San Francisco

Our final destination on this road trip was San Francisco. After much internet surfing we settled upon a nice but fairly expensive hotel on Bush Street between Chinatown and Union Square. Perfectly nice hotel and a good spot fro which to walk to most places in the City.

Now at this point I should perhaps add a not about the dynamics of our little group. Thibault, who had meticulously planned all our hotels, stops and restaurants, has a slightly different view of sightseeing - more a wander around and see what takes one's fancy. I am much more of a planner, but on the basis that I want to cram everything in. However, I do the planning as I go along taking into account weather etc, and do it from paper guidebooks. Joe is more internet based. And I am more easy-going.

So our first day in San Francisco resulted in some rather random sightseeing. Joe had found a tour of Coit Tower going on. I had suggested seeing the City Hall which had three tours a day the last being 2pm. We thought we could do the morning tour of Coit Tower and then the City hall trip at 2pm.

With a boit of time to spare before the Coit Tower tour we took in Grace Cathedral (and a view of the Pei tower (the Transamerica Pyramid) on the way.

 The Pyramid is a very impressive sight at a distance. Close up at pavement level its a brutalist eyesore.

Grace Cathedral is pleasant enough - a copy of Notre Dame as you can see. It's interior is surrounded with 20th century murals of big events such as building the cathedral itself - but slightly incongruous in a Gothic setting.

 Strolling around SF you do get quite an eyeful of various architectural styles from Victorian houses to stark modernism. You also feel how hilly it is. Thibault noted the lack of fat Americans in the City. You just can't get up and down those hills easily if carrying too much surplus weight. Trust me I can speak from experience.

So we progressed up to Coit Tower offering great views as we went, spoilt somewhat by what a grey day it was.

Alcatraz

Golden Gate Bridge

One catch with a city that runs tramlines. Cables. Lots of them.

And so finally to Coit Tower. This is a very plain 210 foot tower paid for by a rich woman with a thing for firefighters. Built in 1933 it is a modernist statement, but apart from giving views from the top its other merit is as a result of an artists job creation scheme.

 So the interior is covered by frescoes painted by young artists who were acolytes of Diego Rivera and so largely communist inspired. All very muscular socialist realist stuff glorifying the workers, but of patchy quality. Some artists were clearly better than others at actual painting.

 Nice views out the windows though.

However, we never did get to go up the tower. The guided tour took too long and queues for the elevators were off-putting. So we settled on looking around the park at its foot and then heading off to Union Square.

As you can see, when I say the hills are steep I mean steep.

 Now a word about Chinatown. Its large, but rather disappointing. Shabby. Just a collection of restaurants and gift shops. Nothing really to see.

Chinatown in the shadow of the Pyramid

 And so to Union Square We (well the others) had miscalculated and we had missed the tour of the City hall. Furthermore, although we could go in, we couldn't enter through the grand facade but had top go via the security machines in a side door. Thibault was for giving up and moving on, but I insisted we go in having come this far. My persistence was rewarded. The interiors are very fine and it was interesting just being able to walk past the offices of the City Councillors. we even recognised the names on some of the doors from electoral posters that we had seen around.

But from a people-watching perspective the interesting bit was that this is a wedding photo venue, particularly amongst the Chinese community. There were literally queues of brides and grooms waiting for their photo slots across the Dome.

 And then to top off the sightseeing we went to the Asian Art Museum, partly as Thibault is more interested in Asian art, partly because I like it too and party because it was really nearby. It was a well-worthwhile visit. Its a lovely museum carved out of what was the main Public Library built in 1916.

This is the oldest dated Buddha - 338 AD

After that we returned to the hotel and regrouped for dinner. Our target was a highly rated sushi restaurant, Akiko's. Unfortunately turning up at just gone 7 it was fully booked, but we were told we could be fitted in if we turned up around 9. So we decided that was ok and would try the local wine bars. Our intention just to have a glass at the first one we saw turned into two bottles. We were having a good time, the wine waiter was French, it was just a nice place and the conversation flowed.

Back at Akiko's we finally got in. And we saw why the place was rammed. We just left it to Thibault to order things, along with another bottle of wine. Thibault confirmed this was the best sushi he had ever had, beating the record set in San Diego only a few days earlier, It was terrific. You could tell it was by the satisfied oohs and aahs expressed as each plate arrived and we got stuck in. Yes probably the most tasty dinner I had ever had, and the most expensive meal I had ever had - bill was $450. I doubt Thibault would have ordered as much if he hadn't been so intoxicated. But worth it. Just a great meal. And then we found another bar and had a further bottle of wine. Definitely the best evening of the holiday - food and wine and company. We just all hit it off perfectly and were possibly the happiest we were together on the whole trip. Hang the expense. You only live once.