USA Trip Days 2&3 - San Francisco
I’ve just read back my post from Sunday and it’s far too obvious that I’d been drinking wine all day and been sitting in the sun. Apologies for that.
The last couple of days have been spent taking in the sights, the sounds, the smells of San Francisco. Yesterday covered most of the touristy parts, starting with a walk to Union Square, along Market through the Financial District
to the Ferry Building.
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After that, we took a streetcar (accidentally without paying because we couldn’t find anyone to take our money) to the super-tacky Pier 39. A proper touristy plastic hell, I sort of thought of it as being like training for when we get to Vegas - you really have to get into the spirit of it if you want to enjoy it.
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The famous sea lions were basking in the bay, honking their hearts out and stinking to high heaven. They’re comical creatures.
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The rest of Fisherman’s Wharf reminded me of any seafront I’ve seen anywhere in the world - amusements and naff t-shirt shops. I was stopped by the Fun Police, who fined me for not smiling whilst jaywalking. I’m hoping that the 20 dollars I gave her for the homeless charity she apparently represented really did go to homeless kids and the ID she showed me wasn’t just some home-made forgery.
Next stop was the twilight trip out to Alcatraz Island. The mist was starting to come in by this time, which made the trip quite eery.
Gulls followed the ferry as we headed out.
In attempting to take some night shots of the SF skyline from Alcatraz Island, I had a bit of a droopy tripod moment. The result was a bit abstract, but I quite liked it.
Today, we headed up Haight St, the centre of the 60s counterculture, in search of trainers and records. Our ultimate destination was the legendary Amoeba Records, a former bowling alley filled to the brim with new and used vinyl and CDs. I elected to not buy any vinyl because of the hassle in getting it home, but took the opportunity of the favourable exchange rate to fill a few gaps in my collection. The only thing off my shopping list I didn’t manage top get was Ts Shi M Mi Re’s ‘Pregnant Fantasy’, which is proving to be somewhat elusive.
We came home on a cable car, again failing to find anyone willing to take our money, and I hung off the side of it for dear life.
Tomorrow, we go to the seaside - Carmel and Monterey.
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