by dreinecke » Sat Sep 15, 2012 12:35 pm
I just got back from partially sunny San Francisco last night. Spent most of the week there for an IT/Geek conference. First time really getting to see the city, and had a good time (without the normal jokes...)
Went to Alcatraz - that was worth the entire trip. Incredibly cool tour of a very interesting place. Fairly well preserved considering how old it really is. The audio/walking tour is excellent!
Took the cable cars at least 4 times a day - LOVED those! Went to their museum too and got to see how they work and watched them splice a cable that broke - that is some interesting work. We used all 4 of the remaining lines. I stood on the step at the front of the car each time hanging on for dear life. The people there drive like maniacs and even on the cable car, you find you have to get really skinny a few times to miss the odd truck mirror or motorcyclist shooting past you. Felt like a dog hanging his head out the window of a car!
I spoke more German in 4 days than I have in the last 4 years. I think all of Germany was there on holiday. Met some really nice folks!
Ate lots of seafood down at Fisherman's Warf! Ate in Little Italy as well and had one of the best dishes yet - Crab Alfredo - simply awesome.
Spent some time in an Irish pub drinking fine whiskey and watching the Bears get smashed by the Packers.
Walked all of China town - extremely interesting area. Went in several stores attempting to identify smells and sights...I now know what Ginseng root looks like and also what a large jar of shark fins looks like. VERY strange stuff in some of their shops. Did NOT eat there since I'm accustomed to American versions of Chinese food and NOT what was served there.
Found a coffee shop online that had a Scalextric track and cars for sale. Showed up only to find out they'd not taken that off their Facebook page and that the track has been gone a few years. That really took the wind out of my sails.
The best part? People watching! Between the obvious tourists, the massive ethnic populations, the business people, the massive amounts of homeless people all begging, panhandling, and whatnot - it was a free 24x7 freak show.
Had a great time and managed to walk about 10 miles a day. Wore my shoes out and have the blisters to prove it. I probably took about 500 pictures while I was there.
Oh, attended a decent conference too somewhere in there. Really, I did attend and have the notes to prove it too.