Taxidermy for vegetarians: USA 2016

In the morning we headed across town on foot, aiming to walk as far as Fort Mason via Chinatown, Coit Tower and Fisherman's Wharf. Along the way we passed the famous City Lights Bookstore, where the Beat poets used to perform. The final climb up to Coit Tower was pretty steep. Once inside we had to wait in line to take the single (very old) elevator to take us up to the viewing deck. As you can see, however, the wait was worth it. There was quite a good view of the Golden Gate Bridge, but again I cursed not having a zoom lens, as none of the photos I took of it were any good.

For lunch we bought seafood chowder served in a bread bun (it's a thing in SF!) and some calamari from a stall near Fisherman's Wharf and ate it on the waterfront. We then continued walking along the waterfront as far as Fort Mason, from where we had another great view of the Golden Gate Bridge as well as Alcatraz.

By now it was late afternoon, and we decided to walk back to Fisherman's Wharf and catch a cable car back to our hotel. When we got to the cable car station, though, we found there was a long queue of people waiting. It was pretty hot and there wasn't a lot of shade, but we passed the time watching the cable cars coming and going and being turned around on the turntable. The turntable is operated manually by 2-3 burly guys whose sole job seems to be to perform this task.

The ride back to our hotel was a hoot. It was fascinating watching the driver, called a gripman, operate the cable car. It's a very old and basic system, the only one of its kind still in use. There's a cable running underneath the street that moves at a constant 15km/h, and the cars attach themselves to this via a grip that extends from the car through a slit in the street. There's no accelerator. There is a brake, but mostly the driver controls the car simply by attaching it and releasing it from the cable. Apparently it's a much sort after job, but 80% of applicants fail the strength and coordination tests.