Our Remarkable Holiday to the USA. Part 5

Desperately Seeking Karl Maldern.

After the majestic beauty of Yosemite National Park, we over-nighted in the city of Modesto, before an early start to San Francisco.

As we headed west to San Francisco, the weather changed and the famous fog was apparent. It’s not actually fog, but the Marine Layer mist that hangs over the city, the majestic product of sea spray, wind and the Central Valley heat. (I Googled that last bit!).

As a result the temperature dropped and it was decidedly nippy for those of us who had decided to wear shorts that day.

As we drove across the Bay Bridge the cityscape came into view and you could see the hills that San Francisco is built upon.

We took the morning driving around taking in some of the sights of the city, with the various architectural styles. And as Thierry (our Tour Guide) said, in his rich French accent;

“look out for zee delightful Victorian arses”.

“You see zee lovely arses, no”? “Wouldn’t you like to live in zemm”?

(Read it with a French accent, it’ll make sense).

We sustained a couple of mishaps whilst on the City Tour, firstly the coach suffered from a flat tyre, so we had stay at the side of the road, waiting for the San Franciscan equivalent of Kwik Fit to come out.

“Do not worry, hees will only beez 15 minoots” said Thierry

And sure enough an hour and a half later we were on our way. (I’ll give you 15 minoots!).

Secondly, Mrs Dave had a slight accident which required the application of a plaster, and this shows the kindness of the folks on our coach.

Thierry took the microphone and said;

“Does aneebodies have zee plasters, weez has a small cut on zee hand”.

Within seconds, all manner of lotions, potions, plasters and first aid kits were handed round, so much so we could have opened a small branch of Boots in seat numbers 40 and 41!

Anyway, the necessary treatment was applied and Mrs Dave lived to fight another day. Bless ‘em all!

(Please note the injury was sustained after a trip on the sidewalk (note the Americanism) and not whilst changing the bus tyre, I just want to make that clear)!

We visited the Civic Centre Plaza in the centre of the city, with it’s majestic buildings and various statues and then swung out towards the Golden Gate Park and the bridge itself.

We didn’t actually cross the bridge, but parked up at the Visitor Centre.

To be honest, the bridge itself didn’t really do much for me, don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely bridge, as bridges go, it’s way up there.

To my mind though, it’s on a par with the Severn Bridge from an engineering perspective, it’s just that the Severn Bridge hasn’t been marketed the same.

What impressed me more was the history on display at the Visitor Centre, the statue of the engineer who built it; Joseph Strauss and the cross section of cable used to suspend the bridge deck.

OK, OK, the bridge is impressive. Yes it is an architectural delight, but the thing that got me excited was; it’s the Golden Gate Bridge!! That means we’re in San Francisco! (Excuse me while I go off on one of my; “I can’t believe we’re in the US moments”). Thank you.

At lunchtime we went down to Fishermans Wharf, to catch the boat at Pier 43 and a half(!). The boat took us on a cruise around the bay, going underneath the Golden Gate Bridge (yes, it is impressive from underneath as well and it looks a lot bigger close up) and then around the island of Alcatraz.

Also by this time, the sun was out, the fog had cleared and it had warmed up quite nicely. (I was quite glad that I had put my shorts on!).

That afternoon we took the coach to our hotel, for a quick wash and change, then out again! (Yes, it was a very busy holiday).

We took the California Line Cable Car to Chinatown where we wandered the streets looking in the various shops, before entering a restaurant for an evening meal. No surprises for guessing it was a Chinese. And a cracking meal it was too.

After which the coach picked us up and drove us off to the Bay Bridge, where halfway across you come to Treasure Island, an island (no surprises there) in the middle of the bay.

We pulled up in a deserted parking lot and looked back across the glistening waters of the bay, to see the beautiful cityscape of San Francisco, with its lights shining in the darkness. Another lovely sight to behold.

Next morning was a lie-in! We had a free day to do as we pleased. This day mainly consisted of shopping! Plus riding up and down the hilly streets of San Francisco on the magnificent Cable Cars.

These trams (don’t call them trams, they don’t like it) are pulled around the streets by clamping onto underground cables. It’s a fascinating system dating from the late 1800’s. Luckily we managed to squeeze in a visit to the Cable Car museum, on the corner of Washington and Mason, which was very interesting, for me at least!

Later on we ventured back to Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, to sample the famous Clam Chowder in a sour-dough bowl. Lovely.

As the afternoon progressed into evening, the fog came in and quickly enveloped the higher parts of the city and we were racing back to the hotel, to beat the fog, before it swallowed up our hotel too.

Pretty soon, the fog was laying heavy over most of San Francisco, so we decided to stay in the hotel to eat, which wasn’t a bad idea, considering the size of the meal we got.

You gotta love American portions!


PART 6