A tourist in San Francisco
Started the day with a trip to unison square in downtown SF. It’s quite a nice open social place to sit and chill out and it has the benefit of having free wifi access.
From there I hopped on the cable car for a trip down to hyper tourist area ‘fisherman’s wharf’. The ride started out interesting as a series of firetrucks blocked the path of the tram so we waited as obviously trams can’t drive around. I got to sit right at the front so I had a fantastic view of the classic SF rolling hills and then down into the bay. Arriving at the end you’re faced with the tourist bits. It’s tacky down there but it’s the place to take the boat to alcatraz! When I arrived there was a thick fog and it was damned cold but there was the occasional blazing sunshine.
Alcatraz is only a short boat side out in to the bay. The prison itself is a sombre place as you’d expect but the whole place is over grown with flowers and plants that hide the horrors the place holds.
It’s quite a moving experience to see the tiny prison cells and the limited facilities. It’s no wonder many of the inmates went mad. Took the boat back and it’s now glorious sunshine!
The golden gate bridge is just poking through the mist and looks fantastic.
Had a very quick walk around Pier 39 but it’s not my scene really so I quickly walked around to look at the harbour seals.
Time for a bite to eat but it’s all seafood and typical seaside fair (i.e. crap) and if I see/eat any more cheese or red meat I’ll die on the spot. Popped in and had a tuna sandwich, which is about as normal as it gets.
Watched some classic b-boys breakin’ on the sidewalk. Ace!
There’s electrical and segway tours or you can hire little electric cars, bikes or roller blades. I didn’t do any of them.
Walked along the front back towards the trams but continued for a while and came across a small beach in a small harbour and there was someone swimming in the water, which I didn’t expect!
The return trolley ride was amazing as I got to hang off the side. I got some good footage on video and stills on my camera. Back to the hotel for a rest!
It has to be said that SF is one of the best, unrushed, non -threatening and safest US cities I’ve ever visited.
In the evening we met up with a couple of other Kuju people for something to eat before heading over to the Criterion ‘party’ where we met the rest of Kuju. There wasn’t many people there so we went back to the Argent bar before we all went back to our various hotels.