I've gone on a bus tour of San Francisco before. But that bus tour was designed for visitors to the city. We drove by some of San Francisco's famous landmarks: the
Golden Gate Bridge, the City Hall, the
Asian Art Museum, the
Transamerica Pyramid,
Union Square, and the giant dangling legs in Haight Ashbury. It's certainly a good primer on the lay of the land because I got a glimpse about some of the neighbourhoods in the city.
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| Golden Gate Bridge |
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| Haight-Ashbury's Dangling Legs |
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| San Francisco Symphony |
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| San Francisco City Hall |
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| Asian Art Museum |
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| Transamerica Pyramid (right in front of the bus) |
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| Union Square |
Aside from seeing landmarks, we were treated to a view of a city of visual artists. Murals peppered buildings in the city. Some were monochromatic or minimally coloured while others had strong splashes of colour that it was difficult to dismiss them.
But the bus tour couldn't give an experience of what it's like to live in San Francisco. For me, taking public transportation with the locals in the city allowed a bit of immersion. And thanks to a school project, I learned that there was more to San Francisco than the tour bus route... little did I know that I was about to see the rest of the city.
One afternoon, I went to a convention by train and then by bus. I had thought that the venue was just in the city centre; however, once in the bus, I realised that I had to travel
two hours one way! I didn't know that San Francisco was that big. However, the highlight of the trip was seeing where the rest of San Franciscans live (i.e., those who don't live in the city centre). The neighbourhoods I passed on my way to the venue did not look like San Francisco at all. There were no skyscrapers. The streets were wide and sparsely populated. And the place where I waited for the bus was sunny and warm. Yes.
Warm! Definitely a different side of San Francisco.
