June 21 - San Francisco

On our 3rd day in SA we got up at 8:00, took a shower and had a "small" breakfast in the same diner as the day before. At 11:15 we took the open top sightseeing bus again from Union Square. This time our first stop was at "Haight & Ashbury" (sometimes called "Hashbury":-)), the Hippi Area of SA.

Jimmi Hendrix

fancy stores

fancy stores

Haight Street

Janis Joplin newspaper articles

newspaper articles about famous musicians were wrapped around tree-fences

After walking around in this area we took the sightsseing bus and got off at the corner of Lombard and Fillmore Street. From there we went to Union Street (shopping street)

eating a cupcake at Union Street

and after browsing around our way led us uphill to Lombard Street. We took pictures of SA's crookedest street. People were lining up to drive downhill by car or bike and lots of pedestrians were walking uphill and downhill (a really nice place, but I can't imagine to live there => tourists all day in front of your door). Our guide book said that the road had a gradient of 21.3% and the bends had been constructed to make it easier for the residents to drive to their place. We walked downhill and uphill Lombard Street as well and following this event we went to see Filbert Street, the parallel street of Lombard Street, which in fact is even steeper than the Lombard street (gradient of 31.5%).

on the peak of the steep and winding section of Lombard Street

cars and bikes were lining up to drive downhill

nice view to the Bay and city from Lombard Street

one of the 8 bends

beautiful houses along the road

upwards view

the steepest street in SA: Filbert Street

Filbert Street

On the way back to our bus station we found another funny traffic sign:

Our next hop off was at Steuart Street, close to the Ferry Building and The Embarcadero.

Oakland Bay Bridge

Ferry Building

inside the Ferry Building

bakery in the Ferry Building

along The Embarcadero

the fire that destroyed parts of Pier 29 the day before

I had an ice cream inside the Ferry Building and after walking around a little bit we took the bus to Washington Square. From there we climbed up the Telegraph Hill to the Coit Tower and took the elevator (climbing up wasn't possible) to the top of the tower from where we could enjoy a magnificent view over the city.

Washington Square and Church of St. Peter and Paul

view from the tower to the Piers, the Embarcadero and Oakland Bay Bridge

view from the tower to the financial district (pyramid = Transamerica Pyramid)

view to the west

view to the southwest (Golden Gate Bridge in the background)

Alcatraz

Christoph on the top floor of the Coit Tower

some information about the Coit Tower

Coit Tower

 After visiting the tower we went downhill on the other side of the Telegraph Hill

nice little path downhill passing gardens and houses

At the food of the hill we saw the burned-down Pier 29 again and walked from there to Pier 39 to eat dinner. I could persuade Christoph to have dinner in a seafood restaurant even though he doesn't like seafood at all (but he was lucky: he could order a burger as well:-)

some information about the Pier and the restaurant

Christoph in a seafood restaurant!

my delicious dinner: 3 different prepared types of prawns

eating burger in a seafood restaurant

 When we had finished our meal we were too late for the last sightseeing bus again and so we took the historical F-Line back to Market Street from where we could easily walk back to our hotel.

on the F-Line

It took us about 20 minutes on the F-Line and at 20:30 we were back in our hotel.
This evening I started searching the internet for bikes. I found a webpage www.craigslist.com where people can buy and sell stuff but unfortunately the bike that would fit my needs wasn't among the advertised bikes in SA. So I decided to go to a bike shop (the woman I had met on the plan had mentioned "Mike's Bikes as one of the biggest and best bike shops in California and I would follow her advice and go there the next morning) and buy a new bike.
Bedtime was at 22:30 again.