Thanks to an amazing hotel recommendation from our old flatties we were delighted with our hotel location in San Fran - close to Union Square and great shopping, coffee and diners.
The mention of San Fran conjures images of riding bikes over the Golden Gate bridge for great views, fog permitting, touring Alcatraz Island and riding the trams about the steep streets, "like from Full House". The city did not disappoint.
It was definitely coat and scarf weather, but still suitable for an open top bus tour with a hot apple drink from Starbucks! The journey to Alcatraz was brilliant and the best audio tour I have encountered with commentary from both former prisoners and guards. It was awesome to walk the rows of the different blocks and hear stories of the most dangerous prisoners, the worst riots and the fascinating escape attempts.
Thanks to the beauty of a reasonably compact and walkable city, a thrilling ride on the side of a tram and an amazing bus tour with a quirky russian guide, we saw a lot! We toured the Christmas displays of the huge Macy's and the ice rink near Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 and it's seals, the trams, the Westfield, a Best Buy, the diners, the bridge, the former prison and the painted ladies. Which were amazing by the way, captured in toy mode on our new camera (the main reason for our detour to Best Buy).
We had a blast and would have loved a few more nights to try the delights of Little Italy and other restaurants our guide pointed out to us from the bus. We also only had a short stop at the bridge and unfortunately didn't get time to cross and explore Sausalito although we did pack a lot into three days. We stocked up on huge chocolate chip pancakes, milk shakes, burgers, Mexican and cheese fries (gross) - our waistlines growing with every day spent in the US of A.
After a quick spat of Christmas shopping and a whirlwind tour of an awesome city we were sad to leave, although bursting at the bit to return to NZ. Just had to sit through the 3 flights over 15+ hours first.
If you’re going to San Francisco you’re gonna meet some gentle people there but it wouldn’t be advisable to wear flowers in your hair. You’d just look a bit strange.
Bad Mamas & Papas jokes aside, the City by the Bay is a traveller’s dream. Packed with iconic landmarks and attractions, yet compact enough to get around by foot, it’s easy to fill four days in San Francisco, as I found out in the run-up to Christmas 2011.
As far as attractions go, San Francisco is particularly well endowed, with the golden gate bridge arguably the most iconic and most impressive. Meanwhile, Union Square, Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard Street and Alcatraz (which I’ll cover in a future blog post) are all well worth a visit, not to mention the city’s moving landmarks, its famous cable cars.
Well-known for its liberal community as well as its cultural diversity (San Francisco has the largest Chinatown in North America, according to our tour guide), the city boasts a ridiculous amount of restaurants, fast food outlets and, best of all, American diners.
Americans may not appreciate the novelty, but we certainly did. Only our second ever trip to the US, following a visit to New York for Thanksgiving 2009, we made up for lost time. Chilli dogs, cheese fries, sliders, choc chip pancakes, malts and root beer were among the numerous quintessential US delicacies we enjoyed in San Fran’s many diners.
And how about that weather? Mark Twain supposedly said that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. Now, I can’t comment on the summer months but our four days in there were far from balmy. In fact, it was so cold at San Francisco International Airport that our flight was delayed when the airport ran out of de-icing fluid.
We left San Francisco with full stomachs and heavy hearts, hungry to explore the States further. I left my heart in San Francisco – maybe next time its golden sun will shine for us.
Click here for heaps more fun pics of San Fran
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