A perfect day - Day 4

The major focus of the US trip for Aparna was this visit to San Francisco. I wanted the day to be perfect. And so it was. A day when the Sun smiled on the city of San Francisco. We took one of the many open top double decker tourist buses and took in the beauty of this unique city built upon a dream, the Gold Rush. The city is 7 miles long and 7 miles wide. A majestic confluence of cultures from China Town to North Beach and a history checkered with tragedy and triumph following devastating earthquakes and fires, with the 1989 big one, still fresh in the minds of most residents.

We rode the bus to the Golden Gate bridge and took in the sheer magnificence of the brick-red suspension bridge that is not quite golden. The last rivet was made of pure gold (a tidbit of information shared by the humorous tour guide cum bus driver), perhaps the reason for its name or more likely, the fact that the people thronged this region in their quest for gold. Even Levi Strauss came here to find his fortune but ended up selling jeans to the miners and hit a gold mine. The Bay area is a region that is surrounded by the ocean, the bay and mountains. Consequently, the weather is usually cold and often foggy. Being able to see the entire Golden Gate Bridge on the one day you visit, is equal to receiving the Nobel for a day’s work. And we were indeed thrilled with the honor. We could see all the way above the tips of the bridge and straight through the bridge from our lookout in Marin county. Alcatraz (a former prison on an island) and Angel Island were clearly visible. Little ships dotted the calm ocean. Birds and planes flew about serenely. And the wind blew the hats off the tourists on the upper level of the bus.

We decided to ditch the rest of the bus tour and got off at Van Ness and Lombard to climb three steep blocks to the top of Lombard Street – the part which is termed “Crooked Street”. We huffed and puffed our way to the top but the exertion was certainly worth the first hand view. Colorful plants dotted the sides and triangular islands formed by this downhill one way street with multiple switchbacks. We kept going downhill on Lombard and found our way to Fisherman’s Wharf. Crowded as always with souvenir shops, restaurants doing brisk business with the local favorite – clam chowder, the man completely painted in silver paint standing absolutely still, the wax museum and most interesting for us, artists willing to sketch your portrait. The gentle Chinese man painted a pretty good color sketch of Aparna in about 15 minutes. We collected the sketch, walked a few steps to study it and compare its accuracy. The curious couple who had watched us earlier, peered at the sheet and said “It looks just like you.”

We ate our peanut butter sandwiches and stopped at Ghirardelli’s for an icecream sundae. We decided to finish the large serving while waiting in line for a memorable ride on the historic San Francisco cable car. We took the Hyde-Powell cable car which does a commendable job of traversing the steepest streets at a speed of about 9 miles an hour. These historic cable cars celebrated a centennial of being in operation in 1973. The only other cable car system operates in Dunedin, New Zealand. These historical coaches are still used for local public transport within the city in the areas that it operates in.

By the end of the day, we found ourselves back in Union Square where we had boarded the bus earlier in the morning. We looked around at the famous department stores, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenu and wisely decided to step into the BART back to Fremont, instead of going into the stores.