July 1, 2006
"What's there to do in San Francisco? What shouldn't I miss?" SF has something for everyone, so tailor your trip to your interests! Here's my general thoughts.
Of course there's the usual tourist attractions -- Golden gate bridge, alcatraz, pier 39, Alamo Square, lombard st -- which in my opinion range from really cool (views of GG bridge) to silly (lombard st), but my favorite way to see SF is just to put on some walking shoes. The city is geographically small, but very varied. In one day and a general Westward direction, you can get a giant breakfast burrito in the bustling mural-lined Mission, do some vintage shopping on Valencia, visit an old Spanish mission, go to boutique-lined Hayes valley, up Haight St to the famous Haight-Ashbury, enjoy a couple hours in Golden Gate Park (home to lakes, museums and even buffalo), before crashing a nighttime bonfire on the beach. Alternatively, you can start in downtown, get some tiramisu and coffee in North Beach, get dimsum in old Chinatown, see the view from Coit tower, oggle at big houses in Pac Heights, see the beautiful palace of fine arts, visit the Legion of Honor art museum, and go to the golden gate bridge in time for sunset.
A lot of SF is in its atmosphere, its diversity, and its refusal to be stereotypically American. All that, and I haven't even mentioned City Hall, the Castro, the Tenderloin, the shopping, the weekend-trip possibilities, or the nightlife.
Have fun!
Of course there's the usual tourist attractions -- Golden gate bridge, alcatraz, pier 39, Alamo Square, lombard st -- which in my opinion range from really cool (views of GG bridge) to silly (lombard st), but my favorite way to see SF is just to put on some walking shoes. The city is geographically small, but very varied. In one day and a general Westward direction, you can get a giant breakfast burrito in the bustling mural-lined Mission, do some vintage shopping on Valencia, visit an old Spanish mission, go to boutique-lined Hayes valley, up Haight St to the famous Haight-Ashbury, enjoy a couple hours in Golden Gate Park (home to lakes, museums and even buffalo), before crashing a nighttime bonfire on the beach. Alternatively, you can start in downtown, get some tiramisu and coffee in North Beach, get dimsum in old Chinatown, see the view from Coit tower, oggle at big houses in Pac Heights, see the beautiful palace of fine arts, visit the Legion of Honor art museum, and go to the golden gate bridge in time for sunset.
A lot of SF is in its atmosphere, its diversity, and its refusal to be stereotypically American. All that, and I haven't even mentioned City Hall, the Castro, the Tenderloin, the shopping, the weekend-trip possibilities, or the nightlife.
Have fun!
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
You need to be logged in to leave comments and smiles. Becoming a member is free and easy - Join the TravBuddy Community!
July 1, 2006
True things seen on buses in SF:
1. A crackhead and a homeless man brawling
2. Crackhead kicking the homeless guy in his man parts
3. Homeless guy peeing during the fight
4. Passenger throwing up due to pee smell
5. Live chickens
6. Some guy fighting another homeless guy onto the bus for stealing his stuff, fighting for 3 blocks and fighting their way off the bus
7. fresh stains from women (ahem) cycle-ing
That said, the buses are pretty reliable. They go everywhere, although they might be a bit late. Compared to other bus systems I've lived through (non existant service in the suburbs, everyone sitting in each other's laps in Panama, the confusing routes in Guatemala City), it's really not that bad. And props to just plain being available. I always hear tourists saying SF has a good public transportation system, so I guess other town don't even have buses or something.
However, SF buses do fall off their wires a lot, and tend to stop in traffic to fix it, and they also have a tendency to hit parked cars. Did you know they actually have little cards that say "Your car was hit by Bus # _______, on ____day, ____, driven by Driver # _____" that they leave on windsheilds?
1. A crackhead and a homeless man brawling
2. Crackhead kicking the homeless guy in his man parts
3. Homeless guy peeing during the fight
4. Passenger throwing up due to pee smell
5. Live chickens
6. Some guy fighting another homeless guy onto the bus for stealing his stuff, fighting for 3 blocks and fighting their way off the bus
7. fresh stains from women (ahem) cycle-ing
That said, the buses are pretty reliable. They go everywhere, although they might be a bit late. Compared to other bus systems I've lived through (non existant service in the suburbs, everyone sitting in each other's laps in Panama, the confusing routes in Guatemala City), it's really not that bad. And props to just plain being available. I always hear tourists saying SF has a good public transportation system, so I guess other town don't even have buses or something.
However, SF buses do fall off their wires a lot, and tend to stop in traffic to fix it, and they also have a tendency to hit parked cars. Did you know they actually have little cards that say "Your car was hit by Bus # _______, on ____day, ____, driven by Driver # _____" that they leave on windsheilds?
Bus puke, picture from Atousa's ...
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|
You need to be logged in to leave comments and smiles. Becoming a member is free and easy - Join the TravBuddy Community!
