Day 5

After a hectic day yesterday we stayed in bed a little bit longer this morning although we still managed to get out of the apartment for 9am.

Hmmmmmm, he's around here somewhere....

A very steep street!

We made our way to Fisherman’s Wharf to get breakfast at the Hollywood Café that Laura had found during her seven months of planning the holiday. We had to wait a little while but we were thankful it was nowhere near two hours again! It was a fantastic breakfast with a humongous bowl of fruit on the side of scrambled eggs and toast. Laura's breakfast came with what Laura described as "the most delicious bacon I’ve ever tasted". It was called ‘sweet bacon’ because it was cooked in maple, orange juice and Grand Marnier.

Breakfast at the Hollywood Cafe

After breakfast we walked a few blocks to Blazing Saddles and picked up our rental bikes to bike the bridge and get a ferry back. The staff were SUPER EXCITED and VERY ENTHUSIASTIC and actually clapped and cheered as we set of. The bikes were very new and modern, although it was odd that the brakes and gears were on the opposite side to what we’re used to in the UK.

Blazing Saddles

Laura and her bike.

We cycled along the bay towards the Gold Gate Bridge. At times it almost felt a bit like we were part of a big parade of bikes – biking over the bridge to Sausalito is clearly a popular trip.

Cycling over the bridge was really enjoyable. The views are stunning and you really get a sense of the scale of the bridge. It was a bit chilly though, so we were glad we’d packed our (matching!) lightweight jackets to block out some of the wind. 

Golden Gate Bridge - ah, it's pretty isn't it :)

On the bridge

A cross section of one of the cables.

On the other side we coasted down the hill to Sausalito where the weather was completely different to San Francisco – hot and sunny, no fog!

The views back over the water to San Francisco were lovely and we sat with a drink at The Trident and watched the fog rolling in over the city.

Fog!

After that we went to the ferry building to get a token to reserve a space on a ferry back later that afternoon. The bike rental guide had warned us that the ferries back book up quickly so we knew we needed to reserve a space. However, the next available tokens were for the 6pm ferry – 3 hours away. Hmmm! A bit later than we wanted.

We got an ice cream from Lappert’s and sat on the shoreline while we mulled over what to do next. We decided to return our tokens and simply bike back. $22 saved and a lot quicker than waiting until 6pm.

Ridiculously big ice cream!

Crazy big ice cream no. 2

The wind as we cycled back over the bridge was really gusty and had a strong chill to it. Brrr! Can’t quite believe this is what passes for summer in the bay area.

After dropping off our bikes (cue more cheering and clapping – woohoo, well done us!) we wandered to Ghirardelli Square, found the nearest bar and plonked ourselves down with a well earned drink.

We got some food (sliders and a burger) and then explored the square and the gift shops, which were surprisingly good and not full of tacky rubbish like the ones near the piers.

Writing postcards - we're old school!

Pulled pork sliders and Laura's burger (our first of the holiday!)

Tired and ready for bed, we waited for a trolley car to ride the 15 blocks back to the apartment. Top tip – don’t bother queuing up at the turntable just wait a few blocks up the line and hop on there – no queues! Not that we did this of course. We thought we probably could but didn’t want to risk missing a trolley as it sailed past, full up with people and not stopping. But we know now and so do you.

On the trolley :)

Ding ding!