It's a little bit cooler here in San Francisco, around 60°F as they measure it here, in the USA. That is around 16°C. So we wrapped up and went for a walk down to fishermans wharf. In fact we borrowed a wheel chair from the hotel, which we used to push Pat around, as her knees were playing up.
There was a Polar Challenge in the bay.
Team's take it in turn to dash into the water. Everyone was having a great time. There was a MC running the event. They were supported by the police, who manned the safety boats and walked in the crowd having a friendly chat with them.
We could see the golden gate bridge from the bay.
We then went on a street car. Here at Taylor and Bay they are turning one round at the terminus. The car's can only go in one direction, as the driver who controls the gripper (the lever that grips the underground cable, moving the car) and the brake, has to be at the front. And the gripper is designed to work in one direction.
Travelling on a street car, looking back down one of the streets in San Francisco.
At the top of Nob Hill on Jackson and Washington, we visited the Street Car Barn Museum and Power House. Here we saw the 4 cables that drive the street cars. The cables vary in length:- Powell - 9,300 ft.; Mason - 10,300 ft.; Hyde - 16,000 ft.; California - 21,700; Total - 57,300 ft. They are replaced every 3 months (between 22:00 and 06:00) when they are not in use, or before this f they are damaged. They can stretch by 100ft in this time, this is taken up by an idler wheel, which is also housed in the Power House.
As there was a street parade for the Chinese New year, the year of the monkey. Several streets were closed, so we watched the procession.
The police and fire brigade were part of the procession.
As you would expect, there were Chinese Dragon dancers.
As the light started to fade, taking photos became difficult.
Pat was really impressed with this Tai Chi demonstration.
After a busy day and while we were in China Town, there are no prizes for guessing were we went for our evening meal.
That's right, McDonald's.
No we actually had a very good authentic Chinese meal.
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