West Coast Diary: The Arrival

Our first time to San Francisco, and mine to the west coast, so despite the very long flight time (at least I got to see five films), we were still quite excited.

Arriving in SF at around midday, the sun was shining, and there was a lovely view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the city itself whilst circling to land.

Getting out of the airport was surprisingly simple, and following the trusty Lonely Planet guidebook's suggestion, we headed towards the BART station to get transported to the city centre itself.

The BART seems like it's a cross between a monorail and a metro, and is the easiest, quickest and cheapest way from the airport to the centre. The one thing that was confusing, was that to get a ticket you go to a machine, and need to know the value of the ticket for the distance you want to go. No helpful 'Zone 1/2/3' options. If paying by credit card, you insert your card, and get the ticket. No PIN required. I was now starting to understand how thieves would have a field day with a stolen card. Made a mental note to keep mine extra safe.

The journey starts off fine, a good view from the windows of the area around the airport, and then suddenly it's all underground. Maybe it wasn't the most scenic methods of transport after all. But it was quick, and we arrived at Powell Street Station within half an hour.

Coming out of the station the first thing that hits you is the amount of beggars around the entrance. On first impressions it seems like this is their hanging out spot. Wanting to avoid looking like tourists (ok, we had luggage with us) I tried to get my bearings to head up to our hotel which was on Union Square.

No luck at figuring out the roads. It appears signs to show you the street names and directions don't exist at Powell, and so finally asking a guy standing around with maps, he pointed us in the right direction.

Walking up the street (now using the local lingo, you'll note) we noticed how steep it was. We passed many big stores, all bright and shiny, and lots of tourists too, but it was only a leisurely 7 minute walk, and that convinced us it was a well positioned hotel for us (noted for next time).

After checking in, we showered and changed out of the clothes we were wearing for the last 18 hours (you can imagine how they smelt), and headed off up Powell Street to see a bit of the city before the tiredness set in.

We had read beforehand that only tourists wear shorts around SF, due to the fog that rolls in on a near daily basis. Of course, having arrived in bright sunshine, I didn't believe this, and headed out, always the adventurer, in shorts, sandals and t-shirt. About 10 minutes later we returned to the hotel so I could change into something warmer. Yes, the fog comes suddenly and the temperature changes dramatically. Duly noted.

This time we headed down to the Powell Street Turnaround (end of the cable car line), where we saw the drivers manually turning around (hence the name) the vehicles as they can only travel in one direction. Once parked on the circular cut out track, the driver jumps out, and pushes against a barrier to turn the track and vehicle around 180 degrees, ready for travelling back the other way.

Hunger had by now set in, so a quick look in our guidebook, and we headed down a block to 'Bio', where we ordered a huge salad, with vegetable gratin and a butternut squash muffin. These home-cooked locally-sourced healthy eateries were something we started to like very much.

Not wanting to finish the day without having seen anything, we hopped on the cable car and rode it all the way to the other end, Fisherman's Wharf.

When riding on the cars, you start to really appreciate how steep the hills are in SF. The tracks sometimes go up at 50-60 degrees inclines, and you can imagine how tired you would be having to walk or cycle them.

Another thing we noticed already was the architecture. Very tall buildings, lots of bay windows, and of course the zigzag of the fire escapes along the side. All quite impressive.

Although a bit touristy, the cable cars do provide a great view of the city, especially with the open sides making unobstructed photos possible. Once at the Wharf, we looked around a bit, and then saw the fog rolling in. The temperature had dropped considerably by know, and with the light fading, we got into the queue (yes, here there were big queues for the cable cars) and finally set back off to Union Square and our hotel.

Getting back at 6.30pm, we had now been awake for over 24 hours, and decided it was time to get some rest, and prepare ourselves for the next day of exploring.