San Fran! The six of us and Tylie took the day to explore the bay. Steve and Brenna did likewise, but in a more toddler friendly manner, and we caught up with them again at the end of the day. First stop of the day was Alamo Square, which is where the Painted Ladies (the houses in the background of this pic) are located. They’re known for, among other things, featuring in the opening credits of Full House.  Admittedly, we were humming the theme song a lot right about now.

Our journey into the city took us across the Bay Bridge. Finally I’m clear on the difference between the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s only taken me 38 years. The Bay Bridge is pretty spectacular, and we had fun remembering how it featured in George of the Jungle.

Our options concerning travelling downtown were to either drive in from the motel and take our chances with traffic and parking, or take the hour long train ride in. We chose the former, which proved a great option for us. Traffic wasn’t a problem, and we got a great parking spot right near the cable car turntable. After a quick stop at Gap to replace Nathan’s broken shoes, we jumped on the Powell-Hyde line.

San Fran is oh so hilly – and cable car is a fun way to travel. There are seats or you can just dangle off the side. From our seats, we had fun chatting with the danglers – the couple from New York, and the couple stopping over in SF before flying out to visit Sydney, as it turned out.

We jumped off the cable car at the top of Lombard Street to wander down the world’s most crooked street.

Lunch stop was at a cute diner at Ghiradelli Square. (This was for you, Caz.) Ghiradelli Square is named after the Ghiradelli chocolate-making family who originally set up shop in San Francisco in 1852.

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Then a stroll along the shores of Aquatic Cove as we headed towards Fisherman’s Wharf.

This ended up being as close as any of us got to swimming at a beach while we were in the USA.

Massively crowded, as were most of the places we visited in the US of A.  I got a crash course in how much of a country town Australia really is – which is the way I like it.  That said, San Francisco, and America in general, is an intriguing, and very lovely in parts, place to visit – and I have a definite bias towards it because it’s home to Steve and Brenna.

That’s Alcatraz in the background.  It’s on the list to see in greater detail on our next trip. 🙂

I *think* that’s the SS Jeremiah O’Brien.  Not 100% sure.  If it is, it’s a permanent exhibit.  Whatever the case, it’s another interesting view on the shores of the bay.

Having spent the majority of the day walking around downtown San Fran, we opted to hail a streetcar (as opposed to a cable car) for the journey back up the hill to our starting point.

There it is.  Just how cool is that streetcar! I love its lines and it’s curves.

Our search for a snack took us inside the Westfield San Francisco Centre, and we discovered something we’d never encountered before – curved escalators! We rode them gratuitously as we went in search of icecream…

…which we got from here.  So. Good.

Many an interesting sight on the streets of San Francisco.

Riding a piece of San Francisco history.  It was fascinating listening to the cables under the road as they propelled the cable car along the streets and up the hills seemingly effortlessly, though certainly noisily.

Once we had retrieved our car, we couldn’t go past actually driving down the crookedest street in the world.  If Herbie can do it, we can do it.  I wonder how all the people who actually live on the street endure the hundreds of tourists that flock there every day.  The houses are lovely and well maintained, and still have driveways despite the steep and curvy nature of the street.

Finally, the big one.  Aaaand we’re humming the Full House theme again.

Our friend Dave gave us the inside tip on the best place to view the Golden Gate Bridge, which is across the bay at Hawk Hill.

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San Fran has a unique city-scape, due to its undulating hills.

Heading home at the end of the day we endeavoured to visit some more film locations, but only ended up finding the street from Princess Diaries… as you do.