March, 2016.
Shuttle bus
We arrived into San Francisco after a long 11-hour flight. We had pre-booked our transfers through a company called Super Shuttle – who I highly recommend!
We left the airport and walked to the correct stand outside the exit. A woman there checked us in and within 10 minutes the shuttle bus was there to take us to our hotel. This basically worked in reverse on our way back to the airport.
Francisco Bay Inn
The Francisco Bay Inn looks a lot like an American motel you might see in a film. However, it’s a great example of how you should never judge a book by its cover.
When we got dropped off at the hotel it was around 2pm, so we decided to drop our bags off and shoot off to explore – the hotel staff were kind enough to mind our bags. After a day of sight seeing we arrived back at the hotel around 10pm-ish (we had been awake for roughly 28 hours). The room we booked was merely out of necessity – somewhere to rest our heads. It was more than adequate though. The bed was MAHOOSIVE, I’m guessing a double king-size, the bathroom was deceivingly big and the shower was lovely and clean.
Because San Francisco is a busy city, the breakfast was an ‘up and out’ style. So we had donuts and tea. I am not a fan of donuts; however, this donut was delicious – I went for a simple iced-ring donut. Ironically, I could get the lovely taste of it out of my head all day!
Lombard Street
Lombard Street was something I had obviously seen online and on the TV, but in the back of my mind I couldn’t help but think it wasn’t real due to its unusual design and layout. Well…it is real. It’s crazy!
It was fun to stand and watch people walking past and taking pictures, as well as seeing cars driving down it being ever so careful.
I would actually have loved to drive down their, but only that road, the rest of San Francisco is a no-go when it comes to driving for me.
Fisherman’s Wharf
Fisherman’s Wharf is a lovely little area. It is your sort of stereotypical seaside waterfront, but with a more upbeat atmosphere. This area was definitely one of the busiest in San Francisco, probably because it’s known for Pier 39. It’s also full of tourist attractions like a shopping centre, Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum and a flurry of other museums.
Also, because it’s a pier, there are a lot of seafood restaurants, which comes accompanied by a ripe fish smell – it’s not a bad fishy smell, more a fresh seaside whiff. There was also an In-N-Out fast food burger restaurant there too. Being a ‘naïve tourist’ I only thought they existed in American sit-coms… turns out I was wrong.
Penny Arcade
Very, very cool. The penny arcade on Fisherman’s Wharf is packed with a plethora of old timey games, most of which cost a nickel or quarter to play/interact with.
From vibrant, mechanical dioramas to classic arcade favourites like Pacman, the penny arcade is ideal for those wanting to take a trip down memory lane or simply enjoy some retro gaming.
Rich even managed to get himself the new high score. Go Rich!
Trams
I was really looking forward to going on the infamous trams of San Fran. We queued up for a good 15 minutes, listening to an old guy playing a banjo very poorly, but it was entertaining nonetheless. The tram was pretty much the same as a bus ride and, due to the hilly nature of San Francisco, had us all sliding about on our seats.
It was great, everyone was smiling and chatting to each other – makes a stark difference to my usual worktime public transport commute. We got speaking to an American woman from the West Coast and she told asked us about our holiday and previous holidays we had been on. She gave us some sightseeing tips for San Fran, too.
Cheesecake Factory
The Cheesecake Factory was based in the Macy’s store in Union Square. As it’s based within another store I expected it to be small. It is in fact huge, with its own balcony overlooking the square.
It’s such a beautiful looking restaurant and the cheesecake cabinet just puts the icing on the cake (pardon the pun).
There are too many delicious looking cakes to choose from. After a lot of thinking we decided to go with the Salted Caramel Cheesecake, and it did not disappoint in the slightest. The slices they sell are so big however, that Rich and I decided to share one piece and take it back to our hotel room. It ended up defeating us both.
China Town
I never knew much about San Francisco’s China Town other than that it’s the largest Chinatown outside of Asia. It really is massive. It took us an extremely long time to walk the length of it.
It has so much to offer, from tourist to cultural shops and fast food joints to large restaurants. It would be amazing to visit around Chinese New Year. The celebrations would be immense!
