From its inception to the present, San Francisco has been and remains a port. It is surrounded by water on three sides, and its most recognizable symbol, the Golden Gate Bridge , is the only entrance to the city from the north. Equally impressive, though not as famous, is the Oakland Bay Bridge, which connects San Francisco to Oakland on the other side of the bay.
The best means of transportation around the city, which lies on 42 hills, is the historic cable car, which is an attraction in itself and a popular tourist attraction. One of its stops is at the famous Lombard Street, immersed in flowers and descending down the hill in a crazy serpentine at an angle of 30 °. See citypopulationreview for state facts, symbols and history of Nebraska.
San Francisco is called the most un-American city in the country. One of its attractions is the Chinatown quarter with bright lanterns, wise dragons and Chinese characters on the signs.
The tallest building in San Francisco is the Transamerica skyscraper, better known as the Spire. Access to its observation deck has been closed for several years, to admire the panorama of the city you have to climb the Coit Tower at the top of Telegraph Hill (open from 10:00 to 17:00, free walking, lift adults / children: 8/ 5 USD ). In addition to fantastic views, it is known for wall paintings made in the 1930s. California artists.
Another canonical circular panorama opens from the twin hills Twin Peaks. A telescope is installed on the observation deck of the northern hill.
One of the liveliest places in San Francisco is the waterfront with piers extending into the sea. The most famous is Pier 39, a popular holiday destination with shops, attractions, fish restaurants, and most importantly, with a rookery of fur seals frolicking in the water or resting on wooden rafts. Their number is constantly changing and sometimes reaches several hundred. Pleasure boats depart from Pier 41 to Alcatraz Prison Island. Since 1934, for 29 years, the most dangerous criminals in the United States were kept here. Today, enterprising Americans have turned the gloomy prison into a museum.
Museums in San Francisco
Museums in San Francisco are interesting, numerous and varied in subject matter.
The Museum of Modern Art, the most visited in the city, is housed in a futuristic building designed by renowned architect Mario Botta. Among the masters represented here are Marcel Duchamp, Jackson Pollock, Paul Klee, Andy Warhol. The museum space should soon expand due to the construction of a new building in the form of a huge snow-white iceberg.
Exploratorium is an interactive museum dedicated to science, where every visitor is a researcher. Founded by nuclear scientist Franz Oppenheimer, a member of the Manhattan Project. Physical processes and phenomena are demonstrated here with amazing ingenuity and intelligibility.
Mechanics Museum. Behind the scientific name is a very interesting collection of mechanical slot machines ( off. site in English). Each of its 300 exhibits comes to life when a 25-cent coin is thrown into the slot: hockey players begin to score goals, a gypsy predicts the future, and a vulgar-looking lady named Sal laughs out loud.
Beaches
The beaches of San Francisco – sandy, wide, with a gentle entry into the water and beautiful views, are considered one of the hallmarks of the city. They are good for everyone, except that they are completely unsuitable for swimming due to high waves and cold currents that do not allow the water to warm up above +15 ° C. However, these circumstances do not interfere with sunbathing or family picnics on the beach. The beaches have benches, toilets, changing rooms, but there are no sunbed rentals and no special entertainment for children.
The longest – 5-kilometer Ocean Beach on the Pacific coast, was chosen by surfers who are attracted by huge rolling waves driven by the wind. Others come here to walk along the wide esplanade that runs along the coast and watch the sunset. There are several shops with surf equipment, cafes and the Cliff House restaurant (opened in 1858) standing on a rocky ledge. The inflated prices are more than offset by the beautiful views through the panoramic windows of the restaurant, which, judging by the photographs on the walls, were admired by all of Hollywood.
Neighboring Baker Beach, located on the territory of a former military base, is a pleasant place to relax and walk with specially equipped barbecue areas. Evening views of the Golden Gate Bridge, illuminated by the rays of the setting sun, are especially good here . People go to the small wild beach of Marshall Beach north of Baker for two reasons – to take a selfie with the bulk of the Golden Gate Bridge hanging from above, or to sunbathe in the company of like-minded nudists. The main drawback is that it takes 10 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the beach.
Near every beach on the west coast there is free parking.
On the southern coast of the Golden Gate Strait, there is a 400 m long Aquatic Park city beach. Its main advantages are a well-developed infrastructure and an almost complete absence of waves. However, due to the low temperature of the water, only visiting tourists decide to enter the water above the ankles.
