San francisco day 4

Wow, what a day.  I have walked for miles and miles.  I started at 9.40am and I finally sat down at 5.30pm.  All that walking training has got me into shape because I have seen loads today and don't feel completely dead! For anyone who knows I have walked from North Beach up  Telegraph Hill and up Coit Tower.  Down and up Lombard Street, past Fort Mason, along the Marina through Crissy Park and the beach all the way to Fort Point.  back up via the Presido to the bridge. Along the Bridge to Marin County and the look out.   Back along the bridge and then finally two bus rides back to China town.  Yes, I am exhausted but I feel great.
  The weather today was just so good I couldnt justify a guided tour around a claustrophobic China town so I decided to just walk and walk.  I started with a trip up the excentric tower/folly built in 1932.  The art work all inside were  murals in the socialist style of Diago Rivera.  The artists were all employed by a back to work program during the depression and many of them hardly got paid at all.  The people working there were all really nice and one old guy there had fond memories of drinking in the Turf Tavern in Oxford.  (His son went to Brookes)  the art deco building itself was really quirky. People think it looks like a fire fighter's nozel.  To me it was more like something else.

At the top.

 At the bottom.

Wild parrots live in this part of SF but I didn't hear them.

After this start I decided to go and find the Crookedest Street in the world and after a steep descent followed by equally steep climb again I got there.. To be honest it was quite difficult to get a good photo.  The angles were too weird.

 Crooked Street

looking back down Lombard Street and how far I had come.

Then my trek to the the Golden Gate Bridge began.  I knew it would be a long walk but I was ready.  As most areas are residential there isn't too much going on and the grid system repeating itself block after block after block does become repetitive and dull but once I got to the Marina and the beach things improved! Walking is definitely the best way to travel here.

 Alcatraz from the beach.  there were so many dog walkers around.  People holding on to up to eight huge dogs. Plus loads of cyclists and runners.  People are into healthy  lifestyles here and having a dog too.

I was so lucky with the weather.  Perfect day.

I then hit the edge of the headland and could get no further.  Plus I was gettin wet from wave spray and I had already been washed in waves up to my knees, so my jeans and feet were a bit soaked! My shoes are waterproof but they weren't expecting that! 

Then I headed up again to the footpath on th bridge.  Lots of hills today.

then I started to walk.  It took about 45 minutes.. It was brilliant if a bit wobbly. The traffic on one side and the high drop on the other did affect me I was shocked by how low the wall was.  One guy I was chatting with did tell me that there are many suicides.  There are a few phones with red buttons on the bridge which instantly put you through to a therapist but I never tried to see if the phones actually worked. I also saw dolphins and sea lions swimming underneath but it took all my will power and concentration to just put my head over the parapet.
I am a bridge fetishist so I loved this experience.  Seeing how the angles of the bridge changed as I walked over and the size, shapes and strength of all the supports.

leaving San Francisco.

I then got to the view point on the other side by this time it was gone 4pm and getting a bit chilly.  I only had my cardigan so was beginning to shake..Anyway I got a few more snaps and then headed back.  The sky had changed a lot.

 Love this one.  Totally in line.

Looking wind swept.

The swirling sky over San Francisco from the bridge.



this last photo is my favourite though...

I then headed to the bus station and had to stand for 35 minutes waiting for a bus but I did get chatting to two incredibly handsome Palestinian guys who lived near Haifa.  They were over for job interviews with a Start Up company.  But they had just found out that they hadn't been successful and were heading back to Israel. At least they made me forget that my feet were pounding and still wet from my tidal wave soaking a few hours earlier.
Got the bus back to China Town and ended up eating Chinese.  To be honest the food was a bit blahhh.  But hey the view and atmosphere were great.  Loads of people out. Leaving tomorrow in a transfer taxi at 3.30pm. (11.30pm UK time.)  Going to try and get up early tomorrow and do more stuff in Downtown area and Yerba Buena.  Anyway, night night.  I must go and lie down!