The last leg of our so far most wonderful holiday was San Francisco. After a timely departure (for once...) from San Diego airport, we landed in San Francisco, rather late in the evening. By the time we got to our hotel (a rather modest motel located on Lombard street), it was time to hit the sack, so no San Francisco exploration for us yet.
The next morning, we started the day with a VERY American breakfast at Mel’s diner. Mel’s diner is about as American as a place can get, serving pan cakes, hash browns and the like in an interior covered with old photos, juke boxes etc. We simply loved the place – even though I suppose it could be described as a bit of a tourist trap as well… After this rather filling brekkie, we jumped on the bus and headed downtown (one thing to say is that the public transport in San Francisco is quite impressive – quite un-American, one might say).
After arming ourselves with maps, leaflets etc. at the main tourist office (located near that famous end stop of the Powel street cable car – the one that goes down to Fisherman’s Wharf), it was time to head back out into the sticks, since Gilles and Valerie had a rendez-vous at a French school (this needs a bit of elaboration – one of the reasons for our trip here is that they are looking to relocate to San Francisco. Valerie already had a post more or less confirmed, but Gilles was still looking). Meanwhile, we headed out with Celian and Hector to the nearby Golden Gate Park to check out some of the local wild life. We had a very good time actually, checking out the various birds and a couple of very friendly squirrels – in spite of the rain.
A while later, rendez-vous at Starbuck’s (have to do one of those as well, since we are in the US of A, after all!) for some excellent news. Turns out that Gilles had managed to get himself recruited as well! So, looks like one family moving to California then come next summer… (a plan for another trip to the US was already forming in our heads!).
Gilles and Valerie had some admin stuff to take care of in the afternoon, so me and Mathilde decided to head downtown for a bit of tourist action. We decided to start with another US institution, the Cheesecake factory. Cheesecake factory takes its roots back all the way to the 40’s, and is a chain of family restaurants, which has apparently been voted as the “worst family restaurant in the US” due to their large portion sizes. Obviously, we loved it :).
To burn of some of those calories, we decided to hike down to Fisherman’s Wharf from Union square. On the map, it doesn’t look too far away, but walking in San Francisco is pretty hard work actually, due to the famous up ‘n down profile of the city. Well, as they say, if it doesn’t kill ya, it’ll make ya stronger, right? We crossed through China town, which was pretty cool and very “authentic” indeed (reminded me a bit of a bigger version of London’s China town).
We actually arrived at Pier 39, from where we walked towards Fisherman’s Wharf, where we were meeting Gilles, Valerie ‘n the boyz. Fisherman’s wharf is of course one of the most famous touristy attractions at San Francisco, and it shows. It gives new definition to the word “tourist trap”. But there is one really cool place in Fisherman’s Wharf, at least - Musée Mécanique. It’s basically a warehouse where they have lovingly restored old coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines. I absolutely loved the place, it kind of reminded me of the machines they used to have on display in Brighton pier and Covent Garden in London. Apart from that, I wasn’t too enamored by Fisherman’s Wharf, I have to say. We struggled a bit to find a place for dinner, eventually finding ourselves in a decent Italian eatery in North Beach.
The next day, me and Mathilde started the day by making our way to Haight & Ashbury (while Gillles, Valerie & co. had more “administrative stuff” to take care of). This part of town is where the hippie movement was at its strongest in San Francisco. These days, it’s a very posh and upmarket part of town (although there are plenty of quirky shops, bars and restaurants which hark back to the crazy old days…). It’s definitely a very beautiful part of San Francisco, with its beautiful Victorian wooden houses San Francisco is so known for. Now it looks so upmarket, it’s kind of hard to imagine the place being overran by hippies – mind you I suppose a lot of things change in 30-40 years. We passed by houses where Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead had staid, to mention a couple of landmarks – but mostly we were impressed by the pretty architecture and the cool shops.
From Haight, we made our way to another very well known district of San Francisco, Castro. Castro, with it’s rainbow flags, is of course the gay district of San Francisco. This is where that famous dude Harvey Milk (who was the first elected public official in California – Gus Van Sant made a movie about his life recently) lived and worked. It’s a pretty trendy neighborhood these days, with trendy shops, bars and restaurants to be seen everywhere, but there is still an “alternative feel” to the place (as showcased by for example a window full of, how should I say it, “very masculine action figures” in one window on the main street).
From the Castro, we made our way to the Mission district, which is the Hispanic part of San Francisco. We only had time for a quick walk around Mission, since we had a lunch date to attend to. We did have time to check out the main attraction in the Mission district though, which is the graffiti paintings that adorn a lot of the buildings in this part of time. And this is pretty cool and opinionated graffiti – definitely art in its own right.
We met up for lunch in the South of Market street district, which is a kind of non-descript area of San Francisco (in a city of very distinct ‘hoods). But the restaurant was very nice indeed – even if the prices were a wee bit steep. After lunch, Gilles and Valerie had a bit of time before their next school-related rendez-vous, so we decided to head up to Telegraph hill, where Coit Tower is located. Coit Tower is where you probably get the best views over San Francisco – the financial district (with its sky-scrapers), the Bay bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate are all well in sight.
