My heart is just leaving San Francisco

My husband is just getting on the same plane I caught a week ago to come home.

He’s been packing, returning the rental car, eating dinner at the airport and chatting to me via Google Talk. I’ve been chatting to him while upgrading my blog and organising photos to show you.

I took a little over 1200 photos on my trip. Yay for digital! Also yay for iPhoto – I don’t usually use iPhoto for storing my photos, but it was handy for downloading the photos at the end of each day. It makes it really easy to organise them into albums and slideshows for showing others.

I widdled down my 1200 photos to 150 for showing to family and 35 to show you. 😀 I was going to set up Lightview or something fancy, but then I thought that I’d just keep it simple: click on the thumbnails to see a larger image.

Most of these photos haven’t had any colour, balance or cropping adjustments so don’t be too analytical. 😛

Flying out of Sydney

This was my second international flight out of Sydney and my first long flight. I was pretty stoked with the sweep the plane took around our fair city before heading out over the Pacific.

First day in the city

When we arrived we got a town car to Mountain View. We were so tired, but our accommodation wasn’t ready yet. Thank goodness Google has cafes and wireless internet for guests and couches!

My first real day in the city was on the Thursday when I took the Caltrain into San Francisco. I made my way to a Starbucks and then to the top of a parking garage to take a look at Mission St. What I found was some of the “local colour”… I would not have wanted to walk into that Jack in the Box with those hoods looking like they own the place! And electric buses!

A walk down Market St found me my first steaming pothole and one of the famous cable car turnarounds.

Cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf

It took me a while to get a grip on the buses and directions. On my way to the Haight area, I went in the wrong direction — towards Fisherman’s wharf. It was cool. I loved the cable cars and I was able to take my husband down to Fisherman’s Wharf the next day without getting lost.

The sign at Fisherman’s Wharf was much larger than I thought it would be (from seeing it on the Full House intro)…
25 shows daily?! They must have a lot of different performers, or they have an incredible amount of energy.

Haight

I found my way to Haight St. I loved it there, I think it was my favourite part of the city. I had a cheeseburger, fries and beer at the People’s Cafe. Yum!

I love the victorian, edwardian and other influence houses, especially painted in so many different colours.

Buena Vista Park

Buena Vista Park on Haight St is lovely. It’s only a small space, but when you’re inside it feels enormous. It’s shady and steep and definitely worth the view from the top (which didn’t actually make this cut of photos).

I saw the Golden Gate bridge for the first time walking up there.

Fisherman’s Wharf

In the window of the Boudin bakery there is someone making fancy-shaped breads for the passers-by.

Hubby and I had our first clam chouder in sourdough bread bowls, and root beer, at Boudin. It was so good!

The Musee Mechanique was good fun to look around. Entry is free, but take a few quarters for the fortune tellers, or singers, or dancers or games.

We went on a tour of the USS Pampanito. It was interesting and thankfully cold. Last time I went on submarine the engines were on and it was so hot that I got claustrophobic and started to panic. This was much more pleasant. I still can’t imagine living with 85 men in such a tiny space… you’d want to be a small bloke!

Just up from Fisherman’s Wharf is Pier 39 — the sea lions are hilarious. You can hear them squawking (or whatever it is that they do) long before you see them. Some are a little territorial and push others off their platform!

I’m going to save the rest of the photos for tomorrow. Perhaps if you’ve been to San Francisco you could share with me your favourite parts of the city — I might know what you’re talking about!