On foot around San Francisco
Our last few hours before heading out to the airport to get our flight to Heathrow and then on to Toulouse. Didn't rush, went down to breakfast and had the special "Cowboy Omelette", included everything, I thought we could have done without the Brie!
We were packed and down to the concierge to leave our suitcases by 9.30am and then strolled in to town. Not far from the Hotel we saw a demonstration outside the courthouse where people were waving placards protesting against the verdict in the Zimmerman case.
There is a lot of feeling and rancour that Zimmerman was found innocent of all charges, and I guess you know that Obama made quite a personal speech about the fact that the young black could have been him many years ago. So we passed by and turned down a side street and saw a heavy police presence, half a dozen on foot armed of course, and police cars and vans dotted around, they were obviously prepared in case things got out of hand.
So we strolled on, heading for Union Square where all the big name shops are. It was lovely looking at all these luxurious items, Louis Vuitton bags, jewels to bedazel at Tiffany's, Macy's store so huge it would take at least a day to check out all the departments, so we settled for a coffee outside Macy's and used their free wifi!
From there we decided to head down to Fisherman's Wharf for a crab sandwich, we couldn't leave SF without having some crab. We decided to get the street car. These street cars are old trams and they are from all over they world , London, Prague, Melbourne, Detroit, etc, and each one has retained it's original livery so it looks great and they just plough up and down the city on their rails and around the wharfs, they cost $2 for the day, hop on hop off. There were quite a few people waiting at the stop (which is in the middle of the road as the street cars travel up and down the middle), and when the street car came people were already standing inside, but sure enough we all squeezed on, he left no one behind, and at every stop no one got off and more squeezed on, until no one moved down any more so he told people waiting at the stop to get on at the back exit door, sure enough they squeezed on!
We got off at Fisherman's Wharf, a little before we needed to (probably carried off by the crowd) and looked around for somewhere to eat without having to sit on each others knee - it was so crowded. We decided to spoil ourselves, after all we felt that we had lived on hamburgers since we arrived. And 'Fratelli's Seafood Restaurant' was looking very inviting right on the front, so we went in. It was huge as you would expect, with white table cloths, efficient waiting staff and a view to die for. We were seated within minutes, water and a lovely glass of wine followed soon after, we ordered Caesar Salad with crab and watched the activity on the harbour. Bliss.
We had to be back at the hotel for 2.45pm for the transfer to the airport. We had over an hour to spare so plenty of time to catch the street car back. We waited in the queue, watching the digital information saying there was one due in 2 mins, and the voice over saying keep back from the road, etc. However they were running late, so it was a bit of a toss up whether to catch a cab or not. But one came into view so decision made. Squeezed on and away we went.
So many people everywhere, we made slow progress, more stops more people squeezed on. Then the driver pulled up at an elevated stop where there was a rather large man in a rather large wheelchair with a rather large lady 'minder'. Well, "move on down, we need some room here, move on down". People looked around - move on where? Sure enough he foraged around behind his seat and came out with two metal ramps which he proceeded to lay over the gap between the tram and the platform, and after some heaving and shoving on came this large contingent. It really illustrated how the SF'ns accept and respect people with special needs, including street beggars. And so we were running a little late and in all the confusion got off two stops too early!
With only 15 mins up our sleeve we walked (in a sprinting sort of way) from 3rd Street to 7th Street, but it took us 17 mins and the bus had gone! No waiting around for us ... So went into reception grumbling about catching a plane, etc, she rang the bus company and they turned around and picked us up.. I have a sneaky feeling that he would have come back anyway after he had picked others up at their respective hotels.
So we checked in and we were able to check our luggage through to Toulouse. We had plenty of time to relax, have a glass of wine and catch up with friends on the free wifi before boarding our flight to Heathrow. Our flight was again too long and too uncomfortable, we may have to do things a little differently if we do this again.
We had about 6 hours wait for our connection to Toulouse, plenty of time to check out the duty free and have a meal in an English Pub restaurant, David had a beef and ale pie, which he said was great, and I had bacon, sausage, eggs and baked beans! Then onto our plane and a nice trip for an hour and three quarters to Toulouse. James picked us up and I nearly walked passed him, this tall bronzed handsome man! It took us only about 15 mins until we arrived home and as it was after midnight and we were so tired, we went to bed and slept soundly, even though it was about 27deg!
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