We actually got a great deal through Hotwire which included return airfares from Las Vegas and 5 nights accomodation for $376 each. This is the first time we have booked through Hotwire and the process was quite simple. The only drawback is that you don’t know your flight times until after you have booked and paid for the package. So after booking we found that the outbound flight was leaving Las Vegas at 7am (which meant we had to be up at 4.30am) and our return flight was leaving at 9pm. Not the best times but then it was worth it for the cheap deal.

We got a door-to-door shuttle to our hotel from the airport which cost $16 each and it took about 30 minutes or so to get to our hotel.

When we got to the front desk we found only one person behind the counter so we had to wait a few minutes to be attended to. The girl at the reception desk was very competent and quick and even though it was only 9.30am and well before check-in time we were given a room. This may have had something to do with the fact that we are Priority Club members. However, during our entire stay we found that the staff at the front desk were very helpful and friendly to everyone who approached the reception area.  This same friendly manner and professionalism was also displayed by the staff at the Holiday Inn in Tusayan when we visited the Grand Canyon recently.

On the way to the lift to get to our room we notice the clean, modern lobby area and the eating area where people are still eating breakfast. The hotel has a nice feel about it and appears to be well maintained from what we can see at a first glance.

When we get to our room we are pleased with what we see. Our room is big enough to accommodate two people comfortably and looks clean and fresh.

Our room is a double room on the 2nd floor (#268) with two double beds, a TV cabinet with a 26in(68cm) TV and a table with two lounging chairs.

Next to one of the beds is a closet with hanging space. It also contains an iron and ironing board and a fold up luggage rack. There is also a safe in the closet which is large enough to hold our 14in laptop. The safe uses a key rather than the digital keypad password that you see in most hotel room safes these days.

There is adequate storage with closet hanging space and the three drawers in the bottom of the TV cabinet.

Lighting is fairly good. There are ceiling lights in the entrance way but the rest of the room is lit by lamps - one between the two beds and a standard lamp next to the table.

The beds are very comfortable with padded mattresses and clean fresh linen. Each bed has four pillows with each pillow slip embroidered with either the word ’soft’ or ‘firm’.

The view from our room is not what I would call a view. We can see what you might call a courtyard and we look across to another room. Subsequently we keep the net curtains closed for our entire stay.

The bathroom is not huge but it is bright and clean and actually looks like it has been recently renovated. There is one sink, a toilet and a bathtub with shower.

The water pressure from the shower is okay. It’s not really strong but it’s pretty good. The showerhead also allows you to adjust the flow to suit your preferred spray type.

The towels are plentiful and are soft and clean.

The bathroom also has a 2 cup coffee maker and the hotel provides both tea and coffee. This is something we really missed when we stayed at Caesar’s Palace and The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. After there is nothing quite like sitting down with a nice hot cup of tea after a day of sightseeing.

The air conditioner in the room does the job although it was a little noisy. While it was on we had to turn the TV up in order to hear the programs.

Just near the lifts on our floor is a room with an ice machine and a vending machine which sells drinks. To get into the room we needed to use our hotel key.

As we need access to the internet in order to run our business we love staying at Holiday Inn hotels as the internet is free - at least it has been in the ones we have stayed in so far. The connection is wired. To connect just open your browser and it will connect to a screen where you just need to click on a link and then you will get immediate access to the internet.

While we were here we took advantage of the coin operated laundry in the next building which is also part of Holiday Inn. To get to it, exit at the front of the hotel and turn right. Keep walking and cross over the first road you see which will get you to the other Holiday Inn. Walk through the lobby until you see the lifts and take the lift to the “G” (garage) floor. This will take you to the parking garage. Walk straight ahead and turn to the left and you should see a room against the wall which will be the laundry. Make sure you have plenty of quarters. The laundry powder was $1.50, the washing machine was $2.00 and the dryer was $2.00.

This hotel is located in an ideal position. It took us around five minutes to walk to Fisherman’s Wharf, around 10-15 minutes (uphill) to walk to The Crookidest Street and about 5 minutes to get to the pick up point for the hop-on/hop-off bus.

