Day two – i’m not counting walking miles!

Well, I was keen as to get out and check a few things out – up at 7am, shower and into free breakfast of coffee, bagels and juice – bummed another bagel for lunch!

So – straight onto an urban bus an off to Ocean Beach – which is due west as far as you can go on the city peninsula – SF town is one of a handfull of major cities boarded by water on three sides…. Vancouver which is my next destination is also another one! anyways, in order to catch the bus, i was standing yet again in the ‘tenderloin’ district, at a bus stop at 830am in the morning, with crazy black fullas talking smack and crap… pretty intimidating kind of when u are not used to the lingo etc!… oh well, on the bus anyway!

Anyways – long story short, saw the beach, took some photos, saw an old Dutch Windmill and ventured into Golden Gate Park – which has this cool art gallery/mueseum called “de young” – it had 5-6 maori artifacts/carvings which i thought was nice of them…. – The mueseum itself is uber-cool – Copper clad all over, two stories above ground, one below and a twisting torso-type 9 storey tower – see pics!.. it had an observation deck up there so i took my first chance to go high and snap some pics. Saw the top of the Golden Gate Bridge too!

Back onto the bus into town, i stopped in on City Hall – MAN, i know i like buildings, but this one really was pretty cool – Looks like the city hall in the old Sim City PC game, gold trims on the pediments and stuff on the exterior, wicked domed ceilings, almost chapel/church like!… marbled floors and walls, i saw the mayors office, statues of past mayors/senators/people who contributed their lives to the citys developments bla bla… i could go on all day!… I guess it really hit home when i found out it was Base Isolated several years ago, and strengthened.. MAN, that was it eh… the building was mostly destoryed by the 1906 Earthquake/fire but the city re-built it bigger and better! I guess there were so many similarities to the Old High Court Base-iso strengthening job i left in Wellington, but just on a massive scale!!…. anyways, enough structural ranting. photos – you make your own mind up. ok, maybe more architectural wet dreams over this one!….

So after that flirtation on the side, i walked back through United Nations Square/markets, and into town again – Westfield San Francisco Centre – holey hell, my first mega mall – so many levels i couldn’t be arsed looking at them.. foodcourt massive, even had curved esculators going up the atriums!.. yeah, they were cool. Out of that place, and into the MAC Store… very cool building – all Alcopla-clad in silver with the apple logo so it resembles a powerbook laptop…. nice. Got me an airport card so i can go wireless here at my hostel. see link below. http://www.apple.com/retail/sanfrancisco/week/20070617.html

It was around about 130pm at this stage, and i thought id check out the Fishermans Wharf district to the north of the City – caught one of those classic SF Cable car rides where u hang on for dear life!……..anyways, touristy i had heard, and yep every 5th store was a digital camera shop, nic nac shops and restuarants galore. Heaps of people and lots too see. Old War Subs to tour on, Clam or Crab and Corn chowders served in a sourdough bun – an SF classic!… Boudin bakery, Ghirardelli Square – famous chocolate in the area, but no longer manufactured on the historic premises. Funny to see sooo many america tourists as we never see nz tourists as such in nz! USA is pretty large tho.

I struck up a convo with this older chinese guy in a camera shop – maybe mid 40’s – anyway, he thought i was like 16 and was wondering why i was not at school? he really didn’t want to sell me a camera, even tho i hinted at it like 3-4 times!… just wanted to back chat and stuff… crazy, he didn’t really believe me when i said i was 26, and working/travelling etc… still didn’t want to talk cameras… oh well, that was funny!

A few hours later, i finally got a new digital camera and card after bargining some other shop down a wee bit – greasy greek fulla or something. Everyone over here is some sort of ethnicity! Such a diverse mix which makes the city they keep telling me.

Took a long-ish walk along the waterfront to this pier where i caught my first glimse of the Golden Gate Bridge – from afar anyway!… so much walking already under my belt, the feet were starting to feel it.

Down to Pier 39 – another hell touristy shopping on the wharf, and cheesy american nic nacs/merchandise. Didn’t spend much time there, FLAG!. maybe another day.

So spotting my tourist map, i noticed there was “crooked street” on the map about 8 blocks away – go the feet – very cool, non-stop traffic and harleys going down the street – 8 hairpins at 40 degree slope averaged – i remember seeing this shown on a holiday programme for Sf.. anyway – now i’ve seen it in the flesh!

Getting back to town was a bit of a mission – the cable cars were constantly full from ferrying people from F.Wharf back to town, so i thought i would walk it – probably 10+ city blocks, or number 3000 to 300 or something!.. was quite cool cos the route was though this suburb called Nob Hill – flashy old houses for old millionares and generally nicer people/cafes/restuarants and hotels on top of the hill… nice place. and heaps of people walking their miniture dogs! it was about 630pm by this stage. Yep, feet really sore too!

Its funny travelling, as i find i have to remind myself to eat. I haven’t eaten a hell of a lot, but i’m burning uber calories walking twice as fast as everyone else on the pavement!… i might come back a bit shorter/smaller…. maybe walking might count for my bike/DH training for Canada!

So – i like this wireless internet thing – call me a bit slow, but i’ve held out on getting a card for my Mac for 3 years!.

Also – interesting to note that the later photos on this post are from my newer camera – 7 megapixel Panasonic FX30 with a leica lens.. much more contrasty off the shelf compared to my more expensive 8MP nikon…… hmmm… older camera tho, will dial up the settings on the nikon i think 2moro! That said, the panasonic could be OVERLY amplyfying the images so they are not as REAL looking, which i think my Nikon does quite well when i get the exposure right!

Roll on the good times. Might take the BART train to Berekely 2moro to get out of the city….

cu cu.