A big day out exploring San Fran. We grabbed a 24 hour travel pass and joined the big queue for the cable car. While we were in line, a family asked the couple behind us to take a photo for them. The old German guy taking the photo, promptly dropped and smashed their phone. Ooopsies. The wife of the phone dropping guy went to great pains to point out that the phone screen already had a crack on it, and they both laughed. The American family were so bloody nice about it, saying it was fine and it was time for them to get a new phone anyway. Ahhh, it’s the little things.
The cable car was pretty cool. The streets really are at a crazy incline and I would not like to walk up them. Down was difficult enough on these old knees. Looking up and down them was exactly like watching Michael Douglas driving madly on these streets to catch the baddies in ‘The Streets of San Fransisco’. My nan would have loved this. We got off at the top of Lombard Street - the crookedest street in the world. I’ve seen it in movies, and so it was fun to walk down. It really does just wind it’s way down the hill in 8 hairpin turns. We joined the hoardes and wandered down taking lots of of photos along the way. It’s quite a pretty street actually. It seems that SF knows how to do tourism.
A bit of a walk, another cable car, and we were in the civic centre. Had a quick look at the city hall and then jumped on a bus to get a little closer to the ‘Painted Ladies’, a row of Victorian townhouses (very cool architecture). Yep, they’re pretty. we had a look at the main row - these were used in the opening credits for the TV series ‘Full House’ and then headed around the corner. There were more of these houses, and I think they were actually nicer than the main tourist ones. As I was looking at one, the lady of the house passed me in the street and headed to the mailbox. We had a quick chat and I told her I liked hers more than “the ones over there”. Funnily enough, she agreed. She didn’t invite me in for a cuppa though. Boo.
Another cable car brought us back to Fisherman’s Wharf and our hotel. We had a bit of a rest and then headed out again, this time to Ghirardelli (the chocolate makers). It was bloody cold and very windy, so I convinced Mark I needed a San Fran jacket. It’s very cool. When we walked into Ghirardelli’s, they gave us a pumpkin spice chocolate sample. Needless to say, this is what we bought. It is Halloween season after all. (By the way, the TV is on while I type this. we’re completely transfixed by American TV ads. The actual show we’re watching is just background noise until the ads come one. Especially the medicine ads - with the warnings they give, right up to “this pill could cause death”, I’m not sure how there’s actually an industry left!).
Back to fisherman’s wharf for dinner. It was nowhere near as lively as it was last night - so again, if you come here, make sure it’s over a weekend. It was still great down there though and we looked at many restaurants before deciding on going back to the one we went to last night so we could try something different - although Mark ended up having the same thing again, which he said was just as good. I settled on some grilled scallops. Sooooo fresh, and perfectly cooked. We’ve got another big day tomorrow, so after a few more ads, I’m off to sleep.
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