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Intended to get up early but slept in quite late, could be to do with being woken at 4.30am!! Got ready rather quickly and just managed to get free breakfast in time before they put it away! This hostel defo has the best breakfast yet!! They had so much to choose from, bagels, muffins, bread, choc spread, jam, peanut butter, oatmeal – homemade…allsorts really! Very yummy!
We headed straight for the bus stop and en route noticed some of the architecture of the buildings. They really are quite pretty buildings..well some of them are and many have been around for hundreds of years! Got good seats on the bus, to protect us from the wind! While waiting to leave, we heard sirens coming our way..and a fire engine came past us. They are much longer than our engines, and they have 2 drivers, one in the main cab, and one has to sit up in a cabin on top of the engine at the back, on his own! As they drove along, he bobbed up and down, and we have nicknamed them as the bobby fire engines!
We followed the same route on the bus but with a different driver, who had virtually the same commentary as yesterday..but with a little less character! We had good views of the coit tower, but were advised of the steepness of reaching it!!
We passed a café called the ‘stinking rose café’ where everything sold contains garlic! Even the ice-cream has garlic! I’m sure Jemma would have liked it as she loves garlic!!
We left the bus at the Fort Mason stop to explore the area where a US army port was located. We found the canon where Rory slept near to when he was here and had some good views out to sea. We walked towards the Golden gate bridge and along the beach. We saw sea lions swimming in the sea and pelicans..or something similar! Time was of the essence so we didn’t make it to the bridge but saw it close up. We grabbed some lunch and had a picnic in the park. We headed back to the bus stop, but stopped at the Ghiradelli chocolate square. Apparently this is the finest chocolate made, but after previous experiences with chocolate out here, neither of us were willing to try it or buy it at the price they were selling it at!
We mooched about around the area while waiting for the bus. We saw the cable cars being turned. San Francisco have the only manually operated cable cars left in the world. They operate through ropes pulling them along the lines and were introduced because the creator witnessed a horrible accident when the horses used to pull the carts. They have to be manually turned at each end of the line and we managed to see one in action. It looked very easily done..perhaps because they are so used to doing it!
We got back on the bus and carried on to the city hall stop. As mentioned yesterday, the city hall has real gold on the spire of the dome and the dome has gold paint. It is an impressive looking building, helped by the size of it as well! There were more impressive looking buildings surrounding the city hall, including the Opera house, Davies symphony hall, main library, Asian art museum and the civic auditorium.
We spent the evening at the hostel. They provide dinner for $5 each which is very cheap compared to eating out. It was shepherd’s pie and salad which was delicious! We met a girl or should I say lass, from Wakefield who is working in the hostel for month. Was weird hearing the accent, especially such a distinct one as many of the English accents out here are not that noticeable..well to me anyway! We continued to plan our trip to Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Got most of the accommodation booked now and the car is reserved!
Had a busy day, had been hot and sunny again but with a cool wind which makes it more bearable!
We were woken at 1 am by our new room mates who had arrived from their delayed flight.
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