San Fran

Do the BART man.



"I don't want to have my picture taken!" Fine..I'll take one of the Cal train instead



Fisherman's Wharf and one of the Pier entrances. It was actually a nice sunny day with a very sharp cold wind coming in from the bay..phoo! However, when you travel and sightsee, it's better to have to dress for a bit more warmth, than being hot and miserable.


One of the things the kids will remember most from their time in San Francisco; yep.. swimming at the (cold) pool of the hotel.

The first day we took our (rental) car into town to find the 49mile scenic drive, WITH map we got lost. Eventually we found it but it is something apparently very 'californian'; crazy road system. Well, it's not easy to find your way around. Anyhow, at first I thought, wow, finally! I'm in San Francisco! Then I thought, holy cow, there are just too many people here!! (duh). I did not think it was that pretty. Of course, there are the pretty bits that you'll see on tv, and the interesting bits (where gays roam and love freely what a concept, the crooked street, Monk scenes, Golden Gate bridge, China Town) but then, you miss the panoramic view attached to it; the ugly houses (many AND expensive), density of people, houses, the shivery me timbers foggy cold (ok, when you come from a warmer place, it takes getting used to,ahem), the built up of houses and lack of wide open spaces. Now I know that sounds like a dumb thing to say, it is. But I wasn't expecting to 'feel that'. I had always thought; wow, San Francisco it looks so 'Sunset Magazine-e' (bad english sorry). But the snippets of images gave way to the harsh reality of living in dense California where the housing cost is astronomical, the density is suffocating and the living ain't that easy. It was still a neat thing to see everything up close, to be able to say, been there done that. The Bart drove fast for a subway and I've been on a few subways; Singapore, London, Paris, Washington DC, Toronto.. is there a speed limit on this thing? Another thing that might've not been a 'smart' thing to do was to go there with the kids. Not that they could not handle it, but they won't remember much other than Dirk perhaps. It's a place to go with just your partner so you can go to the museums (we did not bother), stroll down certain places and take it all in. But, live and learn. I had not been on a 'proper' holiday (meaning, being away longer than 3 days) for 10 yrs. We did go to the S.F zoo which was much smaller than I expected from a city that big, but then, space is an issue. Plus, unlike the San Diego zoo where we've been before, this one you can do in one day so it was big enough. When we went to Union Square to catch the Bart back home, I saw all these neat clothing stores, some haute couture no doubt. If it would've been just James and I, I would have sauntered in for a look. Oh well, we saw a lot and appreciated what we saw and definitely appreciated our own home. It's no wonder that when Californians go into the rest of the country they say, wow.. all that house for THAT little money?! And then they go increase the prices because they can afford to live just about anywhere.
I like my big back yard. I like my wide open spaces and even the Austin size congestion..it ain't that bad. Yet.