We have been fairly jetlagged the last few days, but getting into the time-zone okay now.
We got in just under an hour early which was nice, and despite a small wait at immigration, skipped customs, so all in all was a pretty quick move through the airport. Logan was pretty disappointed that there was no Duty Free in arrivals, but everything is so cheap here that its not much of a loss.
We jumped on the BART (high speed train) into the city which only took around half an hour, and then a small walk to the hotel we were staying in for the first night. Thankfully we were only part way up the hilly parts - and only fairly gradual slopes - I have to say I thought Wellington was hilly, but its got nothing on this place!
We dumped our bags and in an effort to stay up and get into the time zone went straight back out and jumped on one of the Cable Cars from Union Square. Perfect location as it is only 2 blocks away from us. Being Spring Break (Easter Weekend) it was crazy busy, so we actually got to ride the Cable Car hanging off the side!We took this all the way over Nob Hill and down to Fishermans Wharf, passing Lombard Streets crooked section on the way.
After a wander around Fishermans Wharf and taking in the breathtaking views across the harbor to Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge we jumped onto the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus. We had great intentions of doing a full circuit on the last round of the evening, but we hadn't taken our jackets with us, and on the top of the bus the wind chill went right to the bone, and we only made it back to Union Square where we quickly disembarked to head to a pub to find some food and drinks. We retired Saturday night at about 8pm local time, and woke feeling a bit more human 13 hours later.
Sunday we needed to check out of our temporary accommodation and get our bags down to the Wyndham so we could head out and enjoy the day. On arrival (about 5 hours before check-in) we were greeted by the pleasant surprise that our room was ready and we could head on up. We were already fairly impressed by the foyer, but the room is absolutely fantastic!!
On the way down the street we got followed by what you could only describe as a 'crack whore'. She was a skinny mid-50's woman with a chain smoking gravel voice scavenging for cigarettes on the street. On finding a half smoked cigarette she was pretty stoked and made it clear to everyone that it had made her day by lighting up and walking between the buildings and kerb yelling 'yeah, fuck yeah!'
We didn't think the homeless scene in San Fran was too bad compared with a lot of other cities we have been in, but on the bus ride through town we passed 'Glide Memorial Church' which was used in the filming of 'The Pursuit of Happiness' and we saw huge numbers of homeless lining up outside the church for food, and lining the streets with their trolleys and wheelchairs.
The bus was great, we saw all sorts of locations used in films including Mels Drive-In (used in 'American Grafitti') the apartment 'Mrs Doubtfire' was filmed in, the Tanner hourse from 'Full House', the stadium used in Dirty Harry, and the homes of a lot of actors and sports stars.
One of the little bits of useless information we have picked up, is that San Francisco has the highest number of restaurants per capita than any other city in the US. You could eat out for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3 years and never go to the same place twice!
We jumped off the bus on Haight-Ashbury to have a look around. There were some amazing shops in there! We went into a steampunk shop (which is the only one we were allowed to take photos in) and an amazing costume/second hand shop. They sold all vintage articles from the 20's through to the 80's. We could have spent hours browsing some of them.
Everywhere in that area you can smell pot coming out of the door of the apartments and even blatantly on the side of the street - of course Marajuana is legal fro Medical use in California and apparently there are a lot of sick people ;)
After Haight-Ashbury we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge to get some photos and some beautiful views back over the city. This is the longest suspension bridge in the world (the two supporting pillars are furthest apart) and the suspension cables on the bridge would be enough to wrap around the world 3 times. We also found out about the fog that blows in over summer caused by the cold Alaskan breeze blowing in and hitting the warmth from the harbor.....no wonder that wind is so freaking cold!!!
We finished up back at Fishermans Wharf at the end of the bus route and decided we should have dinner down there.....seafood heaven! So we jumped into the Franciscan Crab Restaurant for dinner........need I say more. Beautiful views our over Alcatraz to enjoy while you are eating your meal, and Logan got adorned with a stylish plastic crab eating bib!We wandered the shops and then made our way back to where the cable cars stop to figure out a way back into town. The cue was around 30 minutes so we did a dodgy side deal with a Limo drive to be dropped off for the same price as the cable car. Well, I can see why he parked the car around the corner until after the deals are done LOL. I'm sure it was an original 80's Limo complete with semi detached bumper, bogged seams, and cracking leather upholstery. Oh and did I mention the driver also has his Chihuahua with him. That Limo ride put a whole new meaning into the phrase 'drive it like you stole it' and I'm sure he would need to invest in a new clutch every 12 months!
Anyway, we rocked up to the Wyndham in our banged up old Limo to a few funny looks, but it did the trick. We then decided to head out for a night cap at the bar down the road....which turned into a few pubs and a few cocktails later it was pretty late, so we made our way back to the hotel to catch some zzzzz's before our wine tasting tour.
This morning we went on our wine tour of the Sonoma and Napa Valley. All I can say is I don't recommend wine tasting with a hangover! Hair of the Dog at 10am in the freezing cold wind was not what was intended. However the countryside is really nice up north and we got to taste a lot of Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, which is what they grow in these regions.
We visited Nicholson Ranch and Madonna Estate in the Sonoma Valley and Sutter Home Winery in Napa Valley. Some of the Chardonnays were okay, but we are not really fans....certainly nothing like NZ wines! We stopped off at Yountville Township for lunch which was lovely. It is where all of the rich and famous spend there time apparently, lovely restaurants, quaint bakeries, and a really nice atmosphere.
We are off now to find another of the many restaurants in San Fran to have dinner, and get an early night before heading out to Alcatraz tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment