Tourists in San Francisco

Today we were complete tourists in San Francisco. For most of this trip, we have pretty well chosen our own path. We haven't done the typically touristy things or gone on set tours. Today we did that. We spent the morning touring the city of San Francisco on a bus tour and the afternoon visiting Alcatraz. As much as I like staying off the beaten track, today was a really enjoyable day. Allowing someone else to make all the decisions was a very low stress experience. We thoroughly enjoyed the bus tour of SF. I always like getting the overall picture of a new city and the bus tour was just the way to do it. We got to see the beautiful Victorian homes of Pacific Heights, the lovely parkland of the Presidio and Fort Point, the hippie cool of Haight Ashbury and the Panhandle and the ornate buildings like the City Hall and San Francisco Public Library.

In the afternoon, we took the ferry trip to Alcatraz. A classic tourist spot but definitely worth it. The audio tour allows you to take your own time to walk through the prison. It is a chilling space but really revealing. I couldn't go into the solitary confinement cells but Ronan was fine. Our only disappointment was that the exhibition about the native American experience at Alcatraz was closed (probably because it was a public holiday).

A simple day for us, no stress because someone else made all the decisions. Sometimes, organised tours are the way to go.

Today, we saw the best of San Francisco. I feel like I gave it a bad rap yesterday. The truth is that homelessness is definitely a massive problem in SF but, today I saw the beautiful, interesting, cool side of the city. I could see myself living in San Francisco, but like all bit cities, how do you enjoy the good bits without turning a blind eye to the problems?