San Francisco–Day 12

So commenced day 2 in the city by the Bay and unfortunately the weather was wet.

I started off with breakfast at an American diner right next door to the hotel in which I am staying. Tim Carey from SFLink once again played tour guide and the plan for today was to spend our time in and around the major sites of San Francisco.

After parking near Union Square we jumped on a cable car for the ride to Fishermen’s Wharf.

As you can see the weather could have been better but luckily I had a seat inside the tram at the front so I didn’t get quite as wet as those actually hanging to the outside.

I find it interesting to note that these days they still allow people to hang outside a cable car through the streets of San Francisco metres from other trams

and traffic. Indeed, when you pass another car there is not much gap, especially if there are people hanging on the outside of both cars.

Still it is a lot of fun and something I’d certainly recommend to anyone who comes to San Francisco, rain or shine.

At the end of the ride is the famous Fisherman’s wharf. Here you will find an assortments of tourist shops (some of which are quite interesting) as well a number of places attempting to sell you on their seafood cuisine.

One of the interesting places that Tim took us to was the Musee Mecanquie, which basically houses a collection of old penny arcade and video gaming machines. Walking amoungst the collection I found a number of childhood favourites including centipede, battlezone, star wars and more. Entry to the Musee is free and all teh machines are in working order. This means that for 25 cents you can play them which is a great way to get some enjoyment as well as help out the museum.

The musee is right on the waters edge and across the bay you get a glimpse of Alcatraz island.

We wandered around to Ghirardelli’s Chocolate shop in Ghirardelli’s Square where we partook in some of the find examples of their products.

Given the weather conditions (as it poor weather for walking around) Tim decided that we’d head back to the car. To do that we took another cable car ride back to Union Square.

After picking up the car we headed to Twin Peaks which is a mountain that over looks the city.

Here you can see the city in the background. The main street you see in the middle is market street.

We then wound our way around the hills to another vantage point where you can get some great shots of the Golden Gate bridge.

Even some without trees!

A bit further along we stopped at China Beach.

Following the coast around we passed through the Presidio and to Fort Point.

This spot certainly offers some great view of the Golden Gate bridge,

and Alcatraz island.

Just a pity the weather wasn’t a bit better.

We then headed to Berkley to a favourite restaurant of Tim’s for a wonderful meal.

On the return trip we stopped at Treasure Island for another photo opportunity (my photos don’t do the view any justice at all!).