San Francisco

The friendly Border Control is surprisingly quick, and after about 30 minutes of waiting, we can head to our hotel where we will spend our first night. Having two consecutive nights here means we are well-rested and free of jetlag signs.

Our hotel is located near Union Square, not far from the Dragon Gate, a gateway at the entrance to the Chinatown district, making it an ideal starting point for a city tour. We begin the day in sunny weather with a fresh 14 degrees Celsius – we want to make the most of this, as our route takes us through four climate zones and the hotter segments are still ahead. San Francisco boasts the last remaining cable car in the world, and so we ride the first Cable Car of the Powell/Mason Line towards the Bay in the early morning hours and stroll to the famous Lombard Street, from where you can enjoy a fantastic view of both the Coit Tower to the east and Alcatraz to the north. The original steepness of Lombard Street at 27% was already reduced in 1922 to 18% with beautifully designed switchbacks – still very steep. With eight curves over just 145 meters, it is considered the most curved street in the world.

Next, we continue with the popular Cable Car of the Powell/Hyde Line to the turnaround at the harbor area Fisherman’s Wharf, where the traditional vehicles are manually turned around by the driver on a so-called turntable. It's best to ride the cable cars in the morning when they are still nearly empty, as later in the day you may not find a seat unless you're willing to stand in line for 2 hours at one of the starting or end points.

At Fisherman’s Wharf lies Pier 39, a 300-meter-long former boat dock and now a tourist attraction. At the pier, we watch the lively sea lions and stroll along the wooden walkways lined with colorful buildings. A fun highlight today is the “Fire Engine Tour”: we ride in a vintage open-top fire truck past the Palace of Fine Arts through Presidio over the iconic Golden Gate Bridge to Fort Baker. After the amusing tour, we take Waymo's driverless Robo-Taxi to the 64-meter-high Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, which was built in honor of the volunteer fire department – very fitting for the “Fire Engine Tour”. The required Waymo app is not available in Austria and can only be installed with a US Apple ID. The 360-degree view from Coit Tower is impressive.

After visiting the tower, we walk down the beautifully landscaped Greenwich Steps to the promenade “The Embarcadero”, which runs along the San Francisco Bay, from where we continue to the Painted Ladies, a row of colorful Victorian houses at Alamo Square that gained worldwide fame since the series “Full House”. The picturesque Alamo Square is situated on one of the many hills and offers, alongside the Painted Ladies, a great view of downtown San Francisco.

After that, we take the bus back to the hotel. The journey gets interrupted when another bus blocks the stop, apparently it is without a driver, although it is not a Robo-Bus. The replacement has not appeared, and the previous driver is already on his way to a well-deserved evening off, leaving the passengers to fend for themselves. Our driver awkwardly assures us that she cannot let us, around 40 guests, get off two meters before the stop because she would be held liable if someone were to get hurt exiting, causing a small commotion. Fortunately, after 10 minutes, we unanimously agree to skip the stop since overtaking is allowed.

It's a quirky situation, as the Waymo from earlier had no qualms about letting us get in and out of the vehicle right in the middle of the road. Here, two worlds collide that could not be more different. Ultimately, we made it back to the hotel. A lovely, eventful, and exciting first day comes to an end.