It was a long flight from Melbourne to San Francisco, 14 hours,
only to arrive before we left!! Exhausting, and by the end of the stay in San
Francisco, we’re still jet lagged. Fortunately, our hotel is over a lovely
Italian restaurant and bar where we have a couple of shared plates: some lovely
fresh bruschetta and fried calamari with coffee. This is to be our standby for
dinner. Shared plates and a drink, a barman who gives us tips where to go, all
within easy reach.
The San Remo Hotel, San Francisco
Our hotel, the San Remo hotel, coincidentally, is an old
1906 hotel. The rooms are small, basically furnished and comfortable. It’s
quirky, old, but everything is there. The shared bathrooms and toilets are
thoughtfully kitted out. We’re in the Abraham Lincoln room, it’s not named as
such, but all the pictures on the walls, and there are plenty, are all related
to Abraham Lincoln.
We’re near Fisherman’s Wharf, but it’s a very busy and
touristy area which we tend to avoid. Riding the cable and trolley cars gets us
around and we enjoy the sights.
The very enjoyable and very popular cable cars.
Our barman recommended Pat’s for breakfast, down
the lane next to the hotel, Water St., where the houses have pot plants lining
the footpath, creating a bit of greenery; and around the corner. This becomes
our daily breakfast spot. Huge servings of eggs…done somehow…toast, fried potatoes
and coffee, discovering on the last day the French toast with fruit.
Water St. A lovely stroll
The day is all about getting a sim card (thanks
T-mobile), getting a replacement for the power cord that got forgotton (thanks
Best Buy, but why didn’t you have the sim card?) and organising our transport tickets for the
three days. The cable card is just around the corner, empty early in the
morning and a delightful ride. It does get busy later, but we have a gentle
start to the day (with a 3 day pass).
Riding the cable car.
We ride the F trolley car to the Mission area, walked
around Guerara and Valencia streets.
We finally head to the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art for a good look around and lunch.
The SFMOMA! has some amazing art, the most amazing is the
Louise Bourgeous spiders. A whole room full. Then a small room called the Paul
Klee room where there is a small weaving by Anni Albers, along with drawings
from Paul Klee and Anni Albers, highlighting the inspiration provided by the
Bauhaus.
Back on the F trolley car, we head home for wine and pasta at the
bar. Great! Then crash.
Memorial Day
Day 3 is all about the Golden Gate Bridge. A bus ride
to the Golden Gate car park, a check at the Tourist information bureau
convinces us that we can walk from the bridge to Sauselito. This is true,
however, the map that’s provided, which we have to photograph as there are no
paper copies, isn’t as clear as it first seems, and it’s likely that not a lot
of people do the walk. The walk across the bridge is spectacular and slightly
unnerving. It’s very high and starts out very busy. About ¾ of an hour across,
we see helicopters fly under the bridge and an eagle soaring at eye level.
The Golden Gate bridge from both ends.
The
walk to Sauselito does take us under the bridge to the old Fort Baker and
provides a nice way into Sauselito which is a lovely, expensive tourist town,
basically running along the edge of the water.
Sauselito
Lunch and ice-cream and then the
ferry ride which provides great views of the bridge, Alcatraz and the city.
Well worth it.
Alcatraz
The city.
I head off and find my yarn shop, buy some yarn and ride
the buses.
Dinner is in the opposite direction at a lovely Sushi
place and a night-cap drink at the bar.
Our last day is spent riding the cable cars. Firstly,
to get to the City Hall area, where City Hall and the Public library are
explored by Peter, and, I spend a lovely hour in the Asian Art Museum an
incredible Asian Art collection following a talk about specific great pieces.
Catching the F trolley car to the Castro for lunch and
back again to ride the last of the three cable car routes through the business
district with spectacular views.
Time now for the public library, which is just around the
corner from our hotel, which we’ve found yesterday!!
Drinks and eats at the bar, walk to Pier 39, catch the
bus and seamlessly transfer to the Amtrak train for our journey to Portland.
(NOT Seattle) The train journey is lovely, though sleeping on the top bunk is
quite a feat, hard bed (my hips don’t like it), narrow and no head room. Apart
from that the facilities are fine.
Our trusty map!
