San Francisco; Sea, Wind and Cable Car

Last May Mr.C and I spent a couple of days in San Francisco as a part of our long California vacation and I fell in love with the city. San Francisco has a land area of about 46.9 square miles (121km2) on the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula and it is the 12th most populous city in the U.S.A with an estimted population of 815.358. We arrived in San Francisco after a six hour drive from Los Angeles, trip was enjoyable and it was dark when we found our hotel on the Market Street.

The view of Alcatraz from the Cable Car

The next morning we got up early and began walking on the Market Street to find a local cafe to have breakfast and we saw a lot of homeless people sleeping on the street. There are a lot of people living on the streets in San Francisco especially around Market Street. After breakfast we took the F Line and went to Fisherman's Warf, once the center of San Francisco's commercial fishing fleet, Fisherman's Warf today is a melange of souvenir shops, restaurants, motels, tourist museums, and fishing boats. You can taste fresh seafood (clam chowder is famous) and walk the waterfront and enjoy the view. After we ate our crab cakes, we took a boat tour to see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. In 1934, Alcatraz was turned into a maximum security prison, housing criminals like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. Our boat passed just near the Alcatraz Island and under the Golden Gate Bridge, the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the boat was also amazing. Completed in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge, with its distinctive orange color and Art Deco style, was quickly recognized as a marvel of engineering and design.

On the way to San Francisco

After we got out of the boat, we walked to Pier 39, which is a nice marketplace on the waterfront, famous with its sea lions. It was fun to watch the sea lions but they are really noisy so I couldn't spend much time there and headed to the Ghirardelli Square and tasted delicious chocolate and bought some for later. While walking through the Ghirardelli Square I saw the list of suspension bridges in the world. Then it was time to get on a cable car but it wasn't as easy as I thought. After waiting in line for an hour, I was about to freeze due to strong wind. I didn't really felt cold when I was waiting under the sun but it was pretty chilly in the shade. Having such a wind makes the city a good sailing place but I can't say I enjoyed the wind as a tourist. If you are planning to visit SF in spring or summer, I would highly recommend you to bring a windbreaker with you. I think cable car is one of the must-do attractions in SF, because it takes you up steep hills and the view of SF from the cable car is amazing. Cable Car in SF runs on the Powell-Hyde, Powell-Manson and California-Van Ness lines and it is still manually switched by two operators on a wooden turntable. We got on the cable car from Fisherman's Warf and got off at Union Square. After we ate dinner near the Union Square, took a walk and rested at our hotel.

Cable Car

Painted Ladies

We started our second day at Alamo Square, in the middle of the Alamo Square there is a park surrounded by houses with distinctive architecture style called Victorian architecture. The Victorian Houses on the Steiner Street are known as Painted Ladies and the contrast of Painted Ladies and modern buildings in the downtown area is remarkable.

After the Alamo Square next stop was the Golden Gate Park. There is a lot of things to do in the Park, you can walk through the Japanese Tea Gardens, rent a pedalboat, and visit the Conservatory of Flowers and De Young Museum.

Golden Gate Park

Althoug there are much more things to do in SF my final stop was the Chinatown. Chinatown in SF is the oldest Chinatown in the U.S.A. We took some photos of the main gate and walked in a couple of stores but couldn't find something authentic. Then had a dinner at a restaurant in the middle of the main street, food was delicious but a little bir pricy.

The next day we left SF and headed to Napa Valley, but I couldn't get enough of San Francisco.

San Francisco; Deniz, Ruzgar ve Tramvay

Gecen Mayis'ta, Kaliforniya seyahatimizin bir bolumunu Mr.C ile birlikte San Francisco'da gecirmek icin yola ciktigimizda, sehre bu kadar hayran kalacagimi dusunmemistim. San Francisco Yarimadasi'nin kuzeyinde, 121km2 alan uzerinde kurulu olan bu sehir, 815.358 olan nufusuyla A.B.D.'deki en kalabalik 12. sehirdir. San Francisco'ya Los Angeles'den baslayan araba yolculugu ile alti saatte ulastik, Market Street uzerindeki otelimize vardigimizda artik hava kararmisti.