There are also plenty of restaurants and cafes close by. Denny’s is actually in the building itself and there is a bar and grill across the road but there are plenty of other restaurants and cafes within easy walking distance.

Overall we really enjoyed our stay here and would definitely come back again.

Our Rating of the Holiday Inn Express - Fishermans Wharf:

Checking in and out 5/5
Room 4/5
Position 4.5/5
Price 5/5 (Based on our Hotwire package deal)
Cleanliness 4/5

We booked this package through Hotwire.

St Patricks day is being celebrated with a parade down Market St. So it’s down for an early breakfast and off to catch the cable car in Powell St. The Powell-Market and Hyde-Market cable cars run North/South across San Francisco.

This is Paula’s first time on the cable car. After yesterday I am now an old hand. It doesn’t take too long for the men to turn the cable car around so that it is facing in the right direction and we are off. 

We clatter our way up and down the steep hills, and because it is such a nice day we sit outside so we have a great view as we head to Market St. The parade is lots of fun with only a couple of annoyances when people walk in front of the video while I am filming. Not that it matters much as we have now found a great editing program - Microsoft Movie Maker. 

We still have to go to Circuit City to buy a digital voice recorder. CIircuit City is on Van Ness St so we need to catch the California line cable car which runs East/West across San Francisco. Because of the large crowds waiting for the Hyde St cable we decide to walk to California St. Only undertake this trek if you are fit or take frequent rests on the way up the really steep hill. By the time we reached California St my legs were a bit shaky and it was with relief that we arrived. 

The cable car was full so we both had to stand on the outside holding onto the outside rails. A young German tourist offers me his seat but I graciously decline as standing on the outside is part of the attraction of riding the cable. It takes about 5-10 mins to walk from the cable car drop off to Circuit City and before long we have purchased the Olympus digital recording device for $59.99 and set off back to the hotel to experiement with it.

Later we go for dinner at a cafe on Fishermans Wharf and well I have to say it is the most disappointing meal we have had to date. We order fish and chips - the fish is white cod and is coated in a heavy batter that tastes slightly burnt and unappetising.  However, the young waiter is very friendly and efficient and well worth the tip.

There are some interesting characters in San Francisco. How about this for instance - dress to match your dog.

San Francisco has some great views and architecture and many of the buildings have an attractive facade.

Heaps of people were wearing berets and hats in green and white, green feather boa’s and green beads. The atmosphere was festive and there were plenty of spaces to stand and sit, which we did on the the cold concrete until the first parade participants reached us.

The day was warm and sunny which made a pleasant change from some of the wet, cold, windy weather we have been experiencing here in San Francisco. Even riding on the cable car was a pleasure today.

The parade was spread out and at times there were long gaps between the floats and ended around 1:30am. There were the customary pipe bands that both Paula and I love, old cars, girls dressed in traditional Irish costumes, representatives of the SFPD, Firemen, the Trade Unions, the Asian community, the waste management workers and an assortment of other community groups that all lead to the parade being a great success.

As the various floats passed by the participants tossed out lollies, toys, beads and I caught a stress ball left handed at an awkward angle, a guy behind called out “quick - sign her up”. We handed our goodies to a young girl who ended up with quite a collection of stuff much to her delight.

This group were really entertaining and amusing.

After the parade ended we headed up Powell St to catch a cable car up the steep hill to Coronation St to catch the cable out to Van Ness to Circuit City. We need a digital recorder to document our travels as we are out and about and after the fiasco with Apple and the Ipod we decided to buy a stand alone, pc compatible unit.

Then it was back to the hotel before heading off to Hyde St to catch the cable car.  The weather became very overcast and we had just purchased a 3 day ticket for $18.00 when it started to rain. We joined the queue and at the start it wasn’t too bad but as we shuffled along the sky opened and it began to pour.

