After taking advantage of the nice breakfast that the hotel provides, I started the day's adventures with several "public transportation" experiences. San Francisco is a public transit city - if you drive your car downtown, it may cost you $50 a day to park! There is a BART station about a mile from my hotel though, so I headed there. Only $1 per day for parking - much better. I would like to suggest an improvement to their computer system at the rail station though. There are signs telling you to remember the number of your parking spot so you can pay your dollar for the correct spot to a machine inside the station. The numbers on the parking spots are four digits. The number that the kiosk accepts is three digits. WTH? Six months from now a parking citation will probably find its way to me because my spot was 2772 and by the time I walked to the kiosk the numbers had mixed in my head, so I think I paid for 227. Ah, well. I'll write it down tomorrow.
Let me say, I am not a fan of the commuter trains. Some of the stations are poorly lit, the information desk guy was rude and 100% deserved the withering look of death I gave him, and I do not like the screechy/screamy sound that the trains make in the tunnels.
I did a little better figuring out the Muni system of buses and street cars in the city. I bought a three-day unlimited ride passport when I was at the airport, and that worked out well today. I even figured out how to make the rear bus doors open (after watching a nine year old girl, who was traveling by herself, do it).
My first touristy stop this morning was Steiner street to see the Painted Ladies. We have some Full House fans in my family and the six houses were featured in the show's opening credits. I was there pretty early in the day, so there weren't too many people in the park across the street, which makes photos easier. There were a few people letting their dogs run in the park, but that's it. I saw a lot of cool dogs today.
After that, I hopped back on the bus and went to Golden Gate Park. The Conservatory of Flowers is near the edge of the park, so I made that my next stop. There was a film crew on the lawn shooting a scene for a movie. They had two trained dogs, and they were trying to get them to both carry a stick at the same time as they ran through the flower gardens. I spent some time in the conservatory, shooting macro botanicals. They have some really neat plants, including a raised pool with water lilies and lily pads.
After that, I walked a little further into the park and found the Japanese Tea Garden. It's right in the middle of everything, surrounded by fairly busy streets, but it still feels verey calm and peaceful when you're in the garden.
My initial plan was to go from there out to the Golden Gate Bridge, but my feet were just too tired at that point. I'm back at the hotel, having a bit of a lie-down, and figuring out where to go for dinner. I will have another chance to see the bridge on Saturday. Pics from today to follow in the next post. Hopefully my paragraph breaks come through this time!
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