We still had a couple of hours of daylight left, so we decided to have a walk around Russian Hill. The main motivation was of course to check out the hairpin bendy bit of Lombard street – perhaps one of the most stretches of road in the world? So, is it worth all the fuss? I guess you can judge yourself from the photo ? It is quite a special bit of road, and the views from the top are quite amazing. Russian hill in general is pretty swanky as well – definitely for people with deep pockets. This part of town is particularly hilly, so walking around Russian hill is definitely a good way to loose weight (no wonder San Franciscans are so slim).
We had a dinner rendez-vous with the gang in a real San Francisco institution – the Taddich Grill later on, but had a bit of time on our hands, so strolled around for a bit more in Chinatown before heading down to the financial district, where the restaurant was located. The Taddich grill was pretty cool – they have a very nice bar where you can wait for your table at. The place has a very real buzz to it – very American I suppose. The clientele seemed to be mostly business men, working in the financial district, I suppose. The food was great – definitely one of the best steaks I’ve had for quite a while.
Me and Gillles finished off the day by picking up Marie at the airport (she had decided to spend a couple of extra days with JayJay in San Diego, rather than coming along with us), and then hitting our beds, satisfied after another great day in the US of A…
The next day, it was time to say bye bye to the rest of the gang, who were heading back to old Europe, after another rather filling breakfast at our favorite diner (that’s right - Mel’s of course!). Me and Mathilde decided to spend our last day checking out what is I guess THE landmark of San Francisco, the Golden Gate. And a beautiful bridge it is indeed. After admiring this masterpiece of bridge building and engineering for a good while (and naturally taking quite a few photos in the process), we decided to cross by foot, towards Marin county and Sausalito. There are pretty nice views from the bridge towards Alcatraz and the city, so it’s a pretty nice hike actually.
After checking out Golden Gate, we still had a couple of hours to kill, so after a tasty burger lunch in Cow Hollow (where our hotel was located), we walked around a bit in Pacific Heights (another rather fancy neighbour hood of San Francisco with pretty Victorian Houses), before making our way to the airport, sad to leave this wonderful city…
All in all, San Francisco definitely caught our fancy – certainly the “urban highlight” of our trip (I like San Diego, but prefer San Francisco). There’s history, great food, loads to see and people are friendly. And somewhat unusually for the US, it’s very easy to explore on foot. Definitely has a European feel to it as – although at the same time it is distinctly American. I’ve already been twice – and would definitely be happy to visit again!
The next morning, we started the day with a VERY American breakfast at Mel’s diner. Mel’s diner is about as American as a place can get, serving pan cakes, hash browns and the like in an interior covered with old photos, juke boxes etc. We simply loved the place – even though I suppose it could be described as a bit of a tourist trap as well… After this rather filling brekkie, we jumped on the bus and headed downtown (one thing to say is that the public transport in San Francisco is quite impressive – quite un-American, one might say). 
After arming ourselves with maps, leaflets etc. at the main tourist office (located near that famous end stop of the Powel street cable car – the one that goes down to Fisherman’s Wharf), it was time to head back out into the sticks, since Gilles and Valerie had a rendez-vous at a French school (this needs a bit of elaboration – one of the reasons for our trip here is that they are looking to relocate to San Francisco. Valerie already had a post more or less confirmed, but Gilles was still looking). Meanwhile, we headed out with Celian and Hector to the nearby Golden Gate Park to check out some of the local wild life. We had a very good time actually, checking out the various birds and a couple of very friendly squirrels – in spite of the rain. 
A while later, rendez-vous at Starbuck’s (have to do one of those as well, since we are in the US of A, after all!) for some excellent news. Turns out that Gilles had managed to get himself recruited as well! So, looks like one family moving to California then come next summer… (a plan for another trip to the US was already forming in our heads!).Gilles and Valerie had some admin stuff to take care of in the afternoon, so me and Mathilde decided to head downtown for a bit of tourist action. We decided to start with another US institution, the Cheesecake factory. Cheesecake factory takes its roots back all the way to the 40’s, and is a chain of family restaurants, which has apparently been voted as the “worst family restaurant in the US” due to their large portion sizes. Obviously, we loved it :).
To burn of some of those calories, we decided to hike down to Fisherman’s Wharf from Union square. On the map, it doesn’t look too far away, but walking in San Francisco is pretty hard work actually, due to the famous up ‘n down profile of the city. Well, as they say, if it doesn’t kill ya, it’ll make ya stronger, right? We crossed through China town, which was pretty cool and very “authentic” indeed (reminded me a bit of a bigger version of London’s China town). 
