Admiring the View

One last look at the view before heading back to San Francisco - I love this place!

Our plans changed somewhat today - we were going to visit Lands End on the ocean side of SF as I wanted to see Sutro Baths, and as we'll be staying in Downtown San Francisco this time, it would be easier to do it while we still have the 'beast'. However, Alan found an outlet shopping village just off the freeway, in-between Sacramento and San Francisco. We planned to call in to Tommy Hilfiger to see if we could find any bargains, and then carry on to Lands End.

Four hours later, with three shopping bags full of clothes for us both, and a new suitcase to take it all home in, meant we were driving into the city in rush hour. The car hire place closes at 5pm and the sat Nav said we'd arrive at 4.45pm, so we had to give Lands End a miss. Never mind it's always there for another time, and the prices were far to good to turn down the opportunity. They were already cheaper than UK prices, plus there was a further 50% off because it was an outlet, and I signed up to the Tommy Club which gave me a further 10% reduction. On top of that, it's a good exchange rate too!

Heading back into the city at that time wasn't great, but we were able to use the carpool lane which is only for cars with 2 or more passengers. So while the other lanes were crawling along we were able to drive relatively easy - until an Ambulance driver decided he'd suddenly pull into the pool lane and cut us up! Thankfully Alan's reactions were very quick and we just missed going straight into the side of him - it's crazy as he wasn't even aware that we were there, and he wasn't driving in an emergency situation!

Anyway, we arrived back safely, dropped the car off and then got a taxi to our hotel. We're now staying at the Mark Hopkins on the corner of Nob Hill which is very nice. We have a room on the 14th floor with views over the city, and once we'd checked in, we went for a drink in the Mark Bar which is on the top floor and has a 360 degree view.

We were going to have dinner in the Nob Hill Club which is also in the hotel, but it was a very big restaurant that was completely empty. It was also cold and the menu was pricey, so we changed our mind. I made a quick phone call to a little French restaurant that was recommended to me by Lyle, the American guy who I travelled on the plane with, and fortunately they had a table available. It's only one block down a very steep hill from the hotel, and the food was amazing! So we've booked to go back tomorrow night - that might sound strange when there are so many restaurants, but I've been craving French food, and there's lots on the menu that I fancy.

Tomorrow, we have a Blip Meet with Sunnyside - we're meeting for coffee in her lunch break, and it'll be nice to meet her after all her helpful tips and advice on things to do and see while we've been here.