Apple Bees
We ended our first night in San Francisco at Applebee’s – we came here because we’d been to a few in Florida previously and absolutely loved the sports bar atmosphere and food.
We had been up for around 28 hours so we were extremely tired, but also very hungry. I got a burger and sweet potato fries, Rich got BBQ ribs (his go-to dish) and sweet potato fries. The food was delicious and even though it was 10pm I could have easily gone back for seconds. The atmosphere was a tad more chilled for an Applebee’s, maybe because it was a Tuesday evening and everyone had work the next day. The actual restaurant was huge too, so maybe that took away from its cramped, sports bar appeal a little. But the food was gorgeous so that’s all that matters.
Alcatraz
Alcatraz was incredible; I never thought I would enjoy visiting a prison. We got the guided audio tour, which comes free with your entrance ticket, and it was brilliant.
No wonder it’s known as the best audio tour. The tickets are around £40 which includes the ferry across to the island and the audio guide. The tour was very thorough, creating an eerie atmosphere with a series of different noises and voices from actual ex-prisoners. It was very creepy walking in and out of the cells that once housed the likes of Al Capone.
I particularly liked how they kept the island pretty much looking the same with artwork of prisoners left on display in the cells and dummies lying in the beds, emulating the classic escape from Alcatraz story.
If you go to San Francisco, Alcatraz is an absolute – I would definitely go again.
As usual, this restaurant was fantastic.
We were so hungry after exploring Alcatraz and by this time it was around dinner. I had my go-to ‘Classic Club Sandwich’ which was delicious.
The guy who served us was lovely, asking us about other Hard Rock Café’s we had been to. The set up of the restaurant reminded me a little of the Rome Hard Rock. It was about average size and was in a big circle so it was easy to sit at your table and look at all the memorabilia. We ended up sitting next to James Taylor’s guitar!
Pier 39
When we were at Pier 39 it was early hours because we were on our way to get the ferry across to Alcatraz.
It was empty, but it had a certain vibe about it that suggested it would be ‘booming’ with all kinds.
Walt Disney Family Museum
The Walt Disney Family Museum is based in the Presidio part of San Francisco, up near the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s definitely worth a visit if you are up that way. The Museum tells you of Walt Disney himself, his stories and his work and innovations – the life and legacy of an incredible man.
If you’re a massive Disney fan, like me, you will be in your element. The fairly new attraction, which opened in 2009, is based In San Francisco purely because his family live close by. When Walt died, his daughter, who had access to much of his work, thought it would be great to display all of this sketches and ideas – and thus created the Walt Disney Family Museum.
Which by the way – bonus fact – isn’t actually associated with The Walt Disney Company.
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is stunning. When we first saw it, we were at Fisherman’s Wharf and it was glowing red with the sun bouncing off it. The second time we saw it we were over on Alcatraz island, where we also got a brilliant view of the San Francisco skyline.
When we finally made our way over to the bridge later on in the afternoon, we couldn’t even see the top as it was enveloped in clouds and fog – which looked very atmospheric.
We only walked half way across the bridge because the breeze strong, cold breeze blowing in from the sea made my hands go blue.
Papa John’s Pizza Delivery
This was a totally ‘American experience’ and something that I have always wanted to happen! On our last night, we thought we would order in so we could get all of our stuff together and have a bit of a chill, because we were so exhausted. So, we ordered a Papa John’s directly to our hotel room. The pizza guy knocked on the door shouting ‘Pizza delivery!’ I opened the door to a guy in his 20’s – looking like the pizza guy in Princess Diaries. It was amazing!
We ordered a large pizza each because I have the attitude of ‘we’re on holiday why not’… I only ate about 3 slices. I’m not a pizza person, but it was totally worth it for the experience!
Roads
The roads were just unbelievable!
I couldn’t get over how steep they were (pun intended). My legs were so tired after walking up just one street.
The locals must be super fit!
San Francisco Overall
I think San Francisco is a great city. In my honest opinion, it is a place you would visit only for a few days when you are on your way to another holiday destination, mainly because it doesn’t have that much to see, all things considered. It is such a beautiful place that should definitely be seen though, and we had an absolute ball there, even though we were only there for 2 and a half days.
Your Own Set of Wings 