San Francisco

Dec 5, 2022

The first stop in our trip. San Francisco Downtown - 2nd to 5th December 2022.

San Francisco

No, this is not our bank sort code; it's the number of floors we tried rooms at the Hyatt Regency Downtown SOMA on before we settled on one that suited us. Mustafa and the team at the front desk have the patience of saints.

Things we learnt whilst in San Francisco:

There is sufficient steel rope in the Golden Gate Bridge to go round the world 5 times; now why would you want to do that?

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Even on a wet day the [Salesforce Sky Garden](https://www.tjpa.org/salesforce-transit-center/salesforce-park) is impressive in its scale and variety of planting.

Fog and Wind Garden in San Francisco Downtown

The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus put on a great concert with perfect diction and tuning, even with 20% of the 200+ singers wearing face masks. Oh, and they were lots of fun including several Cher moments. Oh, and the audience were significantly middle class straight families.

San Francisco Gay Men Chorus Christams Show

It rains a lot in San Francisco.

Toilets, which are located in restrooms, flush super efficiently.

Whilst the neighbourhoods are distinct the overall feeling of friendliness and welcoming is felt in every corner of this city; maybe the ever present aroma of a certain 5 fingered green plant helps with this.

We loved Union/Polk Streets. It helped that the sun was shining.

Union Square is home to some super rich stores.

A block away from Union Square are people who carry all their processions in a plastic bag, if they are fortunate enough to have one.

Homelessness, addiction and lack of health care are huge issues in this city of contradictions.

For both of us, San Francisco remains a favourite city. This was our first time visiting together, we hope it won't be our last..... we still need to ride a cable car together!

End of the day with a cocktail at the hotel