Cultured

We have been cultured! We thought we had experienced the culture of San Francisco the first time we went, but….oh no…we saw a lot more of it today.  We woke up Saturday morning thinking we would most likely go to the zoo, but en route to the zoo in the rapid transit (i.e. train), we changed our minds.  We had gotten a late start to the day and found out how long the train ride was to the zoo, so we got off in the city instead.  We have wanted to ride the bus that takes you through the city and allows you to sit on top of the bus….in the wide open air.  Since the weather was warmer, we went ahead with this adventure.  We saved the zoo for another day.

The train ride to the city went just fine, but when we arrived at our train stop we decided to ride the elevator because we had two strollers with us.  Upon entering the elevator, we were greeted with a foul odor, which left us wondering in our mind what caused the smell.  The other elevator riders explained to us that frequently people urinate and defecate in the elevators (in fact, there was a sign on the wall in the elevator stating that it IS against the law to urinate and defecate there…really???).  And that is what we smelled and stepped in.  Oh my goodness!  We got off the elevator quickly, walked to the nearby fountain where Dan took both strollers and immersed the wheels in the water to clean them.  As we were doing our business at the fountain, we looked up only to see an older gentleman in the distance, standing completely naked for all to see.  Yep, just standing there watching the traffic go by.  Of course, he was wearing a cowboy hat…like that helps!  And the worst part was….Mya happened to look over and notice him herself.  So we had to explain that one to her.  Then…a policeman walks up to the man and decides to have a half hour chat with the guy.  I’m sorry….isn’t it against the law to go naked on the streets?  I am not certain what the two were talking about, but it didn’t lead to any arrest.  So we took the long way around to Fisherman’s Wharf so we could avoid the other kids seeing the man expressing his freedom. 

On our way to Fisherman’s Wharf, we stopped to buy the bus tickets.  While Dan was buying them, the girls and I noticed that we were a few feet away from a homeless guy who decided to get creative with earning money.  On the sidewalk, he was sitting beside a trashcan.  He had two large branches in front of him…covering his whole body.  Every so often he would part the branches and scare people walking by.  It was extremely funny watching people get scared.  And the guy got such a kick out of himself.  I didn’t see anyone putting money in his bucket though. 

We finally arrived at our bus stop and got on the bus.  It was so much fun for the kids to be on top of the bus.  The tour was about 2 hours because the bus made stops throughout the city.  All three kids fell asleep on our laps and Dan and I had the chance to just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.  The only uncomfortable part was the ride across the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was very windy…and extremely cold.  But well worth the ride!

Here is a picture of the guy scaring people.....

And here are our other pictures from our adventure....