Get On Your Bikes and Ride: Setting Out!

Remember how I told you that last year, we hired bikes and rode over the Golden Gate Bridge and down into Sausalito?

At the time, we thought we were pretty cool and intrepid. But then we found that Biking the Bridge is kind of de rigour during a San Fran jaunt.

So this time we decided to up the ante by renting the bikes for a whole day, and doing some serious explorations.

I've mulled over this post for a while. Trouble is, this was such an AWESOME day, and we saw so many groovy sights, there's a LOT of photos = lots of difficulties editing. I also have a dodgy internet connection at the moment = Nat Frustration (not good for Sean!)

So I'm reverting to the Partial Post: you'll get our day in segments. The risk is, the readership might tail off with successive posts in the series, so if I promise you there's some really, really good bits coming up, will you stick with me? I'll make it kind of like a surprise reveal, so it'll be fun.

Are you with me?

Okay!

Here we go!

It was a stunning morning in the City By the Bay. We grabbed our Dim Sum and headed to Washington Square to enjoy it. There were great views to Alcatraz en route:......

........not to mention Coit Tower (definitely go up here if you ever get the chance. The views at twilight are amazing).

You know you've arrived in North Beach when the lamp posts are all Italiano:

We found a bench in Washington Square, which is such a pretty place........

........and enjoyed some free entertainment:

 

Sean fuelled up on pork buns. He was going to need the energy!

Next stop was "Bike and Roll" on Columbus Avenue! After signing our lives away, and nutting out the gears, we fanged down to the waterfront like pros. This was a big improvement on last year, where I took forever to get my "bike legs" and nearly sacrified myself to the (very tolerant) Columbus Ave traffic (Sean, of course, was practically pulling wheelies all down the street).

Here's Sean, and if you look really closely, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. I don't care how many times you've been to San Francisco, you should get excited about the Golden Gate Bridge. Yay!

Pretty awesome views of Alcatraz to be had from the waterfront. They reckon that one of the most torturous things about being imprisoned on "The Rock" was being within view and earshot of all the happy activities occurring in the city, and knowing you couldn't partake. I agree.

We continued on past the Exploratorium, which looked pretty darn impressive. It's supposed to be a great museum that teaches kids, among other things, why toilets flush in the reverse direction in the southern hemisphere. Coriolus Force in action - gotta love it!

And here it is:

But riding over the Bridge was not our immediate goal.

Instead, we headed south, and up some serious hills into Presidio Park, which was looking all Big and Important because it was Memorial Day weekend. And it has impressive cannons:

We pushed onwards and upwards, and then somewhat precariously managed to cross the road to get to this lookout. You can tell we've done some Very Impressive Hill Work, because that white dome just to my right in the picture is the Exploratorium:

As you would have gathered from previous posts, I am such a sucker for the gorgeous architecture in Northern California, and San Francisco is the epicentre thereof. Hence I was disappointed not to be returning to "Postcard Row". I did, however, manage to snap these......

......as we headed towards Golden Gate Park. Here's a shot of the part with all the museums. To the left is the California Academy of Sciences, where we visited last year. Can you see the living roof (the green dome with the portholes)?

Golden Gate Park on a Sunday morning is a gorgeous place of fun and relaxation. It's also a mecca for dog-walkers, including these happy pups. I want the little poodle!! Pickwick and Hercie would love him!

Just around from the Academy of Sciences is the De Young Museum - more modern art, but I believe of a more international flavour. There are also cool statues, and urns:

Again looking across to the Academy of Sciences. You can see the Living Roof better in this shot.

And the stage where they have concerts and theatrical events:

And a little further on, here's the Japanese Tea Gardens:

But again, Golden Gate Park was not our major destination. So where we were headed on our treadlies?

That, my lovely readers, is the subject of the next blog entry! But just so you don't think I'm mean, and for purposes of the Surprise Reveal, I'll leave you with a clue: