Rosie and the Operator hit the tourist trail nice and early again today, we wanted to complete our sightseeing agenda nice and early as the Columbus Day Parade was happening in the North Beach Italian quarter and we wanted to catch the action, hopefully at a table along the route with a bottle of wine and a good photographic vantage point……
Off we set to the Powell Street cable car stop, this is only about 200 meters from where we are staying and is the starting point for the two tram routes that take you past differing sites of interest culminating at Fisherman’s Wharf.
The cable cars can only go forwards….they move on a continually running underground cable system where the driver has a series of levers which allow him to grab the cable to move forward…he releases the cable to coast and uses a foot brake to stop…when he wants to move forward again he lowers the lever to grab the cable…..sounds simple but these guys are really skilled! The pictures above are the end of the line, the car is pushed onto a turntable, manually spun around and faced in the forward direction ready to move off again.
The que for the cable cars is enormous but they fair pack the people in – they can fit about 60 to a car and there is standing room on the running boards if you are feeling brave and have a strong arm to hold on with up the hills. The drivers are great entertainment…..they stand in the middle of the carriage and move the huge levers and brakes, they are assertive and take no nonsense. They keep an eye out for seats available and direct people to them, plus make people get off if they break the rules….a great way to travel. We took the tram to Lombard Street, the most ‘Crookedest Street in the World’, it has eight switchbacks and is way steep! The tram dropped us off at the top and we walked down to the bottom.
Follow the hedge rows and that is where the road winds…..this felt like abit of a kitschy tourist venue….I admit it is one damn steep street, but……..ho hum. We then went over to Telegraph Hill where the first
Telegraph Station was installed on the West Coast in 1849.
At the top of the hill is the Coit Tower, the top is shaped like a fire hose, this is a memorial to the firefighters of the 1906 earthquake. The monument was made from a bequest by an eccentric woman called Lily Hitchcock Coit, she was rescued from a house fire at the age of 8 and ever since was obsessed with firemen….she rarely missed a fire, and always went to every firefighters funeral (CSI profiling today may have a different story to tell…) her bedsheets even had the firefighter logo embroidered on them and she wore a fireman’s hat daily….the tower was finished in 1934 and, on the day of her death, every firefighter in town attended.
From the top of the tower is a gorgeous 360 panoramic view of the city.
In the right panorama you can see a square patch of green leafy park, this is Washington Square in the North Beach Italian quarter. That is where we were heading to watch the parade. When we got to the area the day was alot bigger than we anticipated….outside all of the cafes and restaurants along the street tables had been set up in the bus lanes for lunch and a real party atmosphere was underway. We asked at half a dozen places if they had room for two on the parade route…most said no they were fully booked, one lady told us that the tables are booked straight away for next year! We didn’t give up, Rosie was determined to join the party and the Operator was hanging out for a Vino! We finally found a table, were tacked onto the end….and had a ball for the next 4 hours!
The weather couldn’t have been better, Christopher Columbus made an appearance on a float followed by Queen Isabella of Spain….you did a double take after reading that…I just did too….yes, they are Spanish historical figures….embraced and celebrated by the Italian Community….. The armed forces marched and were warmly received by the crowd, community princess’s passed in open top convertibles, High School Drill teams and Marching Bands ( you would not believe the enthusiasm, costumes and numbers of kids in them!) Clowns, Italian cars, Italian Motorcycle Cops, even the District Attorney (man did he look cheesy)….it was a brilliant street party.
Four hours and three bottles of Californian Pinot Grigio (not bad) later Rosie and The Operator wobbled off down the road following the Womble Truck (oops, Sanitation Engineers) as it sucked up the streamers, left over lollies and horse shit off the street. Normally Rosie would have caught a bus home…but being in fine high spirits the hour walk flew by.
