the way to Fishermans Wharf. The weather was great and we really enjoyed walking around the wharf, especially Pier 39 which has become a home for hundreds of sea-lions. The 'pinnipeds' turned up after the 1989 earthquake and have stayed ever since; during the summer months most migrate south to the Channel Islands but a small number remain at Pier 39 throughout the year. California sea lions are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection act and you are not allowed to feed or harrass them. There was also an amusing scene where some chap had disguised himself as a bush by the roadside and as unsuspecting tourists walked past he jumped out and surprised them, sufficiently (he hoped) to persuade them to part with some money. He got them every time although I'm not sure he got the money! It gave us all a laugh.
On our second day we took a bus over to the Golden Gate bridge on a rather cold and damp day (typical apparently in this part of the bay) and followed that up by returning to Fisherman's Wharf for a trip by boat out to Alcatraz Island to get a closer view of the 'infamous' prison. Unfortunately you have to book up to land and we did not have enough time for this, however, it was interesting to get close up and recognise parts of the 'now derelict' structures. The derelict building at the end of prison was used for the final scene from 'The Rock' where the plane delivering the bomb approached Nicolas Cage and then screamed skywards without delivering its payload - fantastic film! It was hard to see at first sight why it was so difficult to escape from the prison although siting in a boat does not give you an appreciation of the currents and dangers of swimming across the bay.
On the way out we also saw a row of very colourful houses along the edge of the waterfront (known as the marina); these houses were built after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake which caused a liquifaction of the undersoil. The houses were rebuilt quickly in a very colourful style for the 'hippy' faction who lived in this area post the flower power generation.
Having spent two enjoyable days in San Francisco it was time to pick up our RV and start the journey down Highway One towards Los Angeles, our next major stop. Although we had originally agreed to share the driving, Bob, who is used to driving lorries with his HGV licence was happy to take over this task and I was happy to let him as it gave me a bit more time to admire the scenery and we all felt really safe in his hands.
