Thursday I was at a bit of a lose as to what to do as Steve had classes and really needed to do his homework. I asked him what he thought I should do and he said I should go into San Francisco and have an explore on my own. But then Lisa called 🙂
So instead of spending the day on my own, I got my own personal tour of San Francisco.
After touring around with Lisa, I’ve decided that I’m definitely more a San Francisco girl than an L.A. girl. It’s hard to explain why though. Maybe because the weather reminds me so much more of Melbourne and there’s actually a public transport system. I don’t know. San Francisco just seemed more friendly than L.A. I also ended up thinking the people in San Francisco are (there’s no way to say this without sounding harsh) much less superficial then those in L.A. Anyhoo… that’s enough critiquing of the two cities.
Lisa took me on a cable car ride. We went from the city centre to Fisherman’s Wharf. I had been expecting something resembling a tram like I’d see every day in Melbourne and they did look a little like that but instead of drawing their power from overhead cables, they got it from the tracks. They were also a good deal noisier than Melbourne trams because they’re not really enclosed. You can hang off the sides. What’s also nifty is the way they turn the cable cars around. I had expected some elaborate system of doing it but nope, it’s a very simple wooden disk built into the road that pivots. The cable car is docked (for want of a better word) and the driver and the conductor turn the car around by hand.
Conductor and driver turning the car around so we could get on.
I can now say with complete honestly that San Francisco is one hilly city. Every time we climbed a hill, I’d slide into Lisa if I wasn’t hanging onto the rail. But it’s just as well we were crammed into the end of the car otherwise I probably would’ve had a conniption if I’d seen exactly how steep the hills were. We arrived at Fisherman’s Wharf and immediately went looking for the In-n-Out burger place. I had In-n-Out the last time I was in California and it’s delicious. It was one of the favourite things I ate last time and this time was no different. For a fast food burger, they’re pretty damn good. They actually remind me a lot of the sort of hamburger any Australian would get at their local fish’n’chips shop.
We wandered down towards the water’s edge and were overwhelmed by the smell of fish. San Francisco is known for its clam chowder but of course I didn’t have any as I’m really not a seafood person (fish yes, anything with a shell, no). All of the cafes and restaurants had mountains of crabs out the front, ready to be cooked for anyone passing by. Again, not willing to try it because it’s not my thing. Lisa asked if I wanted to go on a ferry but I decided against it as it was really windy and the bay looked quite choppy. But we did walk to the water’s edge and I got my photo of Alcatraz (after struggling to keep the camera steady because it was so windy).
In one of the pier sheds was this museum of sorts for old mechanical novelties and games. There were some very strange machines in there. We had a good giggle at the sheer amount of machines that would predict how sexually appealing you were and the state of your love life. There were ones that promised to shows what belly dancers did on their days off, urged us to look to find out what every married woman should avoid to ensure happiness and to check out the sultan’s harem. All these games worked and you could put in a quarter and see what they did. We didn’t but we did watch a bunch of guys trying to a ring a bell with a hammer. It took three of them to do it. But the weirdest thing we saw was towards the end.
I know, there are no words…
We were originally going to walk to Pier 39 but it was essentially the same as Fisherman’s Wharf so we opted to head towards Ghiradelli Place which has a very large chocolate shop (I cracked and bought some chocolate) and then to the cable car to go back into the city centre.
It’s not a trip to San Francisco if you don’t take a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge
Cable cars lined up to be turned around and one about to leave
We were right at the front of the line for a cable car and Lisa was insistent that she wanted to ride on the side. I was just as insistent that I didn’t want to. So she got to hang off the side and I spent the trip hugging my pack to my lap as there was no side and if I’d dropped it, it would’ve been gone. This time we managed to get right up the front of the cable car so I got an excellent view of how steep the streets in San Francisco really are. They’re a bit scary to be honest when you’re in a large wooden tram that doesn’t feel like it has the best brakes in the world. But you couldn’t get the smile off Lisa’s face.
Top of the hill
And then the rather sharp descent down. The photo really don’t do justice to just how sharp the drop was.
More downhill…
San Francisco is a beautiful city. I couldn’t stop looking at the apartment blocks and houses. We don’t really have anything like them in Melbourne so it was an experience to see them. Some are lovingly restored, others are incredibly run down but they all have character. The other thing I noticed about the city is that, like Melbourne, people walk. Melbourne is definitely a walking city so it was nice to be somewhere that had a similar feel to it. It didn’t feel strange to be walking around like it did in L.A. (I may have been naughty and walked right into a Virgin Megastore that was closing down and had 30% off all its dvds.)
In the end, we headed to the car because it was getting so cold. We headed towards the mission area and stopped in at a Mexican place where I had the best burrito I’ve had in a long time. So delicious.
I had a fabulous day with Lisa. I definitely enjoyed myself so much more than what I would’ve if I’d gone into San Francisco on my own. It was great to have someone to hang out with. I was so pleased when she called me because it meant I got to spend time with a person whose company I really enjoy. It kinda sucks I won’t get to see her again for so long but there’s nothing I can really do about that.
