A Day in San Francisco

The Captain had announced, the evening prior, we would be entering the Golden Gate Strait and passing under the bridge at about 5:30 a.m. I set my alarm for 5:15 a.m., and was up and out on my balcony soon thereafter. I really could have used a tripod to keep my camera still, as the photos I took were almost universally bad. I'm sharing one, it's fuzzy as I couldn't avoid the shake, but you get the picture!

After the excitement of seeing the bridge in the dark, I went back to be for an hour or so. The sun was starting to show itself and I took several shots before it appeared over the horizon.

This is the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, or more commonly called the Bay Bridge. 

On this morning, I took my time enjoying my breakfast on Aft 16, before heading down to the gangway. We were docked at Pier 27, right on The Embarcadero. 

Across from the Pier and up the hill is Coit Tower. From Wikipedia, "Coit Tower is a 210-foot tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California, overlooking the city and San Francisco Bay. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, was built between 1932 and 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco." At the top of the tower is an observation deck of the 360 degree views of the city, the bay, and the bridges. There is no elevator and one must be able to walk up 13 flights of stairs to the top. Definitely not on my list of things to do, though it would be neat to see.

My plan was to purchase a ticked on the local HOHO bus (hop-on, hop-off). There was a ticket kiosk just off the ship, which was a bit of a surprise, however to catch the bus, I had to walk up The Embarcadero to a place described as "CVS will be on your left". There was an older lady just behind me in line who was concerned about walking alone*, so I offered to walk with her. Her name was Maria and she lives in Las Vegas. She and her husband cruised frequently, but he recently passed away and he made her promise to continue to cruise. 

After a bit of back and forth and couple of wrong turns - we ought to have stayed on The Embarcadero the entire way, we eventually found Bus Stop #1. Since Maria is sensitive to the sun, we found seats on the lower deck of the bus and headed off on a two hour jaunt around the city. We passed by several areas of the city, including Chinatown, Embarcadero Center (a huge shopping area), Union Square, City Hall, Alamo Square/Painted Ladies, Haight-Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, Golden Gate Bridge, Palace of the Arts, Cow Hollow, and a view of Lombard Street, before heading back to the pier. For the first ride around, I chose to stay with Maria. I listened to the narration on the ear buds provided, while she having visited the city frequently, simply answered my questions and enjoyed the ride.

I took a single photo from the bus on this trip, of a Tesla truck. I'm not sure what the appeal is, they are pretty darn ugly.

The bus did stop at Pier 27 on our return, so I stayed on the bus, moving up to upper deck for the second go-round. This time I got a number of photos, though my efforts were hampered by being on a moving bus!

The Spires of St. Paul's Catholic church soared above the buildings in the area. 

I've since learned that scenes for the movie, Sister Act were filmed in the church.

This interesting building is the Transamerica Pyramid, a 48 story office building.

According to the narrative, I listened to on the bus, there are four cameras installed on each of the four corners of the top of the building. Visitors can view monitors on the main floor to virtually see the views from the top of the building. Unlike the Coit tower, I could see myself checking the view from the ground floor.

I believe this was a bank of some sort. I was taken by the beauty of the stonework on the facade.

I took this photo because it was a spot of colour in the concrete jungle of the financial area.

This crooked photo is of the City Hall of San Francisco. It's a lovely building with an interesting history. It was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1906, re-opening in 1915. As well, in November 1978, it was the scene of a double murder/assassination of the mayor and a senior official. The perpetrator, former official was disgruntled when his position was given to someone else.

These are a few of the painted ladies that we passed on our way up a steep hill. There were many more, but the bus was just moving too quickly until it reached this part of the hill, and the driver geared down.

If you guessed this storefront was part of the Haight-Ashbury area of the city, you would be correct.

The bus turned at the Haight-Ashbury corner, but I wasn't quick enough to capture a photo.

The first photo is the first view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the highIring our ride across the bridge.

I learned that the city originally planned to paint the bridge yellow and black, but the steel but it arrived from the manufacturer as shown. It was then decided this colour would be very visible (as if the Bridge itself would not have been) and it suited the setting, so the original colour stayed. It has been repainted in the years since. That would not be a job I'd want!

I did get off the bus at the North Vista point, but was disappointed as there was a lot of glare, so photos of the bridge weren't what I was hoping for.

This is a zoomed in shot of Alcatraz Island, was used as a penitentiary for 30 years. A few famous inmates included Al Capone, "Machine Gun" Kelly, and Robert Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz). Some of our solo group did tours - it is now a museum. Lee had booked a private tour, and said it was terrific as she got to see areas of the former prison not generally accessible. 

A view of the city from the North Vista. The Transamerica Pyramid is evident in the photo!

Another view from the vista. The city and surrounding area are certainly hilly!

I took a photo of the plant, because I was fascinated by the bloooms. It was clear they were nearing the end, but the puffs almost looked like pink dandelions. A Google lens search indicates it is likely Melaleuca nesophilia (showy Honey Myrtle). 

The next HoHo bus arrived about 15 minutes after I had stepped off the first, so I boarded and returned to the city. After a stop at Pier 39 for a walk-about, I returned the ship and was back on-board about 4 p.m. I made a stop at the International cafe for one of their tuna croissant sandwiches - they are so delicious and I hadn't had lunch. 

Then it was time to clean up and head up for pre-dinner drinks and later dinner with the solo group. 

I really enjoyed my visit to San Francisco and will definitely consider a return to visit more of the sites. In particular, I'd love to spend some time at the Golden Gate park in the Japanese gardens. A visit to the Ghiradelli store would be fun too.

*I normally would not discuss politics of any sort, but I heard Maria and other passengers mention how dangerous San Francisco is due to the sheer number of homeless people. Their fears are based on comments made by a certain Presidential candidate who has suggested the problem is due to the other Presidential candidate's stint as a the first woman Attorney General of California. I have no doubt there are many homeless people living there; the climate is warm and like so many other cities, large and small, there are people who find themselves in dire straits. In any event, we saw one potentially homeless person on our walk - he was shouting something as he made his way down the sidewalk. In other words, I felt completely safe during my day in San Francisco.

Next up - Sea days and Los Angeles

P.S. It's become a thing for passengers to hide ducks on the cruise ships. Once found, they can be re-hid or taken home. In my case, I brought this duck home for Eli. It's a bit of fun, and there are rules including no hiding ducks in retail stores or near the pools. I also found another duck, a wee tiny one at the top of stairwell, that I re-hid. It disappeared too, so someone else found it.