San Francisco

Yesterday we had to leave Yosemite and head to San Francisco.  The driving across such a vast state has been very tiring so we decided that we would not go back into Yosemite in the morning as originally planned – we had nearly 4 hours to drive anyway, so adding nearly three more didn’t make sense.  I would definitely like to return with some more time in hand – we would love to spend a few days at the Sierra Mountain View Lodge; the accommodation was just lovely, the views and the atmosphere were peaceful and restful.  At least we had a good night’s sleep to fortify us for our drive.

A fraction of the windmills we saw

We relied upon Trip Advisor once more to find a good place for brunch about an hour or so into the trip.  The food was delicious, the coffee awful!  The drive was pretty uneventful thanks to GPS and cruise control.  We passed a huge windmill plantation - they were a spectacular sight - we still struggle to understand the Makara people.  We arrived at our accommodation in San Bruno (about 30 minutes’ drive from downtown San Francisco) to find that the Wotif people had not faxed through our booking.  Luckily I had our confirmation both on paper and email so we didn’t have to wait too long for it all to get sorted.  The room is just what we would expect for the price; clean, tidy and simple.  When we get the air conditioning under control and ear-plugs to deal with the thin walls, we will sleep just fine.

Pier 39 with Alcatraz in the background

We drove into San Francisco proper in the afternoon, and explored the Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf area.  As Grant got to do a brewery tour in San Diego, I dragged him up to the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory too.  We toyed with the idea of a cable-car ride but the queue was so long (it was a beautiful sunny afternoon) that we decided against it.  We strolled the streets looking for a bar that Grant had seen advertising lots of craft beers (when we were looking for a car park), but sadly it had closed down.  It was another piece of serendipity though, for just across the road was a Japanese restaurant where we got the most wonderful fresh sushi for dinner.  If you ever find yourself in San Francisco, Miyabi is a great place for sushi.  After dinner we headed back to the motel, hoping to avoid negotiating the freeways in the dark.  We almost made it!

Today we awoke to pouring rain (which had become torrential rain by the time we were showered and dressed).  Undaunted, we played with BART (Bay Area Rail Transport) to get into town.  The run from the park and ride to the train station was very like the dash from car to work at home!  The train was great, heaps cheaper (and less stressful) than parking in the city.  We got off the train on Market Street, and made our way only a couple of blocks to the stop where the Hop on/Hop off bus tours ran from.  We figured that we could sit on the bus and enjoy some sights while staying dry.  It was a good theory, but in fact after only about 10 – 15 minutes the rain stopped and we went up to the uncovered top deck and got some wonderful views.  Sts Peter and Paul Church is very beautiful, and I just love its address.  666 Filbert Street.  Someone somewhen had a great sense of humour.

Top of Lombard St (crookedest street) from the cable car

After the bus trip we decided to queue for the cable car.  The poor morning weather kept the queue down, although we still had to wait for over half an hour.  We really enjoyed seeing the cars turned around on the manual turn-table while we waited under the pohutakawa trees – another reminder of home.  I need to find a local to tell me if they call them pohutakawa here.

The cable car was great fun, although at first it was pretty packed making it hard to see some of the views.  The going downhill was the coolest; I wouldn’t want to be walking up those hills!

Once we got off the cable car we wandered down to the Embarcadero which proved to be a pretty waterfront area.  We walked along a beautiful pier there to get some spectacular views of the Bay Bridge before continuing our walk to the 21^st Amendment brew bar.  Grant tried a couple of their wares; although the window said it was a bar and café, there was no real choice in the coffee department so I settled for ginger beer.

The Bay Bridge

We found a wonderful Indian restaurant called Amber where we had dinner – it was absolutely delicious, so if ever you are in San Francisco, we can assure you that it is possible to get good authentic Indian food in the USA. 

By the time we got home the rain had returned, so we are settling down for a quiet night in.  Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful; we certainly hope so as we have a harbour tour booked.