John

…and I don’t mean funny “ha-ha”. That place really stinks!

I suppose its the incredibly dense population combined with an insufficient infrastructure but… Everywhere there were garbage cans out on the street and always full. I only saw one garbage truck the entire time I was walking around.

I discovered that the best time to visit Fisherman’s Wharf was early in the morning. Early being a relative thing for S.F. tourists (before 11 AM). After that it begins to get slightly crowded and I didn’t want to rub elbows with all those people so I left.

The BART trains have a nifty little set of programs you can download for route schedules. While those are nice, I prefer MetrO for my wanderings.

Completely free this wonderful software you can download onto your Windows Mobile or Palm OS device provides directions for navigating over 400 cities via their public transportation systems. Simply input your current location and your destination and it will tell you how to get there and (approximately) how long it will take you. Simply indispensable. (added advantage- you don’t have to open a huge map and scream “I’m a tourist!”)

@ Fisherman’s Wharf

I’ve never been big on clam chowder. Personally, I’ve always thought it smelled disgusting. But, since I’d been told I simply had to have clam chowder in San Francisco, I gave it a try. Truth to tell it wasn’t bad. I actually enjoyed the experience. The Sourdough bread (made at Boudin) was a new experience as well. Although I’ve had “sourdough” bread before, it lacked much flavor. When my mom started making sourdough we started saying, yuck. It didn’t taste like the bread you bought at the supermarket.

Well, this doesn’t taste like that either. Think bread texture with Sour Patch Kids flavor. kinda.

While you’re at Fisherman’s Wharf (still on Pier 39 here) check out Chocolate Heaven. Filled to the brim with Ghiradelli Chocolate, this place is like Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory but better. Almost everything in there is dark chocolate. (Read here to find out why dark chocolate is better than sex) I got truffles for me and more for my sister. Sorry sis, I got you the Lindor’s Truffles, ate the Ghiradelli truffles myself (at $2.99/ea)

The Aquarium of the Bay is, in my opinion, much over-hyped and totally not worth the $14.95 they charge for admission. Although I did get a couple of good pictures, the Aquarium of the Americas is much better.

Heading west from Pier 39 takes you to the Maritime Museum which has several really old boats and the really old men who maintain them. Walking on the pier is free, boarding is $5.00. Really cheap, good for a little bit of fun and an excellent segue to the cable car.

@ the Cable Car (aka – climbing the mountain)

It doesn’t get much more San Francisco than this.

The cable cars run over a large section of the mountain that San Francisco sits on. Gives you wonderful views of the town and several of the attractions nearby. I didn’t take the entire trip, just long enough to get to …

Chinatown!

By the time you finish walking from one end of Chinatown to the other, you should have worked off that clam chowder so get some Sushi!

(although I say the I didn’t get the right place.)

After all of that, it was finally time to check into the hostel I was staying at overnight. At only $26/night ($23 if you are a member of Hostelling International) it was the cheapest place I could find that wasn’t outdoors. The shower was kinda iffy (had black spots in the shower) but overall the atmosphere was great and the bed/linens of good quality.