We were up early to make good use of our half day in SF before making our way to the airport. Dropping our bags off in the Hotelling International lockers in the shop next door we headed off to Alamo Square, a two block park in the city that is noted for a row of houses painted in bright colours and known as the painted ladies.
It was so unobvious as to which were the painted ladies that we guessed at some slightly better painted houses on one corner. Other than that, an unremarkable place. We walked a couple of blocks to a main road where a bus ran north to Union St.. Seeing no bus we walked a couple of blocks along the route then waited. And waited and after an age when two of the same bus had come up the street decided it was a waste of time and walked several blocks back past Alamo Square to Filmore St. where we caught a better bus straight away.
Filmore St. looked like quite a good street, pleanty of eateries flashed past the windows. We were headed to Union St. and its shops. The first thing we did was to stop in Rose's Cafe for a pleasant lunch even if the place was a bit hectic. Union St. itself wasn't the general shopping plaza we had for some reason assumed but instead mostly upmarket designer shops, eateries and galleries.
Having failed to buy anything we caught a bus uptown then a cable car the length of California (street). At the bottom of California Street is the Embarcadero Centre, an odd office tower block with shops combination. Helen disappeared for an age to buy a pair of shoes that she'd spent a long while uming and ahing about in a previous shop.
Time was up and back to pick up the bags then onto the BART station. We caught a man with a pram to take our photo up Powell Street. 
He was chosen as he looked less likely to do a runner with a kid in a pram. A nice easy run out to the airport where we discover the flight is apparently full and we have been allocated seats 25E and 26E. We're guessing these are centre seats.
As with previous American flights we have to carry our check-in luggage to X-ray where they choose to search the one locked bag (containing coffee and a tent). They're particularly excited by the tent poles. Past the security checks (boots off!). SFO is a clean and spacious airport but with few facilities (shops and eateries). I wonder if anyone who designs airports actually try to use them.
It is a full plane so we're stuck with our seat allocation. It appears to be full of Brits back from a cruise on hawaii. Northeners. They were most accomodating for us to move about. I decided the easy option, given I couldn't sleep, was to loiter at the back of the plane where it's a lot easier to get a drink, read magazines and go to the loo. The only problem is that they don't have any casual seating...
Copyright 2003 Ian Fitchet. All rights reserved.