We were both drenched, well so was everyone else except for those smart enough to have brought umbrellas. Paula decided she was wet enough and set off back to the hotel. I figured that as I was already soaked through I might as well stay in the queue, more so because I wanted to get the Ipod speaker finally sorted out with Apple.

 I am short and so was sheltered by the umbrella being held by the gentleman standing behind me.  We started chatting and eventually he and his wife decided to go back to their hotel.  His place was taken by a really tall man who I don’t think even noticed me down by his kneecap. But he inadvertently sheltered me with his enormous golf umbrella until it was time to get on the cable car.

Finally the cable car arrived at the turnaround. Now this is an interesting exercise, the cable car pulls up onto a turntable arrangement and two men actually manually turn the cable car around until it is the right position to set off again. 

The Hyde St cable car drop off point is on the corner of Hyde and Market St, so you get off right in the shopping area.  Anyway I was on a mission so off to the Apple store I went.

I explained how this was my third visit to the store and the speakers still weren’t working with my Ipod Nano. The salesman assured me it should work after all it said so on the box.  We bantered too and fro for a while each taking a firm stand.  Eventually another salesperson chimed in and said, “Oh no, the Belkin Speaker won’t work with the Nano”.  And then the two salesmen had a discussion  along the lines of  - Yes it will, No it won’t.  Finally I got my money back.

I walked back to the cable car stop and the queue was really long so I set off up the hill and thought about heading out to Circuit City in Van Ness St, but once I arrived at Union Square I decided to return back to the hotel as I was dripping wet.

When the cable arrived the only space was on the outside hanging onto the rail. This was fun and I felt just like a kid again. Once we reached Chinatown, a few people had hopped off and I got an outside seat.  

 Now what I didn’t realise was that this was the Market - Powell St cable car not the Market - Hyde St cable, so when we reached the final stop I had no idea where I was other than I was not to far from the water.

So off I set, without a map, trying to identify any local landmark that may give me some idea of where I was. 

 It was quite funny really as I turned out to be about a block away from the street our hotel was in, I recognised the corner souvenier stall and the corner shop with some relief. 

The Holiday Inn Express is situated in an excellent location close to many tourist attractions, bus and cable routes and there are many local restaurants and souvenier shops in the same block. So we found it really handy.

The Powell St stop is nowhere near as busy as the Hyde St cable stop so my advice is to go to Powell St if you want to catch the cable car without having to queue for absolutely ages.

The cable cars are rickety and not terribly comfortable, but it is something you have to experience.

Booking for Alcatraz must be done in advance as it is a popular tour so we booked 2 days ahead. If you are coming during a busy time of the year make it a point of buying your tickets on the day you arrive so you don’t miss out.

We purchased our tickets at Pier 33 at Fishermans Wharf which is where the ferry leaves from and they cost $24.50 each. We booked it for 10.30am on the Friday. The ferries leave every 30 minutes but you have to book for a specific time. Coming back doesn’t need to be booked so you just hop on any ferry to return. This allows you to spend as much time as you like on the island as long as you are on the last ferry which leaves at 4.30pm.

So today we walk from our Holiday Inn Hotel up to Pier 33. Our hotel is in a great location and close to everything so it only takes about 15 or so minutes to get there.

We wait in a queue to get onto the ferry. Halfway into the queue our photo is taken in front of a backdrop of Alcatraz.

Once onto the ferry we make our way to the upper deck which is open and exposed to all the elements. Luckily we had a beautiful day so although the weather was cold it was tolerable. If you want the open deck then make sure that you arrive a little earlier so you are near the front of the queue as it seemed like everyone was heading for the top.

The ferry left on schedule and only 10 minutes later we were at Alcatraz.  The crossing was smooth considering how strongly the wind was blowing. Wanda was a bit apprehensive as she is prone to getting seasick, but she was so occupied with taking photos that she didn’t have time to think about it and the time passed really quickly.

Since we were on the top deck we were one of the last to hop off.   Before we were able to head up the winding climb to the prison it was a requirement that we listen to the orientation talk but by the time we got off the boat it was already half way through so we didn’t get to hear too much.

