San Francisco

 

As we headed over the Bay Bridge into San Francisco we were greeted by the thick fog this city is famous for.  After checking into our hotel we had a wander around North beach which is the area where we were staying, we hit a couple of bars and met a couple of Germans travelling to Vegas who my friend Nick was happy to introduce to some of the local brews :)

The next morning we visited Coif tower which is a memorial left to the firemen of San Francisco and which has great views of the city and Golden Gate Bridge.  Fishermans Wharf was next on the agenda which is the seafront Piers where most of the tours leave from, we tried to book Alcatraz but unfortunately it was full for the next few days, so a word of advice book a week or 2 in advance if planning a visit!  The pier was fun, lots of shops and restaurants and the famous seals keeping the crowds entertained with their antics!

By then I figured it was time to ride the famous Cable Cars which was so much fun, this being the only place in the world that has one, that I was surprised to learn at the Cable Car museum, which was really interesting and explained how the whole concept was born and how they worked, it is full of amazing facts as well as a lot of history of the City and how it has been developed since the great earthquake which devastated the City in 1906 along with the subsequent fire which raged for 3 days.  I had no idea!!!  The City was more or less left in ruins and had to be completely rebuilt, so it is fairly young and modern as cities go.

It was then time to eat so we hit China Town which had a great selection of restaurants and shops, for some dim sum and just strolled around for a while through Union Square and the financial district on our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at the Stinking Rose a garlic restaurant followed by some live Jazz in a bar.

Next morning we visited the Haight Ashbury area for a look at the hippy relics and onto Golden Gate Park before heading to the Golden Gate bridge where we had a bit of a hike and took some pictures although the fog moved in fairly quickly and covered most of it by the time we got there and it was extremely cold as later I was told the wind is coming in from Alaska, so I was not faring well with this as I was dressed for milder weather, be warned and wrap up well if you are coming, even this time of year, definitely need a scarf :)

Then drove to the Mission area which is a Latino district for a look at the murals and artwork and back to get ready for dinner with Nicks family at a japanese restaurant on Pier 39 where some hot miso soup was welcomed to warm us up!  The next day we headed to Napa Valley for our wine tour!!!