Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Journey to SFO

We booked our ticket with southwest airlines and our scheduled departure was at 12:00pm. Unfortunately due to bad weather it delayed for 1:30hrs. It was in Newark airport. We finished security checking and got inside. Had to sit for longer time. We had a connecting flight from phoenix to SFO and that also got delayed. We suppose to reach at 3:00pm but we got 5:00pm flight from phoenix. There is 3hrs time difference between east coast and west coast. We reached SFO at 7:10pm local time. The climate was very chilling outside and I was literally shivering. We called our cab driver and he came 30mins late. He drove almost 30mins from the airport and we reached our hotel crown plaza in sanjose.
The next day we started early morning around 6:00am. Bus was ready outside our hotel. We headed towards SFO city. We went to Chinatown first and we had breakfast there. We ate egg sandwich with hash browns,Begal and Mocha.
Next we went to see crooked street/Lombard street. It is very nice and beautiful. The houses are realy colourful and artistic. We went to the top of that street and took some pics there. There are internal shuttles moving around which runs in electric.Even we could see trams moving around. Pretty nice place and seems to be posh area where rich people can afford to stay.
We went to see Golden gate then. Really amazing one which is painted in orange colour and its unique colour. That colour has patent and no one can use it either. It will take a year to paint whole bridge and every year it painted. So its never ending process.Its connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Since 1937 it has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge. Technically, the 'gate' is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, while the 'strait' is the water flowing in between.
The Golden Gate Bridge had the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed in 1937 and has become an internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco and California.
When completed in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge had the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,280.2m). Since 1964, its main span length has been surpassed by nine other bridges. However, it still has the second longest main span in the United States, after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City.

The total length of the Golden Gate Bridge, including approaches from abutment to abutment, is 8,981 feet (2,737 m).

At 692 feet (211m) (above water), the Golden Gate Bridge also had the world's tallest suspension towers when built. It held that status until 1998, with the completion of bridges in Denmark and Japan.

The bridge was originally painted with red lead primer and a lead-based topcoat, which was touched up as required. In the mid-1960s, a program was started to improve corrosion protection by stripping the original paint and repainting the bridge with zinc silicate primer and vinyl topcoats. Since 1990 acrylic topcoats have been used instead for air-quality reasons. The program was completed in 1995 and it is now maintained by 38 painters who touch up the paintwork where it becomes seriously corroded

Golden gate
Next we went to see Palace of fine arts. We didn't get much time to spend over there since we are running short of time. The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is the only one still situated on its original site. It was rebuilt in 1965, and was completed in early 2009.

It remains a popular attraction for tourists and locals, and is a favorite location for weddings and wedding party photographs for couples throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

We went to see Fisherman's wharf, Fisherman's Wharf gets its name and neighborhood characteristics from the city's early days during the Gold Rush where Italian emigre fishermen settled in the area and fished for the Dungeness Crab. From then until present day it remained the home base of San Francisco's fishing fleet. Despite its redevelopment into a tourist attraction during the 1970s and 1980s, the area is still home to many active fishermen and their fleets. In 2010, a $15million development plan was proposed by city officials hoping to revitalize its appearance for tourists, and to reverse the area's downward trend in popularity among San Francisco residents, who have shunned the locale over the years.
I like the fisherman's area, Nice hotels around and there are people who playing musical instruments. I saw one person playing drums. We had lunch in one of the mexicon hotel. I had berito.
We left to see the beach and from there we visited the church and bay area, which also known as gey area. There are few men walking without clothes.
Last we have seen the twin peaks. Which is a panoromic view of the SFO city. We took some pics there and left to our hotel and next day we suppose to visit Yosmite national park.