We have been to San Francisco quite a few times now. Previously we drove around the city to tourist hot spots. During the recent visit to the bay area, we did not rent a car, and walked a lot, in addition to occasional public transportations. We primarily walked along the west shore of San Francisco bay near downtown, the section from Chase Center to Golden Gate Beach, in three different days.
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| May 12 walking trail |
Our first walk took place on May 12, Monday morning. We walked from our hotel near union square to Ferry building, then along the pier section of the shore to fisherman's Wharf. On return, we walked inland, cut through part of the downtown, and back to the hotel for afternoon activities.
Walking along the market street to Ferry Building in the early morning, we saw few people, wide, clean streets, and sculptures here and there, and high-rises all around. It was a pleasant surprise to see clean street without homeless.
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| market street, San Francisco |
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| roadside sculptures |
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| high-rises seen from the market street |
The Embarcadero Plaza and the Ferry building are at the end of the market street by the bay shore. The most eye catching landmarks there are 1) the Ferry Building, 2)
A sculpture of a nude woman - R-Evolution.
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| Ferry Building houses cruise terminals and a shopping plaza |
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| R-Evolution |
Passing these landmarks, we walked in the northwest direction, along the San Francisco Bay trail, in cool breeze - we had to zip-up our jacket to keep ourselves warm. Shortly the sky cleared up, and the Sun shone on us.
Palm trees line the street near the ferry building. Going onto a pier, and looking back to the city, the bullet shaped salesforce tower, the tallest building in San Francisco, stands out among the rectangular buildings. Another architecture that caught our eyes was like a pyramid - it is TransAmerica Pyramid, which is the second tallest building in San Francisco. Closer to the shore and further north stands the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.
Getting closer to Fisherman's Wharf, the scenery changed, we paid more attention to the shore and the bay. Many sailboats, yachts parked at the piers, Alcaraz island in the bay, and Golden Gate Bridge over Golden Gate Strait. Seal lions were making loud noise near Pier 39. Walking forward, we saw an arch over an abandoned rail road by the shore.
The famed fisherman's wharf is highly commercialized, crowded with restaurants, souvenir shops, arcades, rides ... fortunately we were there early on a week day - there were few people there when we visited.
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| they are proud of their IT industry |
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| a sculpture- Skygate with mast of sailboats in the background |
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| Alcaraz island in the Bay |
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| golden gate bridge seen from water level |
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| seal lions near Pier 39 |
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| Pier 43 Arch |
We turned around near Fisherman's Wharf, and walked inland for a shortcut back to the hotel, experienced the hilly streets on foot. Saint Peter and Paul Church by the narrow filbert street looked grand, and community green space by the church - Washington Square, was beautiful, and lively some group of people were there dancing. We turned to Columbus Ave, walked on it - one unique sign along the street is that light posts have Italian flag colors - it must be little Italy; we witnessed Waymo autonomous taxis maneuvering in the traffic - change lanes, accelerating, making turns, ...
We made another turn to Montgomery St, passing China Town, reaching the Market street, we were two blocks away from the hotel, completing the 10km walking tour in 3 hours.
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| Saints Pierre and Paul Church |
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| Washington Square |
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| Columbus Ave - light posts by road side have Italian flag colors |
