The weirdest thing about San Francisco is that nothing really opens until 10am. So being up at 7:30am wasn't super helpful for going anywhere, but it allowed some good time to practice my speech and channel surf the TV. I noticed there was a lot of repetition of TV shows throughout the day. But more on that later.
My first stop for today was back down on the Embarcadero to get photos of the building I had seen yesterday. It was pretty quiet at 9:30, with everyone else still warming up for the day. So I happily dawdled along the foreshore before turning towards the Coit Tower - a great lookout spot for San Francisco.
Ferry Building - Sample of San Francisco Heritage
San Francisco Tram
Pier 1 Heritage Building
And on the other side of the road - Skyscrapers
Pier 7 - You could fish off the end of it
Oakland Bay Bridge - you may recognise it from the logo of the Golden State Warriors
Along the Piers is the Exploratorium - a science museum for children. Outside they have a number of external displays - including concrete barnacles and a concrete reinforcement failure due to rusting. Pretty neat.
Barnacles are large and aggressive in San Fran
I think this is circuitry, I couldn't see the sign that explained it.
As I walked up to Coit Tower, I realised how crazy this city is - in the best possible way. In the middle of this busy city area is a park and a square called Levi's Square. Why? Because Levi's (the jeans company) - bought the name. They have a large shop there to and I think their headquarters. Even more crazy is not just the number of stairs I had to climb to get up to the Coit Tower, but that people had their houses with the only access being these staircases! So they would park at the bottom of an enormous hill and climb up. I don't know how they handled the groceries.
Random Park in the Middle of the City - very chill
Levi's Plaza had an attractive water feature
Levi Shop
My ticket up Coit Tower was a little - patriotic
But look at that view
It was interesting to see that despite the beautiful weather, there was a lot of fog hovering around the Golden Gate Bridge - which you can note in the above picture. Typical. That was where I was planning to go after lunch.
I headed across San Francisco and decided to head up to Lombard Street - famous for its eight hairpin bends in one block. And let me tell you, some of the streets in San Francisco are crazy steep - as in stairs for sidewalks. But Lombard Street is special. Very special. I haven't the faintest why it was designed the way it is, or why people live there. I guess cause it's special.
They build buildings on weird angles on this street
Just kidding, Lombard is just really steep
1 block - 8 hairpin turns. BECAUSE WE CAN!
The tower in the background is Coit Tower - I walked down from that to the top of Lombard
After Lombard, I headed to KFC for lunch. I figured it was quick and easy. Colour me disappointed. The chicken looked reconstituted (really flat for chicken strips) and it was a bit on the spicy side. Oh and it was served with a scone. I don't understand that at all. And no chips - potato and gravy instead. But it was super cheap - which was a plus. And the drinks were free refills. Also a big plus.
The last stop of the day was Golden Gate Bridge. I had done some morning google to inform me that the best viewing place was Battery Spencer, on the north side of the bridge. So I caught the bus. Unfortunately the bus stop was 2.3 miles (3.7km) away from the viewing area. Which meant I walked some more. I am grateful that it was at least down hill.
My new camera lets me take good selfies (the screen rotates)
Ain't she pretty?
The truss supporting her
Whilst walking across the bridge - the fog rolled in. Lost the view of the bay
After crossing the bridge back to San Francisco. I caught the bus to the UN Plaza. I was a little disappointed actually that it was just an open space with pillars and the UN Charter written on the footpath. But the Town Hall down the road - it was amazing. Very gothic style. And out the front was the women's soccer match and the crowd was getting very excited.
UN Logo at UN Plaza
Town Hall - with the soccer game
My first sighting of the Rainbow Flag
My final night in San Francisco was spent packing for tomorrow. I leave for New York at 7:55am. Because I walked so much today, I gave in and grabbed McDonalds for dinner. And it was good.
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