On Sunday, we walked around 6 miles / 9,5 km through San Francisco to see The Painted Ladies and stroll through Golden Gate Park. The Painted Ladies is located at Alamo Square Park and is known for appearing in the “Full House” tv-series intro.
The Golden Gate Park contains various museums, Asian gardens, the Golden Gate Park Band, falls, a lake only for RC boats and birds, a disc golf course, a polo field and last but not least a bison paddock. Unfortunately the bisons kept close to their shed, but we still managed to get a look of them.
We decided to take the bus home as we were pretty tired after the long walk. Fortunately we managed to find exact cash, as the busses doesn’t handle change, and thereby avoided a new opportunity to get penalized.
Monday we went down to Powell St to take a ride on the old cable cars. There was an unbelievably long line, and I guess we waited for an hour or so to get on. We took the one that ended close to Fisherman’s Wharf, because we wanted to see that too. It was a fun experience to go up and down the steep hills of the city, but also a bit crowded, with people hanging off of the sides on the cable car.
At Fisherman’s Wharf we had lunch at Applebee’s which had a nice view of some of the harbour. Afterwards we took a walk around the harbour. We went pass the warship SS Jeremiah O’Brien and the submarine USS Pampanito, used in WW2. And from that Pier we also had a nice view of the Alcatraz island. Then we took a walk down the actual Fisherman’s Wharf Pier 39, which had a lot of restaurants, souvenirshops and also some sea lions.
After this we walked back to our hotel, along the piers, which was nice and peaceful.
Before arriving in San Francisco we had read about people feeling unsafe in the city. Mainly due to assaults in the streets – also on tourists. Therefore we took precautions when wandering the streets (secured our belongings in zipped pockets etc). Especially we tried to avoid the Tenderloin District, as this district is known as the hotspot of many of the crimes in the city. But otherwise when wandering around the city, we didn’t feel unsafe at all. On the other hand, San Francisco is a city with many homeless people. Many of them appear intrusive in their way of begging, others keep to themselves. But they are everywhere and you are constantly reminded of their sad destinies. That is definitely something you should be aware of and be prepared to deal with when visiting San Francisco.
Tuesday was our last day in the States. Our flight wasn’t till 7 PM though, so we decided to check out of the hotel at 12 PM and take one last drive up to Crissy Field, to see the Golden Gate Bridge. This was a really nice place, with a beach and a park. And it had the most amazing view of the bridge, Alcatraz and the city. Worth a visit, if you ever go to San Francisco.
From there we went to the airport. Our trip had come to an end. It had been an amazing experience, meeting wonderful family and friends, seeing how people live in USA and visiting beautiful nature and big cities, in all kind of weather. We left USA with a big smile on our faces. We had the time of our lives!
Kasper & Jannie
Om søndagen gik vi omkring 6 miles / 9,5 km gennem San Francisco. Blandt andet for at se The Painted Ladies og gå igennem Golden Gate Park. The Painted Ladies befinder sig omkring Alamo Square Park og er kendt fra introen til tv-serien “Full House”.
Golden Gate Park indeholder en del seværdigheder: museer, asiatiske haver, Golden Gate Park Band, vandfald, en sø kun til fjernstyrede både, en bane til frisbee-golf, en polobane og sidst men ikke mindst en bisonfold. Desværre var bisonerne ikke meget for at forlade deres stald, men vi fik stadig et godt udsyn til dem.
Vi besluttede os for at tage bussen tilbage til hotellet, da benene var godt trætte efter den lange gåtur. Heldigvis havde vi nok kontanter til bussen, da de kun tager imod lige penge når man køber billetter. Dermed undgik vi endnu en mulighed for at få en bøde.
Mandag tog vi ned til Powell St for at tage en tur med de gamle sporvogne. Der var utrolig lang kø, og jeg tror vi stod i kø i en times tid inden vi kom med en vogn. Vi tog den til endestationen tæt på Fisherman’s Wharf, da vi også gerne ville nå at se den. Det var en sjov oplevelse at køre op og ned af de stejle bakker i byen, men også en smule overfyldt, med folk hængende på siden af sporvognen.
Ved Fisherman’s Wharf spiste vi frokost på Applebee’s, som havde en god udsigt over noget af havnen. Vi gik forbi Liberty-skibet SS Jeremiah O’Brien og ubåden USS Pampanito fra 2. verdenskrig. Fra denne kaj havde vi også god udsigt til Alcatraz-fængslet. Bagefter gik vi ned til den “rigtige” Fisherman’s Wharf på Pier 39. Her var der mange restauranter, souvenirshops og en masse søløver.
Herefter gik vi tilbage mod hotellet langs resten af havnefronten, hvilket var en dejlig og rolig tur.
Før vi ankom til San Francisco havde vi læst om flere folk, der havde følt sig utrygge i byen. Mest på grund af de overfald der har været i gaderne – også på turister. Derfor tog vi vores forbehold når vi gik rundt i byen, så som at sikre vores ejendele i lommer med lynlåse osv. Derudover holdt vi os fra Tenderloin District, da denne bydel er kendt som hotspot for meget af byens kriminalitet. Men udover det følte vi os ikke utrygge mens vi gik rundt i byen. Derimod er San Francisco en by med rigtig mange hjemløse. Mange af dem er påtrængende med deres tiggen – andre holder sig for sig selv. Men de er overalt og man bliver konstant mindet om deres triste skæbner. Det er bestemt noget man skal være klar over og klar til at takle før man tager til San Francisco.
Tirsdag var vores sidste day i USA. Vores fly afgik ikke før kl. 19, så vi besluttede os for at tjekke ud fra hotellet kl. 12 og køre en sidste tur i bilen ud til Crissy Field. Det var et rigtigt dejligt sted med strand og park. Og det have den mest fantastiske udsigt over Golden Gate-broen, Alcatraz og byen. Værd at besøgte, hvis man nogensinde kommer til San Francisco.
Derfra kørte vi ud til lufthavnen. Vores rejse er kommet til vejs ende. Det har været en fantastisk oplevelse, hvor vi har mødt vidunderlige familiemedlemmer og fået nye venner, set hvordan folk lever i USA og besøgt smuk natur og store byer – i alt slags vejr! Vi forlod USA med store smil på vores læber – det har været enormt fedt!
Kasper & Jannie