So it was off to walk the hill towards the prison passing by the officers residences as we went. The island has a shuttle for people who are unable to make the walk on their own. As the climb is the equivalent of a thirteen story building.

Once in the prison we were directed through the cellhouse towards the area where the audio tour started. We had no idea whether this was an extra cost or not as there were no signs anywhere and eventually we realised that the tour is included in our ticket cost so we took the headphones and player and headed off on the tour.

The audio directs you through the prison providing lots of info and interesting facts and takes about 40 minutes.

We saw lots of prison cells which are about the size of a small bathroom. Each contains a bed, wash basin, toilet and some shelving. The cells were a lot smaller than I was expecting them to be.

We also got to see the recreation yard and the dining room and kitchen. Every so often the audio requests you to stop in front of photos of prisoners and prison officers and gives you an insight into prison life and also the famous prisoners such as Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone. 

After we had seen enough we headed back down the hill to the ferry. We didn’t realise that there was a queueing area to get back onto the ferry as we had been sitting on a bench further up the pier waiting for the next one to arrive. Fortunately there was still plenty of room on the ferry so we didn’t have to wait for the next one.

In the kitchen, the outline of the knives were drawn on the wall so that the guards could see at a glance if a knife was missing. Even so this didn’t stop knives from disappearing.

The guards tower was manned 24 hours a day.

These are some of Alcatraz’s famous inmates : AZ 85 Al “Scarface” Capone - Income Tax Evasion, AZ 117 George “Machine Gun”Kelly - Kidnapping, AZ268 Arthur “Doc” Barker - Conspiracy to kidnap, AZ 325 Alvin “Creepy Karpis” Karpavicz - Conspiracy to kidnap, AZ594 Robert “The Birdman” Stroud - Murder, AZ1117 Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson - Narcotics, AZ 1518  Meyer “Mickey ” Cohen - Income Tax Evasion.

We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express, Fisherman’s Wharf, so we were really close to the departure point in Leavenworth Ave.

Once everyone has boarded, the bus sets off along Jefferson into past the Anchorage, Cannery, Cable Car, Ghirardelli Square, Hyde St Pier, the Maritime Museum and Aquatic Park.

Stop 2 is on the Barbary Coast near the Fog City Diner, then it’s on past Levi’s Plaza, where you could once buy a pair of jeans and soak in a hot tub to shrink them onto yourself, Telegraph Hill, Filbert St, and the Coit Tower which has 400 plus stairs to climb to reach the base of the tower.  We thought about climbing the stairs as we had previously climbed the to the top of the Sacre Coeur in Paris which has many hundreds of small concrete steps.

Coit Tower looks out over San Francisco and gives amazing views of the city.  The tower was built by Lillian Hitchcock Coit who was a great admirer of firemen.  One story we were told was that she became fixated by firemen after being rescued from a fire by them when she was seven years old. I don’t know if this is true or just a fanciful elaboration on the part of our guide.

The 210 foot art deco tower resembles the nozzle of a fire hose and its design was quite controvesial when it was built in 1933. 

Stop 3 is at the Ferry Building (one Market St - opposite the Hyatt Regency). This stop takes in the ferries, Farmers Market, BART, Embarcadero Shopping and AT & T Park which is the home of the San Francisco Giants.

Stop 4 SOMA (South of Market)3rd St - Opposite the Museum of Modern Art. This stop takes in the Moscone Center, Metreon Center, Yerba Buena Gardens, Bay Bridge, California Academy of Sciences, SF MOMA, Cal Train.

Stop 5 City Hall - Civic Center ( Cnr of Fulton & Larkin). This stop takes in the beautiful San Francisco City Hall where Marilyn Monroe married baseball superstar Joe DiMaggio on January 14, 1954; the Asian Art Museum, Opera House, San Francisco Ballet, New Library, UN Plaza.  

 Stop 6 Union Square (Geary St - in front of Macy’s). Handy to major department stores, San Francisco shopping centre, Crocker Galleria, Hotels, Theaters and the Cable Car turnaround.

