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Well our excitement started building as we drove back towards San Fran over the Bay Bridge (the old bridge was being dismantled so we were on the new one).  We only had a couple of days and had written a long list of all the things we wanted to fit in!  Driving in San Fran is a breeze compared to other cities, there doesn’t seem to be much congestion at all.  Mike decided he wanted to drive down Lombard Street – the one from Herbie with all of the hairpin bends on a steep slope.  This was the other side of town to us and it only added 15 minutes to the journey.  It was good to drive it but you couldn’t really see much and we ended up being photographed by the rest of the world that were on foot admiring the wonderful street!

 

 

We then dropped our bags off at the hotel before dropping off the car.  This time we stayed at the Hotel Adagio this was a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel. The decor was very contemporary, although it did feel like they had done up the lobby and the bar, the main part of the rooms but forgotten about the corridors and bathrooms!  We had our best nights sleep of the whole holiday here.  The beds were just perfect for us.  We also had a lovely corner room with views down the street and across at the wall art.

 

 

We returned to San Fran in a mini heat wave.  It was so unexpectedly hot for our last few days!

We had an hour settling in before heading out to meet Mike’s friend Ana again.  We met in a bar called Jasper’s just round the corner.  It was happy hour so time for more cocktails for me and Ana!  From here we took a taxi to the ball park to see Giants play Atlanta.  Apparently it doesn’t go down well when you ask how does baseball differ from rounders?!  I still don’t see much of a difference apart from in rounders people tend to actually hit the ball.  This seemed like a game of throw and catch between the pitcher and catcher.  I found several ways they could improve the game before it ended 4-2 to the Giants. We did the stereotypical thing and drank beer and ate hot dogs.  I was impressed that each seat had a cup holder like the cinema!

 

 

From here we walked back into town for a few more cocktails.  The next day I felt very, very rough (I really can’t drink anymore!) but I was a brave soldier and got on within enjoying our last full day.  My legs were very very stiff from the cycling and hiking in Yosemite so a walking day to try and loosen them seemed a good idea.  We walked through the financial district to the old Ferry building.  This has been turned into a foodie place and had a farmers market on the outside.  We walked both inside and out admiring all if the artisan foods.  I had a prosciutto ciabatta and Mike had a cheese and corned beef toastie, we sat outside by the water people and sea-lion watching whilst we ate.

   

From here we wandered right round the piers to Hyde Street Pier stopping for drinks to rehydrate wherever we needed it (soft drinks today!).  We had a good look round Pier 39 – which has lots of shops and hundreds of sea lions on the end!

 

 

 

 

After this walk we went to Ghirardelli posh chocolate factory.  We shared a brownie and Mike had a big dirty shake amusingly called the Nob Hill Chill.

 

 

This was to prepare us for our next hike. We walked up the very steep hill to Lombard Street so that we could see it by foot. Thankfully one side of the street was shaded on the walk up. Some crazy people were actually cycling up the hill. When we got to Lombard Street it was as busy as the day before but it was good to walk down the hill and see it from the bottom with lots of cars on. From here we wandered through the streets back to the hotel. We saw a broken cable car being pushed up the hill by a snow plough, they hadn’t even taken the people off so I hope it didn’t run away from the plough!

 

 

 

 

The only things we missed off our list was the Coit Tower (because it was closed), drinking Irish coffee at the Bueno Vista (too hot) and the cable car museum (shopping in air conned malls won!).

We freshened up, after the 6ish mile walk, before heading out for our last tea.  Mike chose an old school diner – Lori’s Diner.  It was full of old radios, juke boxes and memorabilia, the seats were the glittery red 50’s style booths.  The food was good but we ordered too much and only ate half of it.  After this we went back to the Golden Gate Tap Room where I made the mistake of teaching Mike how to play Skeeball.  Now I can’t beat him!

 

Our last morning was spent exploring the shops, staying in the air con and finished up with our last meal of the holiday at The Cheesecake Factory.  This was yummy and a great way to end the day before we were whisked off to the airport for our trip home.  The holiday has flown by, although it seemed like forever since we were last at home or even in Thailand.

We have had an amazing adventure.  We just hope we win the lottery this weekend so we can stay exploring for a little bit longer…