Since you’re into walking and like interesting neighborhoods, you might consider walking up (or down) the Filbert Steps. They start at the end of Filbert St. on the east side of Telegraph Hill and go up to Coit Tower. This is one place it really is better to walk to than to drive to - there is always a line of traffic up to the very small parking lot at the top of the hill. There is a very good view of the bay from up there, and the murals inside the tower are interesting. You might see some wild parrots on the way.
The North Beach neighborhood (the Italian district) is on the other side of Telegraph Hill from the Filbert Steps. This is another nice neighborhood to walk around. Chinatown isn’t too far from there. The steps are a bit of a climb, so if you prefer you can approach them from Chinatown and North Beach and go down instead.
Another place to see, that is definitely better to walk than drive: The twisty block of Lombard Street.
If you want to make a day’s walk that includes that, it might be something like:
[ul]
[li] Start at Hallidie Plaza on Market Street.[/li][li] Take cable car. (Used to be much more fun – they didn’t have the barricades and cordons, and people didn’t wait in line, and when the conductors opened the car for boarding, everybody stampeded to get aboard.)[/li][li] Stop at Cable Barn on the way.[/li][li] Get off at Lombard Street, at the very top of the hill. (This might be the same stop, or within a block or so, of the Cable Barn. I forget the details.[/li][li] Walk down Lombard Street. The twisty section is just one block. Laugh at all the tourists trying to drive it.[/li][li] Walk back up.[/li][li] Get on next cable car, to Fisherman’s Wharf.[/li][/ul]
ETA: Not sure if Cable Barn is before or after the Lombard Street stop. It’s been a while since I’ve been there.
I saw that guy yesterday…still doing the exact same act.
I think I have walked (attacked) every sizable hill in SF…walked up both Nobb Hill and the Coit tower hill/steps yesterday. Still 4 more days to explore. I am hoping to find a ride to North.
Damn, I am going to need a vacation from my vacation.
We don’t need no steenking movie! It happened in real life!
Did you notice those humongous pulley wheels on the machine room floor? Did you notice that in each case, there are two huge pulleys side-by-side that rotate in opposite directions?
Some years ago, a maintenance worker was doing some work down there, while one of those sets of cables was not operating. He was positioned through the spokes of the pulley wheels. (Can you see already where this is going?)
Something shifted somewhere along the cable line (maybe one of the cable cars rolled a little or something), the pulleys turned a little (the two side-by-side in opposite directions), and the guy in the spokes got cut in half.
Just a quick post before resuming my meandering about…
Had lunch at Woodhouse Fish Company. The one at 2073 Market…AWESOME is a good place to start but it was even better than that! I had the Lobster roll. I will be back before I leave. I am staying right down the street on 14th street between Guerrero and Valencia.
Since you’re staying in the Mission District, you should consider trying the wonderful Mexican food there. The area is best known for the Mission burrito, but I wouldn’t limit myself to that. One highly-rated place is Poc Chuc at 2886 16th Street, only a few blocks from where you’re staying. For a simple taqueria, Taqueria El Metate and Taqueria Cancun are both good.
too forward?