Ertesi sabah erkenden kalkip Market Street uzerinde yuruyerek kahvalti yapmak icin yerel bir kafe aramaya basladik. Bircok evsiz insan kaldirimlarin uzerinde uyuyordu, uyanmis olanlar ise yaniniza gelip bozuk para isteyebiliyor, para vermezseniz de hemen uzaklasiyorlar. Kahvalti sonrasi F hatti ile Fisherman's Warf'a gittik, balikcilik amaciyla kurulmus bu bolge bugun hediyelik esya satan dukkanlar, tekne turu duzenleyen firmalar, restoranlarla dolu. Sokakta satilan yiyecekler lezzetli, deniz taragi corbasi unlu, biz yengec koftesi yemegi tercih ettik. Daha sonra Golden Gate Koprusu ve Alcatraz Adasi'ni yakindan gorecegimiz tekne turuna binmek icin kalkis noktasina geldik. 1934 yilinda yuksek guvenlikli hapishaneye donusturulen Alcatraz, Al Capone ve Machine Gun Kelly gibi unlu suclulari agirlamis. Tekne ile Alcatraz'in yanindan gectikten sonra Golden Gate Koprusu'ne dogru hareket etmeye basladik. Art Deco tarzi ve turuncu rengi ile kentin simgesi haline gelmis olan ve 1937 yilinda tamamlanan kopruyu tekneden seyretmek ve altindan gecmek zevkliydi.

Tekne turunu tamamladiktan sonra, aslinda bir pazaryeri olan ve deniz aslanlari ile unlu Pier 39'a yuruduk. Deniz kenarinda deniz aslanlarini seyrettikten sonra, seslerine daha fazla dayanamayip, Ghirardelli Meydani'na dogru ilerledik. Burada unlu Ghirardelli cikolatalarindan yiyip biraz alisveris yaptiktan sonra cevrede gezinirken Dunya'daki asma koprulerin listesi gozume carpti, Bogazici Koprusu ve FSM de listede. Daha sonra sira tramvaya binip sehri gezmeye geldi fakat bu dusundugumuz kadar kolay olmadi. Tramvay sirasinda, ruzgara karsi yaklasik 1 saat bekledikten sonra sira bize geldi. San Francisco'yu ziyaret ediyorsaniz yaninizda mutlaka ruzgarlik ve bere bulundurmaniz lazim, hava gunesli olmasina ragmen surekli esen serin ruzgar insani serseme cevirebiliyor. Bunun disinda tramvay ile tepelerin uzerinden inip cikarak sehri seyretmek cok keyifliydi. Powell-Hyde, Powell-Manson ve California-Van Ness hatlarinda calisan tarihi tramvaylar, hala hat basindaki iki operator tarafindan tahtadan yapilmis donen bir tabla uzerinde iterek cevriliyor.  Fisherman's Warf'dan bindigimiz tramvaydan Union Square'de indik, yemek yiyip biraz dolastiktan sonra, kaldigimiz otele donus yaptik.

Ikinci gune Alamo Meydani'nda basladik, meydanin ortasindaki parkta gezerken parki cevreleyen Victorian tarz mimarisi ile goze carpan evleri seyredebilirsiniz. Steiner Sokak'in uzerindeki evlere ise Painted Ladies deniliyor, park icinden bu evleri ve arkasinda yukselen modern gokdelenleri izlemek keyifliydi. Alamo Meydani'ndan sonraki duragimiz ise Golden Gate Park'ti. Park cok genis ve icerisinde yapilacak cok sey var, Japon Bahcelerini gezebilir, pedalli kayiklardan kiralayabilir ya da 
Conservatory of Flowers ve De Young Muzesi'ni ziyaret edebilirsiniz.

Sehirde gorulecek daha cok yer olmasina ragmen bizim son duragimiz Cin Mahallesi oldu. San Francisco'daki Cin Mahallesi A.B.D.'deki en eski Cin Mahallesi'dir. Giristeki ana kapinin onunde biraz fotograf cektikten sonra dukkanlara girip cikarak gezmeye basladik, fakat buraya ozgun pek birsey goremedim ben. Ara sokaklarda da biraz gezindikten sonra ana caddenin uzerindeki bir restoranda yemek yedik, yemekler lezzetliydi fakat biraz pahaliydi. Ertesi gun Napa Vadisi'ne gitmek icin yola koyuldugumuzda San Francisco'ya hala doyamamistim.