The uniformed lady shook her head and informed me that my planned walking route into Chinatown was no good. “It’s all hill,” she said, not realizing that she’d just confirmed my decision.
San Francisco’s drastic changes in elevation are no exaggeration. Cars systematically park with wheels turned in to the curb. The Metro buses and trolleys run strategically up and down the steepest slopes. Women do not where high heels without ready transportation available. But it’s a great walking city and navigating San Francisco is excellent exercise!
Chinatown is always worth a wander as is the Embarcadero along the Bay. After a ferry crossing, Alcatraz is an engrossing ramble rich with eerie histories, and Golden Gate Park holds miles of parkland and gardens.
I walked alone this time, meeting people, taking photos, and just breathing it all in. I enjoyed wandering with vague purposes and grand appreciations and found myself gently nudging some lingering memories from my last visit there with an 11-year old boy who is now, surprisingly, a high school senior.
A bike ride to Sausalito and late ferry ride back to the city, a run across the Golden Gate Bridge, an exotic pet store in Chinatown, breakfast crepes on a pier… We jammed a lot into our time there some seven years ago and even more in the years that followed. Life stayed “busy” the whole way through.
I’m so glad we took the time to hang off the sides of a few cable cars together.
Updated from August 16, 2009.
Consider the Fairmont Hotel for your overnight stay and enjoy elegant accommodations and memorable dining. The historic Tonga Room features live music on a floating stage and periodic “rainstorms,” complete with thunder and lightning.
