Strolling down Fisherman's Wharf...
San Francisco is unlike any other cities that I have been to. For instance, the city is undulating so much that a walk from the pier side to China Town will feel like a work out! They are famous for a lot of things here, and the number of tourists flocked the street especially in the tourist-trap area, the Fisherman's Wharf.
The first time we came to San Francisco was with a ferry ride from Oakland to see the Farmer's Market. It was part of our educational site visit as this market puts forward locally grown, organic produces and we learned some new information from talking to the farmers and entrepreneurs there.
The organiser of the 3 times a week market is CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture). CUESA is dedicated to cultivating a sustainable food system through the operation of farmers markets and educational programs. What's special about this market is, every stall has its own little fact sheet to inform the consumers about their product. That's the educational side of CUESA.
You can find out more about this at: https://cuesa.org/markets
The market sells loads of things but one stall in the Old Ferry Building was this mushroom stall. I have never seen so many different types of mushrooms in my life and they even sell a mushroom kit where you can grow your own little mushrooms.
I also have never seen truffles until that day, at a price tag USD 75/ounce on display in the glass case. Wow. I used to completely took mushrooms for granted but now I have a mad respect for this little decomposer.
A walk into the city showed many high rise building (in the heart of business centre) and I remember I saw a poster of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the previous Governor of California. In his poster I quote,
'We simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down
global warming before it is too late... '
I was not aware before that Arnold is an environmentalist and an advocate for clean energy. Especially him being a Republican. But that's alright, it was awesome to see a town where it was run by a Terminator nonetheless :p
Cable Car...
The famous San Francisco's cable car connects to all the tourists' spots, and it is USD 7 per way if I am not mistaken. Some hop-on station you have to wait in a long line but the one closer to Chinatown for example is almost no queue at all. The coolest thing is when it climbs up the steep 45 degrees slope!
Another thing that will forever stay in my memory is the Sea-librities found in Pier 39: California Sea Lions.
It was a rather odd phenomena after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 that the sea lions started to arrive and overtake the K-Dock (Pier 39) to bask in the sun and make it their home (https://www.pier39.com/the-sea-lion-story/).
These mammals are the main attraction at the wharf.
The sea lions are very territorial, and they put on a show when they fought off their competitors off the dock so they can have the space all for themselves. The crowd loves this though.
The Pier 39 Marina area alone is like a big tourists' shopping-eatery-entertainment and everything you can find. I like it that the complex is built as if it is part of the structures you see in Disneyland.
The day we rented the e-bikes to bike the famous Golden Gate Bridge was one of the best experience of the trip to California. The bridge from a far looked very fake to be honest, it was like a painting or a wallpaper to me. As we got closer, that's when we realised how actually massive this structure is!
Alright I think the last thing I want to mention about the city is the preparation for fire...
In 1906 there was a huge earthquake that caused a huge fire engulfing of pretty much everything. So I noticed every building has their own fire pipes, some is built in the wall of the building too. This water is supplied from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir that we visited earlier at Yosemite National Park.
I'm pretty sure other cities are not as prepared as San Francisco for fires.
Well not the ones that I have been to, at least.
