San Francisco

Full on for us since we arrived here last night.  Jenny was waiting at the airport for us and we all got the shuttle Kate had booked to the hotel.  We dropped our bags at hotel then went into Union Square. The place was so busy - we had about about an hour wait for a table at the Cheesecake Factory but it was worth it.  Everything was still open in the square so we walked around, checking out the shops before returning to the hotel.

In the morning we were up early for our 10:30 tour of Alcatraz. That was really good, both inside the prison and outside. The views of San Francisco from here spectacular but the bridge was not visible as the fog covered it - we could just see on of the supports.

  

After the tour we return to the mainland and walked along to Pier 39 where we had a late lunch. The sea lions at the end of the pier draw a huge crown - in fact the whole pier was packed - this is a very crowded city.

From the Pier 39 we continued walking along the bay until Ghirardelli Square. The whole area is lively with so much to stop and look at and it was packed  with people -  many overseas visitors like us. There were entertainers along the way, buskers and food - many many food stalls. Ghirardelli Square had really nice shops and we spent some time there before going over to the trolley terminus to get the cable car to Union Square, we joined the queue and waited. After standing for over an hour and a half we got on the trolley and made the trip up to the square. By this time it was dark. It was after eleven when we got back to the hotel so it had been a very long day as we left around this morning for the bus down to Pier 33 and Alcatraz.