We were up bright and early for our KLM Cityhopper flight from Leeds-Bradford airport over to Amsterdam. Even on short flights of under an hour, KLM offer drinks and snacks so we came to life with cups of coffee and tasty oat muffins.
With just over an hour in Schiphol we then stretched our legs before boarding our 11 hour flight over to San Francisco.
It was the first time since COVID that I’d travelled long-haul so I settled back in my seat and caught up on some films, managing to view Mrs. Harris goes to Paris, Downton Abbey – A new era and Ticket to Paradise. They were all enjoyable but my favourite was definitely Mrs. Harris goes to Paris.
Service in Economy was good with drinks and a full meal being served 90 minutes into the flight. Desserts were brought round with offers of more alcoholic drinks alongside tea and coffee slightly later which was appreciated. Mid-way through the flight sandwiches were served, with a second full meal just before landing, so we didn’t starve and the offerings were of good quality.
Fortunately the immigration queue at San Francisco airport was reasonably short and we completed formalities and were reunited with our luggage within 30 minutes. We then made our way to the airport’s BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) station from where we bought tickets from a vending machine into the city centre which cost $10.50 (£8.55) each. Being early afternoon it was fairly quiet and we arrived at the Civic Center stop which was just a short walk from our hotel half an hour later.
After checking in to our room and relaxing with a pot of tea we quickly unpacked and then set off to start exploring the city. From a booth at the terminus of the Powell-Hyde Line of the cable car located near to Union Square we bought 2 x 7 day tourist passes allowing unlimited travel on all San Francisco buses, trams (streetcars) and cable cars. Passes cost $49 (£40) each or $41 (£33) if purchased in the Muni Mobile app. We thought these passes offered good value as single journey tickets on the historic cable cars cost $8 (£6.50) per journey.
We joined quite a lengthy queue but it wasn’t too long a wait until we could board the second cable car. Passengers can choose between sitting inside or facing outwards on polished wooden seats and for the more adventurous, holding onto a pole at one of the designated standing points. As outside seats are the most popular these had all been taken when it was our turn to board but we found sitting inside to be a fun experience too.
Each cable car is pulled along its hilly tracks by an underground cable. The cable is gripped with a vice like mechanism and is operated with a grip lever in the front of the car that is controlled by a Grip Man or Woman.
It was a fun experience riding up and down San Francisco’s extremely steep hills on one of the historic cable cars. We travelled most of the way along the line which terminates at Hyde and Beach Streets, alighting at the top of Lombard Street.
From the top of this famous narrow street with its eight hair-pin bends we watched several cars driving slowly downhill negotiating the steep and crooked road which is lined with flowering hydrangeas. We then made our way to the bottom of the street descending down flights of steps from where we had better views of the curvy road above.
It was then just a short 3 block walk along to Fisherman’s Wharf from the bottom of Lombard Street which we approached by turning left onto Leavenworth Street.
Pier 39 is undoubtedly the most popular attraction at Fisherman’s Wharf. It was originally the dock where immigrant Italian fishermen brought their daily catch to be sold on the waterfront. The pier is free to visit and filled with typical seaside shops, cafes and amusements. Although it’s very touristy it has lots to offer and I would consider it a ‘must see’ during a stay in San Francisco.
The annual Tulipmania Festival was taking place on Pier 39 during our visit (mid-February to mid-March). Despite visiting towards the end of the display we were able to enjoy some colourful displays from 70 varieties of tulips which had transformed the entrance plaza and both the lower and upper levels of the pier into a Dutch wonderland. The tulips had been planted during November and December enabling colour schemes to change as the weeks progressed. We picked up a leaflet from the Welcome Centre and then enjoyed following the spring blooms self guided tour around the pier.
Towards the end of the pier stands a double tier carousel funfair ride and to one side, the pier’s resident sea lion colony could be heard barking loudly whilst resting on floating wooden barges.
A few sea lions began settling on Pier 39’s K Dock shortly after the 1989 earthquake and by January 1999 they started to arrive in droves. When the animals first arrived the dock was still filled with boats but it was decided to donate the dock to the sea lions.
From late July to mid May there are typically 600+ in residence but in June and July most head further south to breeding grounds. From an information board we learnt that the sea lions find the floating pontoons more comfortable than the rocky beach and easier for them to haul themselves onto.
As the tide ebbs and flows the pontoons move up and down in the water enabling the animals to rest rather than having to scramble up and down the rocks with the tide.
After spending awhile observing the antics of the sea lions we caught a tram along the Embarcadero to the Ferry Terminal on one of the city’s historic streetcars (trams). These nostalgic streetcars run from Fisherman’s Wharf along the waterfront as far as the Castro district. Single fares $2.50 and included with the 7 day tourist pass.
In 1982 San Francisco created a historic Streetcar Festival with cities from around the country shipping their old streetcars to the city for the event. As the festival proved so popular a decision was made to make it permanent and nowadays passengers can ride on these old trams each painted in its original city livery. The one we travelled on was from Chicago with information detailing its history on display inside the tram.
After our tram ride jet lag was catching up with us so we returned to the hotel for a good night’s sleep in readiness for a full day’s sightseeing.
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