pages after this point not yet edited fully ... please hold.
... not so tight though? :o)
Day 10. Friday 2nd October
Today being a free day we decided to treat ourselves to a nice relaxing, restful day, taking a late leisurely breakfast and perhaps a stroll later on. But things didn't turn out exactly like that. We arrived in the restaurant for breakfast at the gloriously late hour of 9:30, had a light meal and went back to our rooms to get ready for a stroll. Leaving the hotel at 11:00 and walking up Van Ness Avenue, turned right into California Street, past the terminus point of the cable car line and right into Polk Street. Hilary had mentioned that there were some interesting shops along this street, but to say the least, it looked rather scruffy. After walking perhaps half a mile, we crossed over the street, walked back up the other side and headed back along California Street and Van Ness to the hotel, pausing only to buy a USA Today newspaper from the sidewalk vending machine.
After returning to the room and, frankly being unused to the inactivity, we decided to go to Lombard Street on the cable car. Mum wasn't too impressed with the idea, but went along anyway. Lombard Street is known as the 'Crookedest Street' owing to the number of switchback turns down what otherwise would be an impossible hill to walk or drive on. Purchasing transfer tickets enables swaps between cars, and can be got from the automatic vending machine at the junction of Van Ness and California streets. We waited for the cable car to arrive in a little covered shelter. As a side note, we were informed that prior to our visit the senior rate had been 15 cents for the two hours worth of travel!
At 2:25 we mounted the car and the experience began. The California line took us as far east as Powell Street, were we swiftly dismounted, and waited for the Powell & Market line to take us north to Jackson Street. Unfortunately, due to faulty navigation on my part (missing a couple of street signs), we clanged west along Jackson and north onto Mason Street, ending up at Columbus Street. There we stepped down and walked back, only to discover that we were at the bottom of Lombard Street, looking up into the shadow. Oops! Back-tracking after earnestly looking at the map, we arrived at a junction stop, to see cable car after cable car come up the hill toward us, only to veer off onto another route. Eventually, when one came it was out of service, heading back to the Barn, the next two were full. We got on the following one relatively easily, travelled south along Mason, back to Jackson, then Jackson west to Hyde Street, then Hyde as far as the top of Lombard Street.
The view down Lombard, with the automobiles inching their way down, and the view down Hyde as far as San Francisco Bay, with the island of Alcatraz and a passing submarine made the trip worthwhile. Anyway, we got back on the cable car, heading south to Washington Street, then east to Powell and south to California. Changing to the California line, we headed west to the end of the line at the Van Ness Avenue terminus.
Arriving back at the hotel, I had a few minutes pondering what to do, then went out onto the swimming pool level, on the same floor as our rooms. After taking a few photographs of the city skyline around, and the longest fire truck I had yet seen - with steerable rear wheels - we went back inside to prepare for dinner.
Later, reaching the near deserted restaurant at 7:00, and after agonising over the choice on the menu decided to order the chef's special salad. Not wanting to eat much, we decided that this would be the safest option. The biggest salads in the whole world arrived and, whilst the quality was excellent, the sheer size of the meal rendered speech impossible. The service in this hotel was of the highest order, the waiters being at the same time polite and friendly, and giving every assistance to us. Of course, one feels that this level of service shouldn't go un-rewarded, and my tip here was one the biggest in relation to the size of the check.