Weather: sunny & hot
I arose at 8am, after a somewhat disturbed night's sleep, no doubt caused by my internal clock being stuck in a time zone somewhere near Newfoundland and considering it time to get up.
After breakfast and a brief introduction from Mark as to the use of the San Francisco area's wonderful integrated public transport system, we left at 9.10. Mark dropped me at the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport, the area's light rail system) and drove off to work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, about 20 minutes drive away, having got a Hubble Space Telescope proposal deadline to meet.
The Dublin/Pleasanton BART station is conveniently located in neither town but instead in the middle of an elevated stretch of highway running eastwards from the bay area. This location does at least allow ample space for a parking lot; evidently it is supposed to be used as a ``park and ride''.
I did not have long to wait for a train, and it headed off towards the bay, remaining in between the two carriageways of Highway 580 until it turned northwards towards Oakland.
From there, it entered a tunnel under the bay, close to the location of the San Francisco to Oakland bridges, coming ashore in the city centre but initially remaining below ground, following the line of Market Street.
I left the train at Embarcadero, the first stop within San Francisco, and crossed the street to the ferry terminal, housed within an imposing building built around 1900, with a tower modelled on the campanile of Seville Cathedral. The surrounding area inland now houses the financial district, with many imposing skyscrapers, and some up-market hotels. I ventured inside the Hyatt Regency, famed for its huge atrium, reaching 17 stories high and triangular in shape with the north face sloping inwards, and dominated by a huge sculptured aluminium ball.
Next, I wandered up California St to the Bank of California. This is in fact two buildings, an ornate, pillared turn-of-the-century building in the style of a Corinthian temple, which serves as the lobby, and a rather bland tower next door. In the basement was a small museum, featuring many memorabilia from the Gold Rush era and the bank's early days.
My next stop was at Old St Mary's Church, on the edge of Chinatown. This was the city's first Catholic cathedral and dates from 1854, but much restored after damage in the 1906 earthquake. After a quick look round I made my way towards the current cathedral, passing Union Square (a block of the city used as a park and surrounded by some moderately up-market shops), close to where I had stayed in 1993 on a trip with my uncle.
It was quite a long walk to St Mary's Cathedral and when I got there I found a service in progress and the gift shop shut. I decided to hang around, and watched proceedings from the very back of the cathedral until the service was over, at which point I was free to wander around at leisure.
The cathedral was consecrated in 1971 as a replacement for the second cathedral, which had burned down nine years previously. It is built in a style which is modern but nevertheless pleasant on the eye and interesting to look at, with much use of glass in a variety of colours, making for a light and spacious interior.
By this point I was feeling much in need of refreshment, and set out in search of somewhere to eat. The area surrounding the cathedral is something of a culinary desert, and I walked for several minutes before finding a small cafe. There I ordered a cold drink and a beef sandwich, the sandwich very much in the American style with a vast thickness of beef, a little too much for my liking.
I walked down Van Ness Street until I reached the bay, where I took a walk along the beach until I reached the tourist area of the westernmost piers of the docks. I had been considering taking a cruise across to Alcatraz Island, but upon enquiring at the ferry ticket office I was told that the earliest boat I could take there would be at 6.20. I opted instead to take a one-hour cruise around San Francisco Bay, the next available being only a wait of half an hour or so.
I passed the time buying postcards and a cold drink, then boarded the boat. I opted for a seat on the top deck just behind the bridge and was pleased to get there reasonably early as it proved a popular location on such a fine day. Thankfully I was reasonably free to move around the deck during the cruise, allowing me to take plenty of photographs while listening to the commentary.
The cruise took us out from Pier 41 past the seemingly over-populated sea lion colony adjacent to Pier 39 and into the bay towards the Golden Gate. The boat made a U-turn just beyond the bridge, affording close-up views of the spectacular red structure as we passed underneath. We sailed back around the island of Alcatraz, past the ruined buildings of the world-famous prison, closed in 1963 after only thirty years as a Federal Penitentiary and handed over to the control of the National Park Service following several years of occupation by a group of Native American protesters. I noticed vast crowds of tourists around the quay area of the island and felt that I had made the right choice in taking the cruise.
Also visible from the boat was Angel Island, which served for many years as the West Coast equivalent of New York's Ellis Island but now a popular nature reserve. The boat continued towards the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the twin islands or Yerba Buena (named after an early Spanish/Mexican settlement in the area) and Treasure Island, artificially reclaimed to form the site of a fair in 1939 but subsequently taken over by the navy, who remained there until very recently.
Yerba Buena lies directly between the two cities, and marks the divide between the twin linked suspension bridges spanning the deep water around the San Francisco side and the longer but lower cantilever bridge on the Oakland side. The latter briefly made the news after the 1989 earthquake when a section of the upper roadway deck collapsed.
The journey back to the pier afforded excellent views of the docks and the city, before we docked at 4.15. I then proceeded to explore Pier 39, a pleasant area of touristy shops and restaurants built from timbers recycled from the old dockyard buildings, and to spend a little time observing the sea lions at closer range: fun creatures to watch, but noisy and with a strong smell of fish!
Considering it a little early for dinner, I decided to take a walk back into the city to Telegraph Hill, on top of which stands the Coit tower. This was built in 1934 as a result of a legacy from Lillie Hitchcock Coit in commemoration of the work of fire-fighters in the city, not least during the catastrophic firestorms which followed the 1906 earthquake. Allegedly the top of the tower is in the shape of a fire hose. I was not entirely convinced, but nevertheless it afforded an excellent view across the city and the bay, with the evening sunlight sparkling on the waters towards the Golden Gate.
I returned to Pier 39 for dinner, taking a route down Filbert Street (with a gradient of 31.5% the steepest street in the city), and past the Catholic church of St Peter and St Paul, with a spectacular white facade. I had dinner at a restaurant named ``Swiss Louis'', overlooking the dock between piers 39 and 41, which despite the name was actually Italian.
I opted for a green salad with crab meat followed by canneloni.
I left the restaurant around 20.30 and headed off in the direction of the BART station at Embarcadero, hoping I might be able to pick up a bus or tram but without any luck. I had a wait of about ten minutes for a train to arrive, followed by a journey of around 45 minutes.
The BART arrived at the Dublin/Pleasanton stop a couple of minutes late, not that this posed any problem since the next bus to Pleasanton was scheduled to arrive some ten minutes later and to hang around for another seventeen before departing.
I ran into a few problems upon boarding, as the DART system insists upon a flat fare of one dollar, no change available. I had parted with my last one-dollar bill at the restaurant, but fortunately I happened to be carrying a money-bag of small change for emergencies (mostly quarters for the bizarre ritual of the American public telephony system) which enabled me to pay my way. I arrived back at Mark's abode somewhat wearied, and soon retired to bed.