Dummies guide to SANFRANSISCO..

What does a desi does after reaching this side of ocean, start making a list of places where he can go on long weekends.. I also did the same.. and the first chance i got was in memorial weekend of May.. when a group of my colleagues decided to go to a 3 day tour of North CA. we spent one day in SFO and i fall in love with the place.. I had heard a lot about this place from dotcom boomers and SFO was on top of my places of must see.. NY, miami, vegas being the other few and SFO didnt disappointed me..

The places we covered..
1. Ferry Building - A city landmark transformed into a gourmet food emporium and farmers market.
2. the Oakland Bay Bridge
3. Golden Gate bridge
4. Sausalito Ferry cruise
5. Alcatraz – just saw it from the ferry
6. The Palace of Fine Arts
Contains the following : A Park,An Auditorium and The Exploratorium
7. Twin Peaks
8. Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower
9. Golden Gate Park - it is SFO's 1,000-Acre Backyard with wonderful green stuff, I heard it’s the largest urban park in US. There is plenty of outdoor action -There's golf and tennis, horseback riding, power-walking and roller blading and you can find people bicycle and rollerskate freely on the park lanes

This park contains -
o California Academy of Sciences
o M.H. De Young Memorial Museum (Closed for construction )
o Asian Art Museum
o Japanese Tea Garden - A faithful and beautiful recreation of a (very large) Japanese garden.
o Botanical gardens
o AIDS memorial grove
o Music concourse aka "The Music Bandshell" - free concerts takes place here.
o and much more
10. Alamo Square -You have to go here to take a picture of the Victorian houses that constitute "Postcard Row"
11. Nob Hill - Also nicked as Snob Hill by SFO's. A very tall hill near downtown, it has a park atop it. The park is surrounded by hotels and low-rise condos with million-dollar views of the bay.
12. Pacific Heights -Stately homes
13. War memorial opera house
14. Lombard Street - this one-way road pass with hair pin bends down a steep hill is known as the crookedest street in the world
15. Cable Cars and cable car museum
16. Chinatown - Jade Shops, Tea Shops And Fortune Cookies: That's Chinatown. Nothing American.. Total Chinese ;-). You must walk through Chinatown to experience everything. Chinatown is one of the City's most congested areas.

San Francisco is one of the rare cities in US where you won't need to see everything by car. You can walk up and down the hills, weave your way through the neighborhoods, and cover the entire city on feats if reqd, booking cab tour is better for squeezing more things in it.

What we missed seeing-• Alcatraz: One Million Visitors A Year visit it; they Can't Be Wrong
(Heard from someone a must -- an "official" Alcatraz t-shirt which lets everyone know exactly where you've been, prison stripes and all.)
• Golden Gate Heights Park
• Pier 39 / Fisherman's Wharf
• Gentleman clubs;-)
• Nude beaches


Weather: The weather can be tricky, Funny, depends on the mood of sea and sea breeze, could be a bit chilly around sea and on ferry ride so best is to Dress in layers.
Souvenirs: No dearth of Souvenirs shops in SFO, Sausalito, Golden gate, Japanese garden.
Food: N number of hotels and restaurants. We settled for desi food at a Pakistani restaurant. Food was ok but the owner was jack ass.