Each year 4 celebrities are given a large heart to decorate. These hearts are then placed in the four corners of Union Square and are eventually auctioned off with the funds going to charity.

Stop 7  Chinatown Gate ( Grant Ave & Bush St - Triton Hotel).  Here you will see the Pagoda Gates, Financial district, Chinatown shopping and restaurants.

Stop 8 Chinatown/Financial District (Kearny St - Hilton Hotel). This stop is in the Financial District where you will see the  Transamerica Pyramid, Bank of America Building, Portsmouth Square, Fortune Cookie Factory.

Stop 9 North Beach (Stockton St - Moose’s Restaurant). Here is the Italian District Restaurants, access to Coit Tower without having to climb the steps to reach the base, Washington Square.

Stop 10 Lombard St (Cnr of Lombard/Columbus). Check out the crookedest street, Russian Hill and the Hyde Street Cable Car.

Stop 11 Fisherman’s Wharf (Pier 43 1/2 Bed & White Fleet).  This stop gives you access to Pier 43, Pier 39 where you can see the seal lions and shop, hop on the Carousel or watch the 3D movies, take a Bay cruise,  go into the Wax museum, Ripleys Believe it or Not, visit the submarine the USS Pampanito or watch the bakers in the window of the Boudin Bakery the have a bowl of their excellent clam chowder in a sourdough bowl, or eat at one of the many restaurants on Jefferson. And of course don’t forget the souvenir and antique shopping.

These sea lions set up residence after the 1989 earthquake and although they come and go depending on the season there are a number of them that remain at Pier 39 all year round.

Most of the time the sea lions are lazing themselves on the specially made pontoons but now and then they will hop in and out of the water or bicker with each other much to the crowds amusement.

Although there were only around 10-50 seal lions in the beginning the population grew to around 300 within a few months because of the plentiful herring supply, protected environment and the floating docks for them to laze around on.

In the winter, the seal lion population can increase up to 900 of which the majority are male.

During the summer months the majority of the sea lions migrate south to the Channel Islands for the breeding season, but there is a small group that chooses to stay all year round at PIER 39’s K-Dock.

On the weekends, weather permitting, there are volunteer staff who man the Marine Mammal Center Kiosk which is located next to where the sea lions congregate. So if you have any questions about seal lion behaviour then visit the kiosk and pick up some of the brochures that give you all sorts of great information about the seal lions.

So after a meager breakfast, with vows to get down to breakfast earlier tomorrow, we set off to catch the hop on, hop off bus back to downtown San Francisco to the Apple Store as the new speakers we brought yesterday to turn our ipod into a recording device didn’t work.

This time one of the staff at the store told us that we needed to upgrade the iPod before it would work. So we took the microphone back again hoping it would work when we upgraded the iPod later tonight on the laptop.

We had a short walk around the downtown area and then headed back to the bus stop as we had to be back at Fisherman’s Wharf by 1.30pm to get on the bus for the Golden Gate Bridge Tour.

By the time we get back to our hotel we realise we really don’t have enough time to eat so we just head out to the tour bus stop and wait for the bus to arrive.

The tour to the Golden Gate is included in our hop-on, hop-off bus ticket which turned out to be a really good deal at $39.99.

When the bus arrives we head up to the open top deck of the double decker bus even though it is bitterly cold outside. We are prepared this time with warm gloves and layers of clothing. The bus provides blankets but we didn’t realise this until just about the end of the tour when the group of kids in the next seat got to talking to us and then offered us their excess blankets as they could see we were cold.

We headed through the Marina District and stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts for about 10 minutes to take photos. This building is reminiscent of a Greek or Roman theatre and is set by a small lake with overhanging trees and ducks and swans lazily swimming around.

The whole scene is peaceful and very attractive.  Then it was back on the bus, and as usual there are the couple who lose track of time and we all sit patiently waiting until they wake up to the fact that they are holding up the tour. Then it was off through the Presidio and then over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Sitting on the top of an open double decker bus is a great way to see the sights but it was freezing going over that bridge and the winds were so strong that we were glad to get over to the rest stop on the other side.

