San Francisco, Day 2

We are really in a wonderful spot for RVing, seeing California wine country AND seeing San Francisco...Twenty-five dollars a night at the fairgrounds in Santa Rosa with full hookup, hop in the car and drive 25-35 min. to go see wineries, hop in the car and drive 45 min. to Larkspur to catch a ferry to San Francisco. The ferry parking is free, a one way fare is 8.00, then when you get to the Ferry Terminal, hop a cable car/street car/muni bus for 2.00 and ride all day long. Now, the TROLLEY cars, the open sided ones with the railings and no glass between you and the San Francisco air, are 5.00 each time you board one.

You see the coolest things in San Francisco. We spent some time at Fisherman's Wharf today (more about that tomorrow), then caught a cable car to Chinatown. Most people end up at the gates of Chinatown....the spot where all the hanging ribbons, flags and decorative stuff hangs on both sides of the street. That part of Chinatown is very traditional looking and what you see in photos all the time. The gateway/entryway to Chinatown is a great photo opp for any tourist. We didn't know the street intersection for that, so we just asked at the tourist bureau at Fisherman's Wharf about where to get off on the cable car and off we went.....we hopped off in what seemed to be the very heart of Chinatown, the streets Stockton and Pacific, where a bazillion Asian people do their grocery, meat, and fish shopping. As we were walking down the street, we didn't see anyone BUT Asian people! It was a strange feeling, almost like we were in Korea, Japan, or China, there were no other tourists in sight. It was like walking down Wall Street in China amidst throngs of Chinese people, stepping into a different world, which of course, it was. Talk about submersing yourself into a different culture! For a very brief period of time, we were in a different world, it was quite a culture shock for the moment but fascinating!

We watched shoppers haggle over prices of interesting looking vegetables and fruits we have never seen, raw fish, fish parts and really different types of seafood, ducks and other meats were in every tiny little nook, one little shop after another, strung together. It was extremely crowded on the streets, must have been a major shopping day, or maybe it's this way all the time. Not a word of English was being spoken anywhere, naturally....There were some beautiful buildings along the street blocks and there was so much to see....we really enjoyed our brief submersion into a different culture today!

We didn't explore beyond Stockton Street in Chinatown, but there's a lot more to see on another visit...we hopped back on a cable car, time to head home.

We'll see you at Fisherman's Wharf tomorrow...Wait till you see what we saw!