Day 129 - Sightseeing Galore

We had to check out of our quaint, though fully booked up little hostel and lug our things a few blocks away to the Monarch Hotel.

We decided that we’d like to go and see the Golden Gate Bridge today and so walked up Van Ness to locate the bus to get us there… there wasn’t one! We just carried on walking until we got to Fisherman’s Wharf for the third day in a row, though this time we were on the hunt for a decent city sightseeing bus.

We waited around for ages until the one we were after finally arrived and took us to the office where we purchased 48 hour tickets that covered us for all of the routes their buses did. From here we got straight on the Sausalito tour which was a single decker open top bus that took us over the bridge (an incredibly windy experience) and stopped briefly at a vista point once it reached the other side. The tour then took us through the very posh area over at this side of the bridge before making the way back to Fisherman’s Wharf where it would terminate.

We then wanted to get back to the hotel and so hopped onto a Downtown tour which we departed at Union Square to walk up the road to go and check in. We also chilled out for a bit before getting ready to head back out and try and catch the night tour of the city. Before going back to Union Square though we went for an early tea at another great Thai place.

We sat at Union Square for ages to wait for the 18:00 night tour but when that arrived it was so packed that we couldn’t get a seat on it! We ended up waiting around here for another hour to get the 19:00 night tour bus though were weren’t short of entertainment to keep us occupied. We had already been told that if you just go and wait somewhere in San Francisco it won’t be long until something bizarre or interesting finds you. Amid all of the fun of people watching we watched as the fire service were called out twice: Once to see to a distress call from a Japanese tourist who it would seem simply had a case of trapped wind that was causing him some discomfort, then a second time to sort out a large shattered window on the top floor of the Macy’s over the street. They cordoned off the pavement 5 or 6 stories below this window and then raised a fireman atop the ladders until he was next to the window. He then simply hacked at the glass until it was all gone; either inside the store or scattered across the street below. This mess was all cleaned up just in time for the arrival of our tour bus.

The informative tour took us through the main parts of the city and opened our eyes a little better to more of the areas that we could venture to if we’d like. Some of the places we saw on this tour included: Chinatown, Japantown, Grace Cathedral, Alamo Square and the Seven Sisters (painted ladies.) This tour was good but very cold and the other downside was that at the end of the tour we were told that the tour terminated in Fisherman’s Wharf and so we’d have to make our own way back to the hotel.

Above left: Seven Sisters

Above left: City Hall. Above right: Grace Cathedral

Above left: View of Bay Bridge. Above right: Ferry Building clock tower

Well Fisherman’s Wharf for the fourth day in a row but we were not put off by this as it meant we’d get to ride one of the famous cable cars of SF. First we had pizza and then we walked down the street to the start of the Powell-Hyde line. There was a moderately sized queue here but when the guy asked for two more passengers to take the “standing outside” places nobody responded. Nobody but us and so we made our way past the queue of people and hopped onto the carriage… We then got told we couldn’t stand in this part of the car and so we both looked around curiously as to where they intended us to move to. It turns out that “standing outside” basically means that you have to stand on a step on the outside of the cable car and hang on to a vertical pole – and hang on well. This was a funny and exciting experience; clinging on for dear life as the car worked its way up and down the hilly streets of the city at night. We later learned that this is the best way to ride the cable cars. We eventually hopped off at Union Square and then walked back to the hotel.