Today we went to San Francisco Zoo, which is quite far away compared to all the other attractions we have visited. But the transport system here is pretty good so places are easy to get to once you work it out!

We had to get the L-Line, which we previously thought was a normal streetcar (like the F-Line) but it actually runs underground along Market Street, hence why it never showed up when we tried to catch it when we needed to get to Twin Peaks! They call the underground lines (J, K, L, M &N) the MUNI Metro and you have to walk down into the subway where you see signs for BART, which is the Bay Area Rapid Transit train system.

The MUNI Metro costs $1.50, which is the same as the bus/streetcar, but we just showed our CityPasses to get thru the turnstiles. The subway was clean and well lit and felt safe. It was easy to find the platform we needed, as it is very well signposted with information boards and announcements.

We didn't have to wait long for our streetcar and it wasn't at all crowded. It seemed like a pretty efficient service, as we quickly passed thru a few underground stations and then at West Portal it exits the underground tunnel and continues the journey on the open road, so it transforms into a bus.

The weather forecast said today would be sunny but when we exited West Portal station all we could see is fog! Steve was only wearing shorts and a T-shirt and I had combats and a thin cardigan on so we knew we were going to freeze!

There weren't any signposts to indicate where the Zoo was, so we weren't quite sure when to get off the bus so we got off at 46th Avenue (because that's where a Mother and her little girl got off) and luckily it was only a short walk from there.

The zoo costs $15 to get in, but they give you a $1 discount if you used public transport to get there, so we showed the cashier our CityPasses as proof but normally you would need to show your MUNI transfer ticket.

The first place we went to was the gift shop so Steve could buy a hoodie to keep him warm! A guy who entered the zoo at the same time as us also headed straight for the gift shop to buy a jumper and we spoke to him about the change in weather. He said he came to this area the day before and the weather had been lovely and he'd gone to the beach. It's a shame that we didn't go to the zoo the day before and the California Academy of Sciences today as that was all indoors!

Anyway, Steve got a nice hoodie and we went round the zoo as quickly as possible to try and keep warm. All the animals looked pretty miserable as it was drizzling rain and cold and they couldn't get a nice hot chocolate to cheer them up like we did! We also ate lunch pretty early to get some fuel inside us. We shared some Chilli Cheese Fries, which looked a mess but tasted good and that's all that mattered!

Our favourite animals were the gorillas and chimpanzees (especially the one under a blanket) and the tigers, which had electric fences around them that kept 'popping' because of all the moisture in the air.

As we were walking around a woman asked a zoo worker where the Black Swan was as one of her kids really wanted to see it. He said that it had died 3 weeks ago, but we actually saw the swan so either the worker didn't know what he was talking about or he lied on purpose for a laugh!

We've been to better zoos, like the one in Newquay, so I wouldn't make this zoo the top of your San Francisco to-do list. We thought the zoo was pretty small but apparently it's the biggest and oldest zoo in Northern California, so I'd hate to see what the other zoos are like! It might have been better if the weather hadn't been so bad and if a lot of the animal enclosures hadn't been closed because they were being updated during the off-peak season.