Day 14 – March 26, 2016
Let me begin by saying that I can either type until my fingers bleed about San Francisco or I can keep it somewhat short and let the pictures tell the rest of the story. I think I will go with the latter choice.
Whether you find yourself outside in the suburbs or inside of San Fran, use the transit system, literally so much more interesting, safer than driving and cheaper than taxi’s. Inside the city is called Muni and outside is Golden Gate Transportation.
We walked from our friend’s apartment in San Rafael to the bus depot, about five blocks away, found our stop, waited until the 101 pulled in, hopped on and enjoyed the ride. The Golden Gate transportation buses are very comfortable and affordable.
Travel tip: Take plenty of dollar bills and quarters, as the bus drivers DO NOT make change. You get a little card that has money loaded on it, like a paper debit card, if you feed the meter too much. Also anyone 62 and over, ride for a measly one dollar in the city and half the rate across the Golden Gate.
Throughout the day, we were very impressed with the helpfulness of the locals and bus drivers alike to make sure we made our correct transfers and drivers of vehicles were also considerate and would wave you across road paths.
In a big city this size, it was nice to feel welcome.
At the very beginning, we passed by our first stop, so it was quite a ways to walk to get back. As soon as we got off the bus we were approached by one of the thousands of homeless walking streets and sleeping on the streets, parks or the front lawn of City Hall. The smell of urine hangs heavily in the air and it obviously was not enjoyable. I feel for them and everyone has their own story but San Fran is calling for a “state of emergency” due to the amount of homeless they have moving in on a daily basis, because they are given so much and asked for nothing. The working class is fed up because the homeless are even sleeping in front of and on stoops of private dwellings and the owners hands are tied as to what they can do about it, as in nothing. Some entrances look like jails, but are there to keep the homeless out sleeping in the doorways, but in itself would make me feel claustrophobic in my pursuit of privacy. A definite situation that is, “caught between a rock and a hard place.”We quickly found our way to a restaurant to have some relief and get a bite to eat, as we had not even eaten breakfast yet. We stopped in at “The Sage Cafe” and had a delicious meal of white fish, asparagus and other veggies and brown rice.
We chatted with a few locals, ate our lunch and had fun talking with the owners. After lunch we were revved up to get on down the road, as Han had a full itinerary of sights to see and visit.
Every time I thought we were almost there, we would turn a corner and there would be another up hill climb to make.
How is it that San Fran is hilly, upwards and downwards, but we were only going up, up, up???
Our first stop was “The Painted Ladies” and when I turned the corner to get a look at them, my first thought was “they could use a little more lipstick.” I guess I thought they would be more colorful. Yes, beautiful but they should be more accurately called, “The Pastel Ladies.”
I did notice an adorable idea of placing flowers in unusual spots to create warmth and color as you stroll through the city. See my pics. I will have to remember this and do it myself occasionally, just to add to our already wondrous world we live in.
Next stop, Haight-Ashbury! We walked through the park area and took in so many interesting sights, beautiful homes and sat for a few minutes to catch our breathes. Yep, we were still walking uphill.
I loved the entire area of Haight-Ashbury. The vibrant fun colors, the “not your so run of the mill” type stores, the unique people, art, decor, music blaring, stunning architecture and the skunk pot smells permeating from every orifice that all made for one unforgettable visit. I personally don’t care for pot, however the smell does not bother me in the least and it honestly added to the whole ‘hippie step back in time era experience.’
If I could have taken a little longer, I would have loved to shop for some authentic vintage clothing, but we still had bus transfers to figure out for visiting Fisherman’s Wharf. (by this time of the day, walking was not an option for us, as it was very far).
When we finally arrived at Fisherman’s Wharf, it left me with the desire to immediately go back to the Haight. I am sure many people would find it fun, but I found it too crowded, overrun with cheap souvenir stores and tacky. My reasoning for going there was to ride a cable car, but they onlysporadically use the real authentic old ones that I had longingly pictured in my mind, so I sufficed to pose for a picture with a newer model.
We enjoyed some coffee and dessert at Lolli’s Castagnola which has been serving meals since 1916. Try the cheesecake tiramisu, it is delectable. The highlights of the wharf was seeing a sea lion in the marina area while seated in the restaurant, and the colorful fishing boats lined up in a neat row.
Travel tip: walk from the Castagnola restaurant, past the marina until the end, to see the seals sunning themselves on the rocks along the shore.
Back on the buses to make transfers and walked back to the apartment from the bus station (by now we are fairly worn out), ordered dinner in again from a Puerto Rico Sol Food Restaurant that had lines outside every time we went by, talked with our friends Anton and Ellen until fairly late (enjoyed extra hugs because they will both be gone in the morning), then off to bed to attempt sleep that was much needed. Fingers crossed…
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