Saturday 17th
Today it was back to touring. We slept in but still managed to be on our way by around 10 am. We headed towards China town, with no real destination in mind.
We ended up in the financial district largely because of Jackson Square (antiques) but it became apparent that the stores were not ones I was interested in.
Instead we headed west towards Telegraph Hill. We ascended and went into Coit Tower. The murals were very interesting almost more so than the view from above. We simply could not have asked for a better day to sightsee the day gave us perfect visibility.
Coit Tower
A view from Coit Tower
Afterwards, we headed to Washington Square and ate an early lunch including a huge coffee in a bowl. Washington square is a beautiful part of SF and the French quarter was also impressive.
Rob enjoying a bowl of coffee / The TransAmerica Pyramid
We then walked down Columbus towards Market to hop onto the Muni – the local streetcar. Some guy hit the emergency Stop button, so we ended up stuck half way between stops. We finally got to Noe Valley, to check out a local neighbourhood.
Beautiful Noe Valley, not far from the San Francisco city
After walking around for a while, we ended up back on the Muni this time on the ‘N’ route, and we ended up at Ocean Beach. We started our long trek from the very fringe of Golden Gate Park.
Rob at the entrance to Golden Gate Park
We headed east, through Redwood trees and Oaks deep into the Park. We stopped at Stow Lake and enjoyed an ice cream before heading on to the flower conservatory. You’ve doubtless seen the conservatory before – it has been filmed in countless movies. It was fun to see so many memorable locations!
We ate a hot dog and continued east. We ended up in Haight-Ashbury and spent some time in Amoeba records.
A map of our journey through Golden Gate Park – at least 11kms
It was dusk when we finished shopping at Amoeba, where I bought a couple of second hand Criterion Collection DVDs. We continued heading east towards Market street, through an increasingly dodgy neighbourhood (without incident), and in a mini race against time – as it appeared likely to start raining at any time.
It was very much our most intrepid and lengthy adventure on foot. It’s amazing how far you can walk when you have the time, and a great location to walk through.
After a time, we finally got back to the hotel in Union Square. We freshened up and then went into China town for dinner- eating at “Cathay House” which was underwhelming, the food wasn’t very good and we were forced to wait for about half an hour for a table. The whole area was fully booked, and most places had queues out the door!
The only thing worthy of note in the restaurant were the pictures of the restaurant owner with various famous people (e.g. President Clinton, movie stars) – it seemed to be the only real draw card.
After we processed dinner, we retired back to the hotel – another day in the books.
Washington Square Park Stow Lake, Golden Gate Park