San Francisco, Day Six: Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Today was a day for seeing a variety of sights and areas in San Francisco that we felt we'd missed up until now, and again, we were grateful for our MUNI passes, as we covered quite a lot of ground. We began our morning by heading down to Ghirardelli Square, so named because "in 1893 Domenico Ghirardelli purchased the entire city block in order to make it into the headquarters of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company." (Wikipedia) The public square boasts shops (several of which are Ghirardelli chocolate shops!), cafes and restaurants, and we chose the Marais Cafe for a relaxing latte and scone. 

We headed over to the Presidio by bus, enjoying the views along the way despite the overcast conditions. "The Presidio . . . is a park and former military fort on the Northern tip of the San Francisco peninsula." (Widipedia) We passed many wooded areas and scenic lookouts, and decided to continue further on the bus, disembarking at a spot that we thought would afford us easy access to Lincoln Park. Our stop wound up being both fortuitous and slightly off-the-mark. The fortunate piece was that we landed at the foot of another beautiful set of stairs on the Western end of California Street, the Lincoln Park Steps. This public art installation brightens what would otherwise be a normal, everyday staircase; functional art at its best! The off-the-mark bit: at the top of these steps, we found ourselves in the middle of Lincoln Park Golf Course, so we had to skirt around the perimeter of the course on one side in order to get past it. Explorations at their best as well!

Walking through the Lands End area, we discovered Sutro Heights Park from which we gained superb views of the Cliff House, Seal Rocks, Ocean Beach and the Pacific Ocean.

Sutro Heights Park

Seal Rocks

San Francisco's famous 'Painted Ladies' were next on our list of sights to see. Wikipedia helped me fully understand the definition, stating that "'Painted Ladies' is a term in American architecture used for Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in three or more colours that embellish or enhance their architectural details." We stopped for a great lunch at the Bean Bag Cafe before making our way to Alamo Square, along one side of which runs Steiner Street, home to the best-known Painted Ladies. Alamo Square was fenced off for construction purposes, but this did not hinder our viewing - or that of the numerous other tourists - of these lovely homes. Again, rather like living on Lombard Street, I cannot fathom living in a house that people come to take photos of every day, but to each his own.

The 'Painted Ladies' of Steiner Street

Next, we traveled down Market Street to the Ferry Building, stopping a few stops shy in order to see yet another Heart of San Francisco, which we discovered in a Wells Fargo Building (we're quite the super sleuths, let me tell you!). Located on the Embarcadero, the Ferry Building is, as per Wikipedia, "a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay, a food hall and an office building." We explored the many shops (including one that sold hundreds of these things with many pages bound by covers, each page covered in words. . . I hear you read them ;). And we wrapped up our day with some Thai close to Union Square and our hotel. Truly a day of far-flung destinations and a motley variety of sights seen! 

The Ferry Building

Stay tuned for details of our final full day in San Francisco, during which we explored what I think may have been one of my favourite neighbourhoods there. 

My wonders: My experience of seeing countless tourists at Lombard Street and again near the Painted Ladies made me ponder the idea of tourist attractions that are a person's home. Would you want to live in such an attraction? Does the idea of your home being a sought-after destination appeal to you, despite the infringement on your privacy?