Day 9 - riding on a cable car, originally uploaded by clarity25.

After a week of living in San Francisco, I decided it was time to ride on a cable car.

My friend, Celine and I walked down Powell street to Union Square and bought a five dollar ticket to ride all the way up the hills to Fisherman's wharf.

It was exciting to step on this rickity contraption for the first time. It rocked back and forth with the weight of passengers climbing on. There was a man in the center and he controlled two large levers connected to the bottom of the cable car. It seemed to be what moved it forward and also the brakes.

I was tempted to hang off the side of the cable car like the Tanner family in the opening credits of "Full house", but I opted against it because of all my shopping bags.

I was surprised at how unstable this mode of transportation seemed. We banged and clunked along the road. Going up the hills was a little scary because he would pull on the brakes while te cable car slid backwards slightly at the same time. I imagined the brakes giving out and all of us flying down the steep hill at full speed into the oncoming traffic.

It felt like an old fashioned rollercoaster ride from the 1800's.

And it's the fastest way to get up some of the steepest hills leading towards our home.

We jumped off at Fisherman's wharf, and walked through the all the tourist traps. Ghiradelli square, bought fresh crab sandwiches at the fisherman stands, and gazed at the seals at Pier 39.

It's what EVERYONE does when they visit San Francisco, but somehow the idea of living here without at least once seeing all the tourist sights feels wrong.

I still haven't seen The Mission District, Castro, Golden Gate Park or Haight-Ashbury. .

Or even tried out the BART system yet.



Baby steps...









Day 9 of 365 days