Inner City School complete with concrete baseball 'field'
The notable sights of San Francisco are really quite close together, but the hills are like Wellington on steroids - there is no way I'd bother walking it all. We did pretty much the same trip that I did the day before, but went across the bridge. Just getting on the motorway to get to the bridge was pretty trippy, I was fairly sure I was going to die because we were on the wrong side! Clearly, I am not meant for driving in the States.
They made us aware that it was going to be windy and cold going over the bridge, but hey - I grew up in New Plymouth! It's not called Taranaki Hardcore for no reason! I was prepared, I had a beanie, sunnies, a Kathmandu jumper - the San Francisco Bridge was not going to beat me! I stayed on top, with about 6 other people, 4 who went downstairs halfway through. The entrance to the bridge is stunning, but about halfway along, all I could think about was the cold, cold wind.
It was so stinging that my contacts were drying up and I had tears streaming down my face. In my "I am so tough" mindset, I had forgotten just how much I hated the cold. And it was cold and windy. I huddled into my jumper, silently thanked my Aunt for telling me to take this jumper over the others and tried to hide. My hands went grey and as I discovered later that night, I got windburnt cheeks. Hot.
My photos of the bridge look very hazy and grey, which is odd because it was quite a clear day (although, did I mention that the wind was very cold?). It took me forever to manage to take photos from the other side of the bridge because I couldn't manage to get my fingers to work in the right motion.
After I managed these quite snaps, I took sweet, sweet refuge in the bus. It was warm.
Please? Where is the DO NOT SMOKE sign?
Thankfully, I sat in the protected lower level and managed to coax some blood into my fingers. I could feel! By the time we got back into San Fransisco proper, I was normal some more. Enough so, that when the driver asked if anyone wanted to get off to walk the crookedest street, I jumped at the idea! Silly me. The crookedest street is so because back in the day (of horse and cart, not the 80's), horses would go too fast down the steep straight hill, toppling over and breaking their necks. So the street was made to go crooked, so as to give them a shallower gradient. Or something. Accents + wind + aging sound system are hard to understand.
Of course, in order to have a steep down street, one must have a steep up street. This didn't faze me at the beginning,
You can't even see the top of the street! Side note: The cars are all parked at a 90 degree angle so they don't accidentally roll down the street
But I made it! I started from down there somewhere
People live on the street! I didn't realise that it was only one way
Of course, in order to have a steep down street, one must have a steep up street. This didn't faze me at the beginning,
You can't even see the top of the street! Side note: The cars are all parked at a 90 degree angle so they don't accidentally roll down the street
But I made it! I started from down there somewhere
People live on the street! I didn't realise that it was only one wayIt was here that I pulled out my map, got rid of my jumper and decided that I could manage the walk to Fisherman's Wharf. And I did! I made it without getting lost! It was a very nice walk, excellent area.
The other side of the Pacific Ocean
Fisherman's Wharf itself is a little, um overdone? It's a wharf that feels quite cheesy and overpriced (which is what Lonely Planet said), so after a quick look around - there is a store where you can buy baseballs for a few hundred dollars?! - I decided to catch the tram back to Union Square. There are only a couple of tram lines left in San Fransisco, and the Powell St one has to use an old fashioned way of turning around - being manually pushed on a turntable. That was entertaining, and there was only one annoying child/parent (tally for the day? 6), so it was good.
The other side of the Pacific Ocean
Fisherman's Wharf itself is a little, um overdone? It's a wharf that feels quite cheesy and overpriced (which is what Lonely Planet said), so after a quick look around - there is a store where you can buy baseballs for a few hundred dollars?! - I decided to catch the tram back to Union Square. There are only a couple of tram lines left in San Fransisco, and the Powell St one has to use an old fashioned way of turning around - being manually pushed on a turntable. That was entertaining, and there was only one annoying child/parent (tally for the day? 6), so it was good.
Sadly, I ran out of time for Alcatraz, so this was as close as I could get - and I have many pictures that look exactly the same:
Instead, I headed back to my hotel where I had a nap (what is the joy of going on holiday if you don't nap at all opportunities?) after running around trying to find a plug converter since I left mine at home. For some reason, I let the sale guy talk me into getting an earthing converter for the converter. Thankfully, I woke a little early to get ready to go to dinner with my friend, who I had missed the night before, because lo and behold he knocked on my door early. Surprised the hell out of me, and I had to scramble to get finish getting ready.