We had about 15 minutes to take photos of the bridge and  the surrounding scenery of San Francisco, Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge then it’s back on the bus and we were on our way back through the city surrounds to Fisherman’s Wharf.

Our drive takes us through Tenderloin and the guide tells us how the district received it’s name. Apparently in the past this district was a rough area and the police who were rostered on duty in the Tenderloin, received bonus payments which enabled them to buy tenderloin steak, whereas the other officers could only afford the less expensive cuts of meat.

The Asian part of the Tenderloin district is known as Little Siagon and the Indian section is referred to as Tandoriloin.  The area has heaps of great Indian and Asian restaurants. The Asian population makes up 40% of San Francisco’s inhabitants.

 On our way back to the hotel we stopped by Walgreens to pick up some food to eat in our room that night. We had an online conference to attend so weren’t going to go out to eat that night.

There are two companies running this sort of tour in San Francisco ‘City Sightseeing’ and ‘Grays’. We chose City Sightseeing because we found a voucher in a free tourist guide booklet that offered $10 off the All Loops Tour. This included the Downtown Loop (which is valid for 48hrs of unlimited use), the Golden Gate Tour and the San Francisco Night Tour. Normally the cost for the three was $49.95 but with the discount it came to $39.95 each.

Although our choice was based on the voucher we are glad we chose City Sightseeing as our bus had actual tour guides who gave us interesting snippets of information about the history of the city and the commentary was spontaneous and funny at times…. plus you can ask questions if needed. The Grays Line who run the other company only have an audio guide.

One thing we found odd was that you have to board the bus from the left hand side which is in the path of traffic. Our guide told us that this is because the topless double-decker sightseeing buses were purchased from London. So here we have a topless

London double-decker bus which is a right hand drive being driven on an American left hand drive road. You soon learn to be careful hopping on and off the bus.
One thing we did notice however was that the Grays Line buses appeared to be in better condition than our buses which looked quite old in comparison.

Once everyone was on board the bus we headed off along Fishermans Wharf and through the Financial District and Soma and then on through Tenderloin to

Union Square where we got off. The bus stops directly in front of Macy’s but we were on a mission to get to the Apple store to pick up a recording attachment for Wanda’s Ipod so we walked around the corner and down to Stockton St to the store.
We have found that the Apple staff are always quite helpful and this is no exception. The staff member suggested a Belkin microphone which we found out later did not work with our Ipod although the box indicated that it was compatible.

After a quick look through Bloomingdales and the other major stores in the City Centre we headed back to the hotel to experiement with the microphone. As mentioned, it did not work so now we need to make another trip to the Apple iPod store.

The street is about a 10 minute walk from our hotel and the walk is mostly uphill. As we all know, some of the streets in San Francisco can be quite steep, still it was worth the walk as it is fun watching the cars trying to navigate their way down through the street.

Apparently a stretch limousine once tried to drive through the street but couldn’t make one of the turns and was stuck in the street for 2 days and eventually had to be taken out by a crane.

The street has a set of stairs on each side for pedestrians to walk up so we made the trek to the top. I wouldn’t want to live in that street. Cars come down it just for fun and there are always tourists wandering up and down the street taking photos and talking and calling out at each other. However, there are a number of residents on the stretch of road that has lovely Victorian style homes and Carol Channing the actress lives on this street.

In 1923 the switchback design was instigated in an effort to reduce the hill’s 27% grade as it was too steep for most vehicles. The speed limit is 5 mph (8km/h) on the winding section which is about 1/4 mile (400 m) in length.

Actually Lombard Street is not the crookedest street in San Francisco. Vermont Street which runs between 20th St and 22nd Street near the San Francisco General Hospital is actually the crookedest street in the city with seven tight turns, however it is located in a much less picturesque location than Lombard St and away from the tourist route.

 We climbed the stairs right to the top, up one side and down the other.