Day 11, San Francisco & San Jose
Saturday 11 January
I was going to leave the Cable Cars & Fishermans Wharf to the weekend tourists. A gloomy day but with even light for photography compared to the many shadows that sun in San Francisco causes.
Last year in New Orleans, the streetcar service that ran past my hotel in the Garden District had just resumed so I decided to make the first day Streetcar Saturday. So today was going to be Streetcar Saturday.
But Muni had different ideas. I made it to Market St & soon found buses replacing the F Line vintage streetcars. There was no info at the stop & several tourists let a couple of replacement buses go by expecting a streetcar. I checked the Muni website & saw that sewerage works along Market St saw buses replacing streetcars.
Instead, I went via the N (or as the auto announcements say "N ... N) line to the Caltrain station. Soon after arriving, I saw that an express train (they call it a Bullet Train) was about to depart for San Jose. I hurriedly purchased a ticket (bought the wrong one - 2 extra zones!) & boarded the train. This was not before seeing a SFFD Fire Engine - the crew were inside the nearby Safeway doing some mid-shift shopping. Their shifts can be a lot longer than their Australian equalivants - I have heard shifts of 24 - 48 hours long so buying food is important. And they need to be ready to go at a moment's notice.
I also spotted the Aqua Duck from yesterday & the same guy was telling the same joke he did with me yesterday. He recognised me & we had a shouted conversation as he was waiting for a traffic light. Good laughs.
I got a nice grab shot of a plane climbing out of SFO from the train & was able to upload it & a cropped version (cropped in camera) to the interweb. I could not tell what airline the plane was from or the type.
About an hour later, I arrived at San Jose. Wandering around, I found that there is a cafe named after me (wishful thinking!) & a streetcar line. Lots of signs saying to look out for a trolley. I found a trolley .... ok, Ammericans ... a shopping cart ... in front of a trolley sign. I took some photos & a lady must have thought I was either law enforcement or working for the city because she asked me if I knew what happened to the homeless guy who just got taken to hospital by paramedics. She also asked me if I knew what was happening to his stuff, the stuff I was photographing. I had no answers. I did explain an Australian trollry, though.
I walked a lot & found a place to eat. I decided to get a bus back to the station & get a train back to San Francisco. The bus did not drop me directly at the station but I decided to stay on the bus until the end of the route. I asked the driver how long before he went back downtown - he had enough time to go to the loo & that was about it. I told him that I'd mind the bus for him. When he returned, we compared notes about bus driving in San Jose & my trains. I think he (jokingly) hates me after I told him that I get 5 weeks leave a year & long service leave. But it was good to have a chat. As a new bus driver, I assured him that while some things are different, many of the things we experience is the same. But I know thst my conditions are way better.
Leaving the bus behind, I walked to the station & didn't have long to wait for the return train. Buying the right ticket this time, the train was all stations to San Francisco. A pleasant enough trip back & then a Muni train & a cable car back to the hotel.
