Golden Gate Park Day 3 San Francisco

 Today we visited Golden Gate Park. This is an enormous, but "bitty" park with main roads crossing it and lots of museums and gardens that need to be paid for! A lot of walking but very pretty. One unusual thing was an enclosure with some bison in. (Do you know the difference between a bison and a buffalo? Answer at the bottom)
We then took a bus back to the Haight Ashbury area; the old hippy part of town. It has fabulous retro and boutique clothes shops, thrift shops and shops selling weed! (Gordon only bought a bandana and a book so don't worry folks!)
After that we went to Golden Gate Bridge where (as the pictures show) we were chilly and windblown. Still a little misty and more in danger from cyclists than anything else.
We next went back to a favourute from the last trip - The Palace of Fine Arts - which is a building left over from the Pan Pacific Exposition of 1915. Sat with a coffee and cookie watching people feed the ducks and swans while the turtles popped out of the water.
Finally we headed back to the city center for our last ride on a cable car and another burger at the Diner before our last night in the city.

 

Answer - you can't wash your hands in a buffalo!

 

San Francisco Day Two

 

http://www.nps.gov/safr/index.htm

 San Francisco Day Two.

Today we began with a trip on Streetcar F to Fisherman's Wharf where we bought tickets for a boat trip. The trip was a 90 minute sail under both bridges (Golden Gate and  Bay) and around Alcatraz. 

It was chilly and windy as you can see from me in the photo (I ended up with a red wind burned nose!) but a great trip. We saw lots of boats; a variety of views of the city; the islands around the coast and the buildings on Alcatraz.

As an extra we saw flying pelicans, a couple of enormous jelly fish and - most exciting of all - dolphins!.

After the trip we went to visit the ships preserved by the Maritime Museum. The ship above is the Balcluther, a ship built in Glasgow that sailed all around the world with a variety of cargoes. We also went on an old car ferry and a tug called the Hercules (the first picture today).

San Francisco Day One

Day One - San Francisco

We had a lovely flight over with no hitches or problems at all. Our hotel was easy to find and is lovely - spacious, clean and eco-friendly. On the first night we had a fabulous burger at Lori's 50s Diner and a little mooch around.
We started the first full day buying a travel card - and walking to Fisherman's Wharf! We had a look at the sealions and Gordon had a paddle in the sea. From there, our aim of the day was to retrace our steps via cable car, bus and street car to an area around Alamo Square where the Victorian house architecture was fabulous. The main row is called the Painted Ladies and is the most photographed section in the city.

After that we took a bus to Union Street where there were more lovely houses and shops as well as a Hindu Temple (the photo of the large building with domes). Then the cable car back to Union Square, home and tea. A lovely day with much energy saved by the buses!

Oak Park Part 3

Oak Park Part 2