Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

Scott Mackenzie once told us in a song that "if you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...", well sorry Mr Mackenzie but there were no flowers at hand although I swear there should have been the weather was so Spring-like! We had arrived in a comparatively "warm" San Fran- we didn't even have to wear jumpers!
From the airport we went to our hotel to freshen up before our first adventures in San Fran. Theseus and the Minotaur have got nothing on the maze of hallways we had to go through to find our room at the hotel! When we were about to go out again dad asked how we would get to Fisherman's Wharf and I responded something along the lines of "I think I can get us there from the lobby but how we get to the lobby is the real issue!"
After finally escaping the labyrinth we found our way to the cable car stop (the famous San Francisco cable car people) and got aboard ready to be taken all the way to Union Square for some good retail therapy. It's amazing all the sights you can see on the cable car...





















Once we were at Union Square we went on a hunt for all our usual shops. We have decided that the quality of the options has dropped severely because there weren't nearly as many things that I wanted. We also ate crepes for lunch in an American food court. You probably don't think this is very significant but honestly, the differences are huge! You still think our food courts are crowded? I laugh at you. This place was packed. What do you get when you cross a jungle and an Olympic racing event? The table hunt in an American food court. The food available wasn't too bad, there were heaps of worldly options and not a maccas in sight (guess the stories aren't true then folks). Another thing- no plastic plates and cutlery here people, no sir-y! All the food was served on proper plates with proper cutlery!
We did most of our shopping in the super mega jumbo size Westfield (with no less than 3 department stores in the building, let alone speciality stores). It's really pretty. And do you want to know a really cool thing about the Westfield? It has SPIRAL elevators! Not boring parallel ones like us! I don't know if we have pics of the elevators from this trip (last trip's photos aren't available to us right now) but here's a few of pretty stuff in general inside the building...

Finally after all that we went to get the cable car back to Fisherman's Wharf (the general location of our hotel). But the queue was huge. It curved around the whole cable car turning wheel (Union Square is the final stop so there is a wheel-y thing to turn the cars around for the return trip) and continued for ages along the street! I really should have taken a photo shouldn't I? Sorry! Because of this we decided to walk a little and catch up at the next stop... when we were distracted by the idea of checking out the Saks Fifth Avenue store (you know, the famous rich-people-only-shop-here department store). I have a love/hate relationship with stores like that. In some ways I love looking at all the amazing stuff but then I kind of hate it when I have to look at the price tag. Or even worse; when you find out it doesn't have a price tag which means that if you need to ask the price, there is no way you can afford it. But still, it's fun looking at all the incredible designer stuff and even more fun laughing at the really "special" items.
We then returned to Fisherman's Wharf where we fulfilled our tradition of getting me a new Paul Frank t-shirt every time we come to the US because they are soooo much cheaper here! Dad also got some jeans. This to add to my successful purchase of the Abercrombie and Fitch tee that I wanted earlier that day.
By this point we were very tired so stopped for a pick-me-up at my beloved Boudin's Sourdough Bakery before returning to the hotel where we had dinner.
It is now late-ish (9:30pm, come on, I've had a huge day, I have a right to be tired) so I am going togo to sleep. Bonnuit! I love San Fran. (as the picture would imply!!!!)