Monday 3 August
Flew from Vegas to San Francisco, arriving early afternoon. Used Uber for the first time to get to our Wyndham timeshare in the Bay near Chinatown & impressed with the App that apparently started in SF.
After checking in, we caught the cable car (tram) to Fisherman's Wharf, the 2nd most visited tourist attraction in the USA after Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida.
Had early dinner, clam & crab chowder in a sourdough "bowl" with the local draft beer.
Then walked to Pier 33 to catch the night tour of Alcatraz Prison. Amazed at how close the island is to the mainland, about a mile. Although you wouldn't want to have been a prisoner there, it wasn't as horrific as I expected, & the breakfast menu looked pretty good! We went to the talk on locking up, & you can see why prison is called "the slammer" as there is a helluva noise when all the doors close at once.
Pictures taken from the ferry on the way to the Alcatraz Island.
Panoramic view of SF from Alcatraz Island at sunset.
View of a notorious criminal behind bars in Alcatraz Prison!
Caught the packed electric street car back to timeshare.
Tuesday
Went on a two day Big Bus hop on hop off tour which included both a day & night tour as well as a tour of Sausalito.
View of the Golden Gate Bridge that is the busiest in the world with over 100,000 vehicles a day.
Early supper at Bubba Gump's at Pier 39 overlooking the bay, shrimps being the specialty.
View of the Bay Bridge from Treasure Island, taken on the night tour at sunset. Built six months before Golden Gate Bridge & has on average 25,000 vehicles a day, so traffic flows in opposite direction on the two levels.
Wednesday
We hired a tandem bike to ride for two hours to go across the Golden Gate Bridge & back to Fisherman's Wharf.
The other side of the bridge which I didn't expect Jane to reach, with all the pedestrian traffic to contend with as the west side was closed.
Trying to do some gymnastics on the ride back from the bridge but way out of practice!
Tried out the 7D Experience which was fun but both of us need some shooting practice (Darren we need some pointers!).
Back at the famous Pier 39 which is home to lots of sea lions, as there are no sharks. It was a hive of activity & reminded us a little bit of Hillarys Harbour. Only one ice cream is mine!
Finished off the glorious day on the bus with live commentary by Chris, with the tallest building (Trans American) in the background.
San Francisco is lovely, but apparently the most expensive city in USA. Weather was wonderful & we had a great time, finishing off with Leffe Blonde on our Uber ride to the airport in the evening.
Wednesday - Friday
Our epic journey home on Air NZ's new 787. We tried out the sky sofa.