We actually arrived at Pier 39, from where we walked towards Fisherman’s Wharf, where we were meeting Gilles, Valerie ‘n the boyz. Fisherman’s wharf is of course one of the most famous touristy attractions at San Francisco, and it shows. It gives new definition to the word “tourist trap”. But there is one really cool place in Fisherman’s Wharf, at least - Musée Mécanique. It’s basically a warehouse where they have lovingly restored old coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines. I absolutely loved the place, it kind of reminded me of the machines they used to have on display in Brighton pier and Covent Garden in London. Apart from that, I wasn’t too enamored by Fisherman’s Wharf, I have to say. We struggled a bit to find a place for dinner, eventually finding ourselves in a decent Italian eatery in North Beach. 
The next day, me and Mathilde started the day by making our way to Haight & Ashbury (while Gillles, Valerie & co. had more “administrative stuff” to take care of). This part of town is where the hippie movement was at its strongest in San Francisco. These days, it’s a very posh and upmarket part of town (although there are plenty of quirky shops, bars and restaurants which hark back to the crazy old days…). It’s definitely a very beautiful part of San Francisco, with its beautiful Victorian wooden houses San Francisco is so known for. Now it looks so upmarket, it’s kind of hard to imagine the place being overran by hippies – mind you I suppose a lot of things change in 30-40 years. We passed by houses where Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead had staid, to mention a couple of landmarks – but mostly we were impressed by the pretty architecture and the cool shops.
From Haight, we made our way to another very well known district of San Francisco, Castro. Castro, with it’s rainbow flags, is of course the gay district of San Francisco. This is where that famous dude Harvey Milk (who was the first elected public official in California – Gus Van Sant made a movie about his life recently) lived and worked. It’s a pretty trendy neighborhood these days, with trendy shops, bars and restaurants to be seen everywhere, but there is still an “alternative feel” to the place (as showcased by for example a window full of, how should I say it, “very masculine action figures” in one window on the main street).From the Castro, we made our way to the Mission district, which is the Hispanic part of San Francisco. We only had time for a quick walk around Mission, since we had a lunch date to attend to. We did have time to check out the main attraction in the Mission district though, which is the graffiti paintings that adorn a lot of the buildings in this part of time. And this is pretty cool and opinionated graffiti – definitely art in its own right.
We met up for lunch in the South of Market street district, which is a kind of non-descript area of San Francisco (in a city of very distinct ‘hoods). But the restaurant was very nice indeed – even if the prices were a wee bit steep. After lunch, Gilles and Valerie had a bit of time before their next school-related rendez-vous, so we decided to head up to Telegraph hill, where Coit Tower is located. Coit Tower is where you probably get the best views over San Francisco – the financial district (with its sky-scrapers), the Bay bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate are all well in sight. 
We still had a couple of hours of daylight left, so we decided to have a walk around Russian Hill. The main motivation was of course to check out the hairpin bendy bit of Lombard street – perhaps one of the most stretches of road in the world? So, is it worth all the fuss? I guess you can judge yourself from the photo ? It is quite a special bit of road, and the views from the top are quite amazing. Russian hill in general is pretty swanky as well – definitely for people with deep pockets. This part of town is particularly hilly, so walking around Russian hill is definitely a good way to loose weight (no wonder San Franciscans are so slim). 
We had a dinner rendez-vous with the gang in a real San Francisco institution – the Taddich Grill later on, but had a bit of time on our hands, so strolled around for a bit more in Chinatown before heading down to the financial district, where the restaurant was located. The Taddich grill was pretty cool – they have a very nice bar where you can wait for your table at. The place has a very real buzz to it – very American I suppose. The clientele seemed to be mostly business men, working in the financial district, I suppose. The food was great – definitely one of the best steaks I’ve had for quite a while.Me and Gillles finished off the day by picking up Marie at the airport (she had decided to spend a couple of extra days with JayJay in San Diego, rather than coming along with us), and then hitting our beds, satisfied after another great day in the US of A…
The next day, it was time to say bye bye to the rest of the gang, who were heading back to old Europe, after another rather filling breakfast at our favorite diner (that’s right - Mel’s of course!). Me and Mathilde decided to spend our last day checking out what is I guess THE landmark of San Francisco, the Golden Gate. And a beautiful bridge it is indeed. After admiring this masterpiece of bridge building and engineering for a good while (and naturally taking quite a few photos in the process), we decided to cross by foot, towards Marin county and Sausalito. There are pretty nice views from the bridge towards Alcatraz and the city, so it’s a pretty nice hike actually. 
After checking out Golden Gate, we still had a couple of hours to kill, so after a tasty burger lunch in Cow Hollow (where our hotel was located), we walked around a bit in Pacific Heights (another rather fancy neighbour hood of San Francisco with pretty Victorian Houses), before making our way to the airport, sad to leave this wonderful city…All in all, San Francisco definitely caught our fancy – certainly the “urban highlight” of our trip (I like San Diego, but prefer San Francisco). There’s history, great food, loads to see and people are friendly. And somewhat unusually for the US, it’s very easy to explore on foot. Definitely has a European feel to it as – although at the same time it is distinctly American. I’ve already been twice – and would definitely be happy to visit again!
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