The Streets
Walking the streets of San Francisco is exactly what you want after coming off a 15 hour sitting session. Up a hill. Down a hill. Up a hill. Down a hill. Plenty of exercise to get the blood flowing again. But probably not such an enjoyable walk if you're just trying to get from one place to another.
5 / 10
The "World's Crookedest Street"
Speaking of hills, one section of Lombard Street is built on such a steep slope that the road cannot simply go straight down it. Instead, it consists of eight (according to wikipedia, I didn't count them myself) hairpin turns, back and forth. While it looks like it could be a cool place to live, the fact that it's a tourist magnet would probably make it quite unpleasant. Trams stop at the intersection at the top of the hill to let people take photos. People stand in the middle of the intersections at both ends trying to find the best photo angles. A constant stream of cars winds its way down, presumably all tourists, because no one who's just trying to get somewhere would use that road...
7 / 10 to go and see once
1 / 10 as a place to live
Taxi Drivers
In my time, I've been in some taxis where the drivers do some pretty maverick things to get where their going faster (usually in the city in Sydney or Melbourne), but the San Francisco boys take the cake. The hilly streets make some maverick driving in itself, but the driving on the wrong side of the road is where they really shine. I'm not just talking about the fact that cars drive on the right-hand side in the US - I'm talking about swerving out into lanes with cars coming the other way in order to get around someone who's not going fast enough, or is trying to parallel park. Good times if you're looking for a thrill ride, but we have plenty of rollercoasters coming up on this trip; we don't need taxis to fulfill that need.
2 / 10
The "unpleasant" area
When we checked in to our accommodation, the reception person gave us a map of the city and drew a square around a chunk of city blocks just a few streets from where we were. "You probably should avoid going in here" she said. Clearly we were staying the good area of town.
"It's not dangerous, just unpleasant".
From our sixth floor room, I was able to see over part of this area. Every time I woke up during the night and peeked out the window there was a police car to be seen. Just keeping an eye on the area.
? / 10 (we took the advice and avoided the area, so I can't rate how awesome it is)
Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39
Food, souvenirs, road work. All sorts of other unusual shops to browse. Views of the bay (pity about the cold evening wind). Bonus points because I got a San Francisco jacket (see "Baseball" below) and because Katie got an Angry Bird beanie thing.
6 / 10
Sea Lions
These guys are sea-lion-ebrities in San Francisco. I will not deduct points for that lame pun - it's not the sea lions fault that the humans decided to put it on a sign for all visitors to see.
We (i.e. Katie) christened the greatest (i.e. fattest) of the sea lions Jub-jub. He lay majestically on his own platform, keeping the others away through his sheer presence and force of will. Meanwhile the other common sea lions crawled over each other, headbutting and wrestling each other for the best sleeping positions. Or perhap they were just playing.
8 / 10
Jub-jub
See above
9 / 10
Seagulls
The same as seagulls back home... but HUGE!!!
7 / 10
Lots of history to see and hear about at the famous island. The self-guided audio tour was narrated by real former guards and inmates of the prison - plenty of interesting stuff.
8 / 10
Baseball
The surprise highlight of San Francisco. A close game, a great crowd, hot dogs (of course!), and the fun of trying to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the game just by watching it. The crowd was 40,000+ and was apparently the 170th consecutive sell-out game at the stadium! I bought myself a cheapo touristy San Francisco jacket in their team colours so I looked like a long-time supporter. And to cap it all off, our beloved Giants won the game.
9.5 / 10
Cycling
On the final day we hired bicycles and took a half day ride along the bay, over the Golden Gate Bridge, and down to Sausalito. It was great weather, we found some great lunch, and almost got some reasonable exercise (which I don't expect to be getting much of for the rest of the trip). I would have done the ride back again, except for a section of roadwork which would have been unpleasant to deal with going back the other way. We (and the bikes) got the ferry back to the city to complete a great day.
9 / 10
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