The long walk back to the Embarcadero...

Walking in San Francisco in the rain (in winter) made me think of Elsa defiantly singing, "The cold never bothered me anyway." With the big grins on their faces, Anna and Vernon also appeared to be impervious to the cold and to the rain. 

While we were at the de Young Museum's view deck, I was mulling whether we should do the Golden Gate Bridge trip; after all, we were just a bus ride away. I decided that we should go for it when the top of the bridge broke through the fog... at least we could have a look if we won't be able to walk on it.

So we braved the cold rain and disembarked the bus at the Visitors' Centre, where Anna and I were able to get our National Parks Passport stamped again. From here, we started our long and winding walk back to Embarcadero, where we were to catch the BART going home.

One of the highlights of our walk was getting this view of Crissy Fields. It's difficult to imagine now but this used to be a military airfield. I'm still wondering where the landing strip is! Anyway, it reminded me somehow of the Kualoa Ranch in Hawaii because it was also an airstrip. Both weren't airports; at least, they don't look like the commercial airports used by civilians. Today, Crissy Fields is a recreational park; its transformation, thanks to the efforts of the men and women of the National Parks Service. Unfortunately, with the limited sunlight left, we couldn't make a stop here to see the place. We had to move on, otherwise, we'd be walking in the dark.

Further in the horizon, we saw how far we still had to go... downtown seemed so far away and our feet were already wet and cold. But we continued walking, thankfully, downhill, pushing towards the Presidio, a place that is similar to Intramuros. Both places used to house military facilities and are now both tourist spots.

The highlight of this trip was, of course, the Palace of Fine Arts. Anna and I have visited the place with Joycelyn a few days before this trip. On both occasions, we stayed by the pond and appreciated the architectural masterpiece in front of us across the water. This time, we attempted to explore the interiors; however, we saw a man who was seemingly aggressive and was talking to himself (or to an imaginary friend). We had to quickly abandon our plans of going in. Better safe than sorry, as the adage reminds us.

As if we weren't exhausted from all that walking, we rode a bus towards Fisherman's Wharf. The bus driver was of Filipino descent, born and raised in the San Francisco area. As we disembarked, he kindly gave us directions to Fisherman's Wharf because it's not on his route. And so we ended up passing by the streetcar stop where Anna and Vernon just had to have a photo op.

This was my first trip to a largely quiet Fisherman's Wharf! There weren't many tourists; the street wasn't crowded; and the waiting time for restaurant seats was virtually non-existent. We were able to view the boats docked along the quays without walking at a fast pace... we even had the chance to stop for photos! Vernon, I have to conclude, had lucky timing... 

... or perhaps it's because of the cold and the rain. Nevertheless, we had the place almost to ourselves. It just felt like a ghost town!

Going to the Embarcadero, we rode one of the streetcars. It was a fun experience; quiet different from the cable car ride I had taken last year. I would have loved to go on walking; however, Anna's feet were already painful and she wouldn't appreciate the tourist attractions... better to catch the BART back to the East Bay.

All in all, I think we walked about 18 km. Not marathon-distance levels, definitely, but a long walk nonetheless.