San Francisco On Foot

Right then, here we go! My favourite way to get to know a city is by exploring it on foot. In a city like San Francisco, that is sort of a requisite. Its manic drivers, its hills which would daunt even the most hardcore of cyclists and its criss-cross of streets perfectly designed for spontaneous exploration, make walking by far the best option. Well, we got a bit carried away and walked approximately forty miles over three days; twenty one of which we did in one day. It was wonderful. Each day, we set out with a starting point and a vague idea of the areas we wished to explore, but mostly relished the fact that, with a total lack of time pressure, we could simply pick and choose our direction and pace. We based ourselves at a lovely eco hotel in the 'south-of-market' or 'SOMA' area, which was a great base from which to set out each day. We wandered through the well-trodden streets of Chinatown, Haight, Russian & Telegraph Hills and stumbled upon the little gem of North Beach and its annual festival. Each day began in a haze of fog and ended in glorious evening sunshine. Whilst some days were colder than others; even requiring the need for a stop for hot jasmine tea at the Japanese gardens in Golden Gate Park (no great sorrow in that), but we simply took each hour at a time; enjoying the days as they happened. The Ginge experienced his first ever Diner-breakfast and we watched baseball whilst drinking local ales and eating pizza by the slice. We boogied to the music of soul singers in unknown parking-lots and hiked up outrageously steep hills, just to see what was on the other side - usually an incredible and unexpected view. Everywhere we walked, our paths were flanked by beautiful views of houses painted in soft hues, the ocean with its rolling bay mist and clunking cable car tracks. I could have happily ambled along there for the whole four weeks, but we just so happened to have other places to visit - more on that soon...