So I did say I would post pictures of San Francisco in all its glory and I will below. I've wanted to go to San Francisco for ages. With the hills and the cable cars and China Town and the bridges and islands and the stuff!!!!
Yeah....
Lets start off with the way we landed in Oakland.. Overcast or completely covered in clouds. I was hoping by Thursday it would clear up.. I mean that's four days of waiting for a good day and the tickets for the big bus tour have to be set six days in advance as well as the tickets for Alcatraz....
Nada!
We barreled out the house early on Thursday morning hoping that we would beat the traffic from out East into San Fran... We did for the most part but got slammed at the bay bridge. Who designs something like 12 lanes to 6 or 20 lanes to 7.. its a total nightmare! Some people need to be sacked.. and the sackers need to sack themselves after they sack the people that paid the sacked! With my left elbow planted into my right eye I could design a better way to get the masses across that damned bridge. Its silly really.
So it took less than an hour to go 50 miles but over two hours to go the last 20. Think about that for a moment. It wasnt even 20.
In hindsight I should have figured that all the loonies would be on the roads on the weekdays and not on them on the weekends. No joy as we were set for the week and had no way to really change things.
So next trip to Cali... California for those who wear their pants too tight... We will fly into Oakland ( non stop ) and rent a tank.. No.. SUV... and go right across the bridge then and there! Probably fly in Saturday early or Friday night late... some way to miss the dim bulb drivers... Then stay on in the city Sat, Sun and Mon and leave on Monday evening. That should stop the traffic nightmare. Also heading straight into San Fran instead of trying to hit the Embarcado right away would help.
I learned a lot on this trip.
So lets get to the pictures and I will chat about them as I go... Just remember.. This is San Francisco.. in the rain and on a bus inside with a lot of people creating humidity. Picture taking because a very daunting task.
And its still raining.....
The tops of the buildings came in and out of view all day long. How does it feel to be on the 20th floor and looking out at nothing. Im not sure I care to live on the 20th floor at all. Hard to jump down from there.
Big Bus Tours. Loads of fun. Neat busses and the people giving the running commentary are fun too. Wished I could ride multiple busses all day just to hear the different stories.
The one surprising thing from all this was the massive amounts of power and cable lines running everywhere.. almost as bad as a third world country.
The poles are painted with the flag of the area.. Little Italy or the Northwest side of something or other. The Italian Sector.. lets make it like Berlin right after WWII... checkpoints when you go into a different sector.. yay!.
The zig zag of Lombard hill. We got close to it on the other leg of the tour but it was raining and we needed to be at the pier for the Alcatraz ferry...much more importanto.
Tram lines in the ground. Only three left running .. which is terribly sad. More power lines.. more hills.. Love the old buildings.
A line of exactly the same car... or MATRIX!!!! AHHHHHH.... no... look at the lines!!!!
I wondered why I took this shot.. I think it was the brickwork.
Ben Franklin in Washington Park.. Is Washington in Jefferson's park?
If I could have gotten off and sat for a while it would have been here.... Probably spent a good four hours here...sipping cappuccinos.
The sign....
Not sure I want to go here unless I have a shower and a change of clothes nearby. Heard its good but.....
Floating book lights... murals... people....
Murals... sanctioned..and they tell you its sanctioned... okay...... Berlin.. 1945!
Interesting colors caught my eye on this one. Not a clue about it.
Flat Iron building owned by someone who they said was famous but I really cant care.. just like the building and all that copper....
Aub n Mo listening to the running conversation and checking it all out. They both enjoyed it even if we all got real wet.
Second real tram I saw. There were three sitting here.
One of my favorite shots. Flatiron building that's newish. Shiny.. smooth....
A big clock! I forgot what they said about it and Ill bet you can get to wikipedia before I can get up the urge to retype wik......
Statue of man chasing down his flying wallet after it was assaulted at the stores behind the statue. Yikes... nothing in that wallet anymore.
That is a lot of gloss black paint... a lot.
Hyde... Massive amount of homeless on the streets. Ive heard stories that its as bad as some parts of India in the area.... glad it was raining for that.
Not the capitol... Since the capitol building of a State cant be larger than the National Capitol this one is something else.. COME ON SAN FRAN!!! Is it really necessary with all those homeless out there... They said its got lots of gold on the roof...... Lets share that too ok. Soviet sector of Berlin by the bay.
So very cool buildings with all the gingerbread and angles and squares and facades... love it!
Love these overheads.... the buildings are worth every bit of water. Nicer to see them in the sun... but soon.
This one caught my eye because of the four dormers on the roof. Why....why did you do it that way?
A dome!!! Love to see the inside.
A store for Pork. !?!?!?!??
Heading to the central park of San Francisco. Love the view on this.
Cat, wet tiger? Just hanging out at the corner to scare people.
My only shot of China Town... Booooo.... and that silly car would not move. Ah well..again.. next time.
Love those hills!!!! Love love love.
So yeah... we made the pier with some time to spare since the rain made things go a little bit faster. Ate too expensive food at a Hard Rock place.. never again.. ugh..tasteless cardboard food! Then went and hung around the ferry launch area until we went over to Alcatraz.
Takeaways of this part of the trip.
Stay in San Fran. Many days. At least two. Sunshine time. Rental vehicle to get to the spots instead of near the spots. Get to China town, Lombard street, Alamo park, Beach, Baths, Golden Gate ( all over the area ), maybe Alcatraz again just because.. or a cruise on the bay.
In the end it was all fun. Glad the Sony is water resistant. San Francisco as a city is great. I care not for any of anything else. The people I spoke with were nice and happy...except one twit and yes I have your licence plate still and the toll takers who could cheer up a bit... LOL. I could live there if I had to but I would ask for quadruple what I make now.. hahahahahaha.... at least... just for all the Walmart bags Id have to buy.
On Sunday I will post about Alcatraz and the Jelly Belly factory.
Fun huh!
