SF Sightseeing Optimization

Today we were even four of us on the way at 8:00. We're becoming early risers.

But that was not without reason. Due to the time difference, we had also lost our sense of time and thought we still had 2 days left in San Francisco.

Unfortunately, only today is left, as we have to pick up the camper van tomorrow at 13:00.

So it was time to optimize. Konstantin would like to visit the Natural History Museum and Julius the Exploratorium. Anita definitely wants to see the Painted Ladies. And I would be interested in the Musée Mécanique.

Museums, zoos, and the like are not exactly cheap in the USA. You can easily spend €30 per person. For Disney and Universal Studios, it's well over €100 per person. There is also a so-called CityPass, which only saved us a few dollars, as we could only use 2 out of the 3 or 9 offers. However, public transportation is very cheap. $2.5 for 2 hours per adult and free for anyone under 18 is really worth it.

So we first took the O-Bus to the Painted Ladies, which are located directly on the way to the Natural History Museum. Beautifully situated on a hill next to a great park, we enjoyed the misty view of the old San Francisco ladies.

Then we continued to the California Science Center, which also houses a fairly large aquarium and a tropical zoo. Typical American, everything is presented in a pragmatic way and invites you to touch and participate. On the other hand, when it comes to climate protection in the lectures - we were in a 360° cinema about coral reefs - from my point of view, they were too 'pragmatic', as they focused less on measures to limit the climate crisis and more on the topic of adaptation. In Europe, this is more of the conservative politics and less of the scientific side. On the other hand, if you fly from Europe to the USA, you have to take a good look at yourself first. A difficult topic.

Anyway, the exhibits and demonstrations were beautiful and we were already on our way to the pier at 13:30 to visit the Exploratorium.

Julius loves 'experiment museums' and the Exploratorium in San Francisco is one of the largest and best in the world.

On the way there, we took a shortcut through a small park directly on the pier, when a sweetish smell reached our noses and suspiciously many people were offering goods behind trees or on benches. At first, I didn't really notice it, but Anita later said that it was probably a 'pusher street'. Since we were in a hurry, we didn't buy anything 😉.

In the Exploratorium, we had a good 3 hours, but you really need at least a day to try everything. From dexterity, optical illusions, electricity, biology to visual experiments, there is something for every taste. Speaking of taste. There is also the possibility to drink from a toilet.

Since the Exploratorium is directly on the way to the hotel, we continued on foot to stroll through Pier39 again and watch the sea lions. They were in a particularly good mood today and offered the audience a show of wrestling, wrestling, and theatrics. You could watch for hours.

But in the end, we were too tired and hungry. So we had fish and chips again before going to bed.