We went to a Mexican Restaurant, since the only one I have been to is Hola! in Parnell, and let's be honest, I go there for the frozen margaritas. He directed me to the BART station and I had a mild freak out that we were going to the Mission - Lonely Planet had said that it was best not to go there - but I figured I was with a San Franciscan so I'd be ok. And I was! I talked incessantly about pumpkin pie and various other unimportant things. He walks really fast! I mentioned my confusion with some basic things (the light switches are upside down! The whole tipping thing, the weird plugs, the giant utes), which he mocked me for and despite my insistence that New Zealand was at the top of the world - there are maps to show it - I was unable to convince him.
Sunil and I - you can clearly see how I'm windburnt and jetlagged
The Mexican place was nice and very vege friendly - I had (half) a tofu burrito. I also managed to knock their tip cup into the rubbish bin, for which she glared at me, and then I forgot to tip (!) as I ran away in embarrassment. Awkward. The corn chips were bigger and plainer than the ones at Hola! but the salsa? Freaking spicy, like someone dumped half a bottle of Kaitaia Fire in it. The burrito was huge, but so good. I felt a little bad about not finishing it, but it wasn't like I could take it with me? They should offer a forginer size.
We then went to get pie. I was fixated on pumpkin pie because it's so foreign. How can mashed pumpkin, which I have for dinner with peas and kumera, be in a pie? We do have pie in NZ, but our pies are savory, meat based type. When they are sweet, they are normally shortcrust, so I was very excited by the idea of pie. Sadly, the pie store did not have pumpkin pie (because they are organic, locally sourced only **eye roll**), so I settled on pear pie. It was more syrupy/sugary than our pies.
After pie, we BARTed back to Powell St, and went up the Westin St Francis. It has a glass elevator up to 31 stories, so you can see most of SF at night which was cool. I have no idea why I didn't take any pictures, but sometimes I just fail. After that awesomeness, we chilled in my hotel room where he made fun of the taniwha on the 10cent coin and we watched Greys Anatomy (live!).
I had to be at the airport at 6am the next morning, so we bid adieu and I crashed out.
Next: I navigate the BART at 4am, loose the top of the poster container and eat pancakes. All before 7am! Also, I fly to NYC, loose another 3 hours (on top of a 5 hour flight!) and take a two hour shuttle ride, eat pizza and sleep in the best bed ever.
We went to a Mexican Restaurant, since the only one I have been to is Hola! in Parnell, and let's be honest, I go there for the frozen margaritas. He directed me to the BART station and I had a mild freak out that we were going to the Mission - Lonely Planet had said that it was best not to go there - but I figured I was with a San Franciscan so I'd be ok. And I was! I talked incessantly about pumpkin pie and various other unimportant things. He walks really fast! I mentioned my confusion with some basic things (the light switches are upside down! The whole tipping thing, the weird plugs, the giant utes), which he mocked me for and despite my insistence that New Zealand was at the top of the world - there are maps to show it - I was unable to convince him.
Sunil and I - you can clearly see how I'm windburnt and jetlagged
The Mexican place was nice and very vege friendly - I had (half) a tofu burrito. I also managed to knock their tip cup into the rubbish bin, for which she glared at me, and then I forgot to tip (!) as I ran away in embarrassment. Awkward. The corn chips were bigger and plainer than the ones at Hola! but the salsa? Freaking spicy, like someone dumped half a bottle of Kaitaia Fire in it. The burrito was huge, but so good. I felt a little bad about not finishing it, but it wasn't like I could take it with me? They should offer a forginer size.
We then went to get pie. I was fixated on pumpkin pie because it's so foreign. How can mashed pumpkin, which I have for dinner with peas and kumera, be in a pie? We do have pie in NZ, but our pies are savory, meat based type. When they are sweet, they are normally shortcrust, so I was very excited by the idea of pie. Sadly, the pie store did not have pumpkin pie (because they are organic, locally sourced only **eye roll**), so I settled on pear pie. It was more syrupy/sugary than our pies.
After pie, we BARTed back to Powell St, and went up the Westin St Francis. It has a glass elevator up to 31 stories, so you can see most of SF at night which was cool. I have no idea why I didn't take any pictures, but sometimes I just fail. After that awesomeness, we chilled in my hotel room where he made fun of the taniwha on the 10cent coin and we watched Greys Anatomy (live!).
I had to be at the airport at 6am the next morning, so we bid adieu and I crashed out.
Next: I navigate the BART at 4am, loose the top of the poster container and eat pancakes. All before 7am! Also, I fly to NYC, loose another 3 hours (on top of a 5 hour flight!) and take a two hour shuttle ride, eat pizza and sleep in the best bed ever.
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