Entry to San Francisco

We headed from Sacramento into San Francisco on the train. The rural areas were attractive and well kept. Fruit trees in orchards along the way. The railway line was dirty and full of rubbish especially as we got closer to the city and adjacent freeways. We could see homeless people sheltering..living.. next to rivers and at the back of businesses. Some had tents with other blankets, cardboard, clothes strewn and tarpaulins. We had long waits to cross bridges and enter our end stop Emeryville. The Bay was at low tide and we could see again a lot of rubbish in the bay - metal, tyres, plastic - and it needs a good clean.

What a trip. We disembarked at Emeryville, CA. bang on time. In fact the whole train trip was pretty much on time - despite some delays here and there. Amtrak did well and their staff were superb. Well worth a trip with them. We had booked and got a coach transfer to downtown SF. Good move. There was a disturbance at the departure terminal as one of the customers disagreed with his terms of carriage re baggage - oh well. The bus driver was unflappable and resilient. He survived the tirade and then took us into SF in rush hour traffic: 5 lanes in and 5 lanes out and ALL chocker with cars. The traffic in SF on and around the main arterials and in the city center seems bonkers.

Somehow we found an extra bus type lane and progressed way faster than the private vehicles. The driver treated us to some of his life story along the way and his discussions with his wife. Memorable! He dropped us in the Bay terminal and told us that we were to take the 38 bus to our AirB&B. The terminal was all go with commuters everywhere. Hold the head together! Ask a local? Yes we did. It turned out there is a 38 and a 38A - the latter was the one we needed. It was full and busy with characters and commuters. The bus driver was fast on the accelerator with no room to do so and was heavy on the break. We were sea sick after a few KM. 

I was navigating with Google Maps. No worries its only two and half blocks from the stop to our accomodation. But we forgot this is SF and the map is not flat. The last block was uphill and Ute and Sylvia coped woman-fully as they halled our gear - the heavy stuff of 3x50lb bags - plus the carry on (me). Puffing we got to the accomodation - and couldn't get in. Our password didn't work@#? We got it in the end and fell on to the couch. Our land lady had left us a Bottle of Wine for welcome.