This post is categorized under “vacations” but I want to make it clear that it was actually a work trip – I just don’t have a work category to file it under!
I arrived in San Francisco at midday on Monday and the weather was beautiful. I hadn’t thought about packing the sun glasses but I should have. After checking in at the Holiday Inn at Fisherman’s Wharf I went round to the Argonaut hotel for an afternoon of meetings. See – definitely a work trip!
That evening a social gathering for dinner was planned, so being the anti-social person I am I decided to go for a walk instead! Seemed silly to go to San Francisco and spend my time being sociable and missing out on the sights. The first stop on the walk was Pier 39 to see whether the noisey, stinky sea lions where still there – and they were:
httpv://youtu.be/91dpwIGR2KY
Good job smelly vision videos haven’t been invented – they stink! After leaving Pier 39 I set off to find Lombard Street and, more specifically, the really curvy bit. When we were here on our honeymoon it was the curviest street in the world – not sure if it still is but it’s pretty bendy nonetheless. Once I reached the bottom of the curvy street I had a right sweat on! I’d forgotten how steep the hills of San Francisco are!
I then walked back to the hotel, stopping to get a burrito from Chipotle on the way. I ate rubbish the whole time I was in San Francisco. I had breakfast from Starbucks twice, went to Chipotle, Burger King and Subway. The best food I ate was singapore rice at the airport! It was a bit of a waste but I thought I would save the good food for the next time we come down here with Tracy and the boys!
On Tuesday morning I got up early and went for a walk along the front towards the Golden Gate bridge. I then walked out on the harbor arm and watched the sun rise over the city. It was quite amazing how many people were swimming out in the Bay. Joggers I expected but not swimmers. Still it was a gorgeous morning so I don’t blame them.
Tuesday was another day of meetings, plus a couple of hours walking the streets of San Francisco again. It is a very lovely city, with the hills, trams, views of the bay and the sunshine but there are also some very ugly buildings right slap in the middle of it all. The planning authority clearly either had no taste at times or took some back-handers.
On Tuesday evening I had to be slightly sociable as everyone was off to watch the Golden State Warriors play Miami Heat at basketball. The traffic was a nightmare but we made it over to Oakland eventually – the rough part of town.
The basketball was fun with the highlight being the acrobatic entertainers:
httpv://youtu.be/tCULyCwjIME
Golden State eventually won the game 111 – 106. The final 36 seconds of the game took over 10 minutes! They certainly know how to drag a game out and include non stop entertainment. In all, I think 1 hours worth of basketball took 3 hours! It was fun though.
httpv://youtu.be/Vo0sCExArkw
Wednesday was the final day and there was no time for walking and exploring – it was just meetings. After giving my presentation in the afternoon I caught a cab back to the airport and the flying visit was over. Almost 10 years after our one and only trip to San Francisco it had been nice to be back. It definitely won’t be 10 years before we go back!
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