Saturday morning and a new day, the sun was shining again, but a couple of clouds were about. I needed a post office for stamps, but a lot of them are not open on a Saturday, but some of the shops do sell stamps. So i headed down to Market, and found a Walgreens, but they don’t do international stamps!
Market runs at NE/SW angle, and takes you up to the Ferry Terminal. At the Ferry Terminal there is a clock tower that originally faced straight on down Market, but following the quake it “twisted” and is now “off centre”, but the building is fine structurally, and the clock still works.
Today was my last full day in San Francisco, but i would be back, so i was not pushing myself to see all the sights. I walked down Market to the Ferry Terminal to find the Amtrak stop, i had my ticket but didn’t know where the stop was. The main Amtrak station was actually across the bay in Emeryville, but there are buses that take you across, there are about 4 stops where you can get picked up from.
At the Ferry Terminal there are a myriad of small business where you can get a bite to eat or shop for the more organic food, and today was one of the days there is a farmers market. Every day in the square opposite the Ferry Terminal, you will find several stalls selling clothing, jewellery, small artefacts.
Leaving the Ferry Terminal, having found the stop and also finding out that i can catch a bus at 7.30 or 8.30 rather than waiting til 9.30pm, i headed off to Union Square. From Union Square i caught the bus, different guide and learnt some more information, and got off in Little Italy for some lunch. Just after getting off the bus at Washington Sq i found a post office open, so was able to get stamps and post cards.
Along Columbus there are various restaurants to choose from, i did deliberate about going to The Stinking Rose, i decided not to as i would be on a train for 17 hours, and didn’t think my fellow travellers would appreciate it. But i followed a recommendation, and had a great lunch. I decided not to have a kerb side seat, even though the heaters where on, although the sun was out, it was a few degrees cooler today.
After lunch i caught the bus to the cannery, and then waited for the next bus back to union square. Then it was time to wander around the shops. A handy hint if you want to shop in Macy’s, find the Visitors Centre, take your passport, prove you are a tourist, and they will give you a 10% discount card, which will last you for a month in any of their stores. I wandered off to the children’s section and found a cute outfit for my cousins new born, i love shopping for clothes for children...although for my niece i try to make sure that i don’t buy things that are pink or too much pink in them. I also did some shopping for me, sales are always a good place to get things especially if you get an additional 10% off.
Eventually it was time to head back to the hostel, send a few emails, and to get my luggage to catch a bus. I decided the easiest route was to get a taxi, i was glad i had checked out where the Amtrak place was, because the driver didn’t know it existed, at least he knew where the Ferry Terminal was!
Catching the bus, having been told there would be stuff to do in Emeryville, i got to the train station and found that the cafe in the station was shut, and the things to do were over the other side of the track, but not easy when you’ve got all your bags! I could have checked in my suitcase, but didn’t want the hassle of waiting for it at the other end.
I got chatting to another British girl, who had also caught the earlier bus. So we spent the next couple of hours, sharing experiences, and plans. Both of us would be heading to Portland, and there were a few other places we would be both going to but our timings would possibly not be the same.
We were told the train was on its way from Oakland, then we were told it would be delayed by 10 mins, then another 10 mins, then that it was delayed. Some kids had thrown debris on the line, which they had to clear, but also check there was nothing further down the line. It eventually arrived 45 mins late.
It was a double-decker train, and we were allocated our seats, and once loaded on, it was time to catch some zzz’s
Market runs at NE/SW angle, and takes you up to the Ferry Terminal. At the Ferry Terminal there is a clock tower that originally faced straight on down Market, but following the quake it “twisted” and is now “off centre”, but the building is fine structurally, and the clock still works.
Today was my last full day in San Francisco, but i would be back, so i was not pushing myself to see all the sights. I walked down Market to the Ferry Terminal to find the Amtrak stop, i had my ticket but didn’t know where the stop was. The main Amtrak station was actually across the bay in Emeryville, but there are buses that take you across, there are about 4 stops where you can get picked up from.
At the Ferry Terminal there are a myriad of small business where you can get a bite to eat or shop for the more organic food, and today was one of the days there is a farmers market. Every day in the square opposite the Ferry Terminal, you will find several stalls selling clothing, jewellery, small artefacts.
Leaving the Ferry Terminal, having found the stop and also finding out that i can catch a bus at 7.30 or 8.30 rather than waiting til 9.30pm, i headed off to Union Square. From Union Square i caught the bus, different guide and learnt some more information, and got off in Little Italy for some lunch. Just after getting off the bus at Washington Sq i found a post office open, so was able to get stamps and post cards.
Along Columbus there are various restaurants to choose from, i did deliberate about going to The Stinking Rose, i decided not to as i would be on a train for 17 hours, and didn’t think my fellow travellers would appreciate it. But i followed a recommendation, and had a great lunch. I decided not to have a kerb side seat, even though the heaters where on, although the sun was out, it was a few degrees cooler today.
After lunch i caught the bus to the cannery, and then waited for the next bus back to union square. Then it was time to wander around the shops. A handy hint if you want to shop in Macy’s, find the Visitors Centre, take your passport, prove you are a tourist, and they will give you a 10% discount card, which will last you for a month in any of their stores. I wandered off to the children’s section and found a cute outfit for my cousins new born, i love shopping for clothes for children...although for my niece i try to make sure that i don’t buy things that are pink or too much pink in them. I also did some shopping for me, sales are always a good place to get things especially if you get an additional 10% off.
Eventually it was time to head back to the hostel, send a few emails, and to get my luggage to catch a bus. I decided the easiest route was to get a taxi, i was glad i had checked out where the Amtrak place was, because the driver didn’t know it existed, at least he knew where the Ferry Terminal was!
Catching the bus, having been told there would be stuff to do in Emeryville, i got to the train station and found that the cafe in the station was shut, and the things to do were over the other side of the track, but not easy when you’ve got all your bags! I could have checked in my suitcase, but didn’t want the hassle of waiting for it at the other end.
I got chatting to another British girl, who had also caught the earlier bus. So we spent the next couple of hours, sharing experiences, and plans. Both of us would be heading to Portland, and there were a few other places we would be both going to but our timings would possibly not be the same.
We were told the train was on its way from Oakland, then we were told it would be delayed by 10 mins, then another 10 mins, then that it was delayed. Some kids had thrown debris on the line, which they had to clear, but also check there was nothing further down the line. It eventually arrived 45 mins late.
It was a double-decker train, and we were allocated our seats, and once loaded on, it was time to catch some zzz’s
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