Trip to California Day 1

Hello again,

This is my first day in San Francisco California. This is my first time on the West Coast of the United States. (I have to say that I've been in Vancouver a few years back and I really liked the weather there so I hoped the weather in San Francisco with be similar - low humidity and clear air).

The flight from Newark NJ by Continental was OK. Since it was one of the first flights of the day there was no delay to take off and plane arrived a few minutes earlier. After I finally got the luggage and found way to BART things got a little bit confusing. (I was trying to find out how to get from the airport to the hotel I was staying in San Francisco: From the gate I was supposed to go to the Blue line monorail, then switch to BART, then to take the bus to Lombard Street). As I said the reality was a little bit different: The directions from Blue Line monorail were a little bit confusing - I had to go up a few floors, then down half the floor. The elevators to BART were very narrow. After I finally got to BART I had to get ticket, which in a way was challenging to people coming from New York area - first you have to choose how many tickets, then you have to choose how much you are going to pay per each ticket and then pay for the ticket (the system we used to on East coast is to choose your destination first, then choose number of tickets and then to pay amount is specified on the machine). I have to say though that people working at the airport BART station are familiar with BART tickets limitations and are very friendly and helpful even when there are a lot of people trying to get tickets on Saturday morning.

The BART ride was nice and relatively quick. After I got to the appropriate station I had to walk for 3 blocks to the bus station (If you are from NYC, distances between streets in SF are not as evenly spaced as in NYC). The app for MUNI was really good and helped to let me know when my bus is coming to the bus stop I was at. Ride on the bus took about 25 minutes and the hotel was very short distance from the bus stop.

I was staying at Lombard Motor Inn right off Van Ness Ave. Although prices were high I did not expect the Inn to be of a high quality (I came to SF on Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend). I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel. Please see my review on www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60713-d119640-r224944597-Lombard_Motor_Inn-San_Francisco_California.html

I wanted to ride bicycle over Golden Gate Bridge. So I rented bicycle from the little bike rental on Lombard Street a few blocks from hotel: Bike & View Bicycle Rentals and Tours (for my review of this place go to: ShowUserReviews-g60713-d7022852-r228204071-Bike_View_Bike_Rentals_and_Tours-San_Francisco_California.html ). I have to be honest and say that I was trying to prepare myself for riding bicycles in SF, however nothing can prepare you than experience itself (hills and all). I did walk most of hills :), but downhill ride was a blast. I also underestimated some distances in SF and without bike ride probably would never be able to see them, unless used public transportation.

The things that I've seen in San Francisco on the first day (5/24/14) are:

Fort Mason on the way to In-N-Out Burger that I had for late lunch (dinner per NYC time)

Fort Mason, Chrissy Field on the way to Golden Gate Bridge

Note: on the weekends or holiday you can only ride bicycles on the West side of the Bridge. However if you want to see the Bridge from the vista point overlooking San Francisco, you have to cross the bridge on the East side. Otherwise you will be going down the hill under the bridge and then up the hill again in order to get to that vista point.
Golden Gate Bridge from the other side

A little bit of Sausalito on the way to ferry to get back to SF
Down Town of SF from the ferry

Alcatraz (I was on the last evening tour, however in the spring fog is not too common, so I did not get the creepy feeling, that people were talking about, but the sunset was nice. Keep in mind it is very very windy on the island and temperatures are a few degrees lower than on the main land)

I was exhausted by the end of the day and cut the tour shorter (I left on earlier boat off the island). I have to tell you that the hill to the hotel from the Fort Maison was not too steep and I could probably ride most of it up, but I after such a busy day I walked it all the way to the hotel stopping at small convenient store to get something to to munch on before the bed time. I needed a good rest for the next day.