Project 289 - Day 223 (Monday 26 October 2009) : Over the Bridge and Far Away

I didn't sleep as well as I thought I would - jet lag exhaustion and all that - but I felt reasonably perky and I met Waz (my friend) at 7.30 the next morning in the lobby and we struck out along Jefferson Street for someone fun to have breakfast. Not much was open at that time of the morning surprisingly for a tourist district, but after the pell mell crush of the tourist throngs the day before, it was nice to have the street almost to ourselves.

We soon found ourselves at Boudin's, San Francisco's oldest sourdough bakery (although who knows which bakery is the oldest maker of bagels etc) and enjoyed a breakfast of juice and croissants (Waz had a latte I think, which is a critically important thing for you to know I think!) before heading back to the hotel, after a brief detour to Wahlgreen's (pharmacy/Big W-esque place).

We met the others at Blazing Saddles (what a phenomenally great name right?! After the ride that's how my ass felt too!! Ouch!), a company which rents out bikes to tourists so they can ride all across San Francisco and discover just how insanely unfit they actually are! Actually they don't say that surprisingly, but after we'd set out from the wharf, I discovered that my biking fitness was not fabulous, largely given that I had last biked sometime before George Dubya commences his blighted reign as US President. The supposedly flat landscape around the Bay had a few rather steep hills that our Blazing Saddles slaes gal neglected to comment on, but once I didn't die climbing these (thanks to a crash course in bike gears by Waz's friend, Warren - thanks mate!), the ride around the Bay and onto the Golden Gate Bridge, on what was a clear, non-foggy sunshiney day, was a sheer delight.

We stopped every 100m for a picture or 300 of the Bridge and ourselves in front of it, and I have to say that riding across the Bridge itself - thankfully in the pedestrian lane! - was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I had driven over it before, and seen it from plenty of angles on my first 3 visits to San Francisco, but seeing the towers soaring above you into clear blue sky as you gaze back (quickly lest you take out pedestrians!!) onto the Bay, the city skyline and Alcatraz, was damn near magical, and the highlight of the holiday.... on day 2!!

Just beautiful, amazing and the best way to see San Francisco....

Once across the Bridge, and the obligatory stop at Vista Point - which sounds uncannily like the sort of place the Fonz would have made out at! - we headed downhill (mostly!) to "sunny Sausalito" (the sales gal's words), a small funky village full of great cafes and one-of-a-kind shops where we ate a delicious seafood pasta lunch at "Spinnakers", drank 3 bottles of "Folies et Deux" wine from the Napa Valley, before starting on a 2 hour shopping spree where I grabbed a fabulously colourful totally unique clock (hello carry-on luggage headache!), and some seriously cool Christmas ornaments including a pink "Hello Kitty" ornament and one in the shape of a buff, HOT bartended mermaid.... yeah sounds weird but it will look fantastic on the tree this year!

Our orgy of shopping done - hmm that makes it sounds kinda dirty! LOL - we boarded the ferry back to SF (I couldn't have ridden back up the hill into Sausalito if I wanted to!) along with about 100 other bikers - the ferry was jammed with b ikers but amazingly getting off was smooth and trouble free, thank the gods! - and leaving the girls at the hotel, Waz, Jason, Warren and I cycled UP Hyde Street so we could ride down the crooked street, Lombard..... OK we rode up 2 of the 4 blocks till the hill became almost vertical, and only Warren made it up the 3rd block before also admitting defeat. Even walking up those hills was a massive feat of endurance and I have never been happier to reach a destination. EVER! Fortunately, and with my lungs about to explode which could have had a less than favourable effect on the rest of the holiday had they gone off, the ride sound Lombard was absolutely incredible. I had my brakes on pretty much the whole time, and it was a white-knuckle, heart-pounding, endoprhin-coursing ride but OMG it was so totally worth it!!!

After that I needed a shower (but not as you might think to clean up a certain part of my anatomy after all that fear! LOL) and then we were off to The Castro, the gay heart of San Francisco. Alas it was a Monday night - a fearfully cold, windy Monday night with no one much out - but we still had a fantastic night out. Dinner was at Nirvana's (delish cocktails, fun finger food and a great straight waiter!), dessert (minus Warren and Leith) of chocolate cake and port was at Blush, a seriously sexy intimate wine bar (with a very cute bar tender...YUM!)....

....and after dessert drinks at midnight were at Twin Peaks just near where the trolley left from (pic of me below on the antique trolley car). By this stage, Waz and Jason were quite seriously tipsy and weird things were done with pumpkins (what happens at Twin Peaks stays at Twin Peaks) before we caugh a taxi home. It wasn't so much a debauched night out in the gay quarter - not that I'd planned one anyway! - but it was great to finally see the gay heartland and briefly be a part of it...

....... and then mercifully I slept.... bliss mark 2....