The Golden Gate Bridge

We rode the cable cars today (among other things). The trick is to hang off the sides and have a good look around & in front (have a look in the photo to see what I mean. They are actually a pretty efficient way to get around the city.

I had originally thought that they were electric powered with a 3rd rail in the middle to conduct the electricity. And why were they called cable cars? Turns out that there is a slot in the road with metal covers that conceal a metal wire rope that is pulled by some unseen mechanism. (I assume under the roads somewhere. Haven't figure that one out yet.) The cable car itself actually has no motor of any kind, it just grabs onto the rope & gets hauled around by the cable.

They are very interesting, lots of fun & apparently the only ones operational in the world.

The San Francisco F-Line Street Cars (We Aussies would call them Trams). These are a bit odd because the City Of San Francisco has bought old trams from around the world & run them here as a tourist attraction. Consequentially, there is a mixture of very different looking trams running the same route. They almost seem out of place at times.
Riding the Trams to & from Fisherman's Wharf & Pier 39 seemed like a good idea at the time, but they seem to get chockers full of tourists & local weirdos! Yesterday (Monday, Remembrance day) the Tram was loaded & we thought it was just because of the long weekend. Nup! This morning was just as crowded and included some dead set freaks. It's also quite slow & we've found it quicker to get around on the Cable Cars. Besides, you can't hang off the side of the tram.

Lombard St

This street would be fairly recognizable to pretty much anyone who has seen a movie based in San Fran. If you owned a house in this street, you would have to be filthy rice & more than a bit of a show off. Not my thing.

 The Golden Gate Bridge

This is the classic been there & done that shot in San Francisco.
Yesterday (Mon) we walked across the bridge. Quite a hike & the wind coming into the San Francisco bay was bitter (even though it's summer here). The strangest thing I noticed was the fog/cloud coming in from the sea, seemed to dissipate almost straight after it passed over the bridge.

Saucalito

After we had walked across the bridge, rather than brave the icy breeze back to San Fran, we walked another mile down the road to Saucalito. It's a seaside town/suburb on the far side of the bay from San Fran. There are no high rise & has some very pretty houses & shop fronts. The house below is a fairly good example. Sausalito is quite touristy, but well worth a look.

Off to San Francisco

Finally we got away from the tourist trap of Honolulu this morning. It had been a good stay, but we were done.

The five hour flight to San Francisco was uneventful, which in light of recent events, is a good thing. United Airlines do have an extra bit of leg room in the Boeing 767 which makes all the difference on the longer flights.

We arrived safe & sound and on time in San Francisco around 3.30pm. (although the driver of the shuttle van nearly made us sick with his on & off accelerator technique that made the ride more like a rocking ship than a car.
The hotel is nice & has the Frisco feel to it. It's in a good position & has a nice view (below).
We already purchased a week Tram pass ($24 US) that should sort out our transport for the 5 days we are here. We rode the Cable Car up Powell Street straight after purchasing the tickets. It's very cool!

More on that tomorrow with some photos after we have done some exploring & taken some pics.
This place has a really good vibe compared with Hawaii, but you do have to be a bit careful with beggars & potential for pick pockets & bag snatchers. It's not too bad, but you just have to be careful.