Day 1 (February 15, 2018): The joy of the trip is the journey there!

Someone at work said to me on Wednesday, "I can't believe you're going all that way for a weekend." California isn't exactly across the street, 'tis true.  However, we live in an age where you can connect any two dots on the planet with relative simplicity.  So, California isn't really that far.

We were up at 3AM, out the door at 4AM, and were through US Pre-Clearance at Halifax Airport by 5AM.  The weather was great, to boot.  By 6PM, we were sitting comfortably on our United Airlines flight to Newark.  However, the Homeland Security computers were cranky, which delayed the processing of many passengers.  It all led to a delay of close to an hour.  Upon arrival in Newark, we rushed to our connecting gate to find they had already boarded.  It all made for a tight connection, but all worked out perfectly.  Transiting in New York can often be wrought with delays and problems, but today worked like a charm.

We pushed back at 8:50AM, right on time.  Our United Boeing 757 was packed, but the service was excellent.  We bought some food, watched a couple of movies, and before we knew it, the 5.5-hour flight was over. San Fran greeted us with 16C and perfect sunny skies.  We jumped on the very efficient 'BART' (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train and were in the heart of the financial district within 30 minutes, then walked to our hotel, Le Meridien.

With our early rise and the time change working against us, we decided to make it a short day of exploring, focusing on Chinatown and Union Square.  Chinatown is a dozen or so blocks of Asia imbedded into SanFran, with the marketplace shops, sidewalk stalls, and Dim Sum restaurants you'd find in Hong Kong. 

Union Square is at the heart of a high end shopping district, including such upper crust department stores as Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, Nordstrum, Nieman Marcus, etc.  And then all the Fifth Avenue brand name boutiques you'd find in such a district from Tiffany to Louis Vuitton. The square itself is, like any such square in a large city, ground-zero for people watching and also a hotbed of activity for protests and demonstrations.  

We had a simple gourmet burger dinner in a small eatery off the Square, roamed around Macy's, and then headed back to the hotel.  By 8PM (which was midnight back home, remember!), we were asleep.  Today was all about the journey.  Tomorrow we shall start to really explore this Pacific gem of a city, that we last visited in 1997.

 
 About to board our United Airlines Embraer 175 to Newark.  A clear but frosty morning.

 
This is a horrible pic through a clouded airplane window.  But I include it just to show the remarkable scene of downtown San Fran to which we were treated.  It shows the Financial District, the Bay Bridge to Oakland, and both Treasure Island and Yerba Beuna Island.

From our hotel room, we have a nice view of one of San Fran's most iconic buildings, the Trans-America Pyramid - second tallest building in the city and, when it was built in 1972, the 8th highest building in the world.

Entrance to Chinatown.  A third of the city is of Asian origin.

Chinese lanterns in Chinatown. It truly felt like Hong Kong.

A great way to present your menu!

Too cute, eh?!

Unlike Los Angeles, San Fran is a very hilly town.  This is a typical street served by one of the famous cable cars (note the tracks).

Union Square - ground zero for high-end retail and focal point for people-watching and demonstrations.

The Louis Vuitton window display.  A great spot to drop $3000 on a handbag.  Purse comes with a free psychologist session to get to the heart of WHY you need to spend $3000 on a handbag.