''Fly The Friendly Skies Of United Airlines, is the motto this airline uses.
I have been to San Francisco quite a few times, but when they offered a 3day/4night package from Victoria to San Francisco, we decide to go.
The package included the flights, bus transfers, (to and from the airport to the hotel), 3 buffet breakfasts, all taxes and tips, for $350.00 CAD, each we decided to go.
.:The Flights:.
We had to be at the Vancouver Airport, 3 hours before the flight, (it us to be 2 hours, but since Sept. 11th, it takes a long time to go through a security check.
There were a lot of check in places, and one was for group travel, so we were checked-in within 5 minutes.
We had pre-booked our seats. The plane had 3 seats on each side of the aisle, so we sat across from each other. That way we could talk to each other.
Breakfast was a surprised because we could have the omelet, or cold cereal. We both had cold cereal with strawberries on it, and a toasted bagel.
The flight takes a little over an hour and it seemed like we had just finished eating when the pilot told us we were arriving.
On the way back we had a choice of steak or soup with a Chinese chicken salad. We both choice the latter.
The Staff and Crew
We found the staff at the check-in counter and the crew on board the plane to be as friendly as their motto promised.
.:The Hotel:.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn on Fisherman's Wharf. It is near Pier 39. This is a small hotel, with about 180 rooms.
When we drove up to the hotel, we could see a two story building, with a taller one attached.
Our Tour Guide brought our keys to us, while we sat in the lobby. When we arrived at our rooms, our suitcases were already there.
Our room was airconditioned, had a queen sized bed, with night tables on either side. There was an alarm clock/radio on one of them, and a telephone on the other.
We had a 3 seat sofa with a coffee table in front of it. There was a TV, a coffee/tea maker, a large closet, (with a safe in it) and big dresser.
In the bathroom there was a toilet, a tub/shower, a sink, a make up mirror and a hair drier.
In the morning be had breakfast in the Coffee Shop. We didn't go to their Bristol Bar and Grill, because there are too many other excellent places to eat in San Francisco.
.:The Things To See:.
San Francisco isn't a large city, the population is almost 800,000 people. It is on a tip of a peninsula, in northern California. The Pacific Ocean on its western side, the mountains are a backdrop, and the San Francisco Bay is the north and east.
The tourist are looks like a triangle. Embarcadero Street is the tip of the pie, and Market Street and Van Ness Avenue, are the two slides.
The Golden Gate Bridge, was built in 1937, and to cross it you have to pay $5.00 per car. You can walk or ride a bike across it for free. On the other side of the bridge is the city of Oakland.
The Asian Art Museum in the Golden Gate Park. It is the largest Museum in North America, that only shows Asian art. The displays show you the 6,000 years of art from all of the countries in Asia. While we were hear we bought a lithograph, at the Gift Shop, drawn by Li Huayi, (from Shanghai, China). The first floor of the Museum only displays his wonderful paintings of China.
China Town has a walking tour. This is the place to buy tourist items, have a delicious chinese meal, and walk through the open market.
On Nob Hill, walk into the Mark Hopkins Hotel, take an elevator to the top floor, and have a drink at the bar. From here you get a panoramic view of the city.
Take a cable car to Fisherman's Wharf. On the Wharf there are a lot of small cafes and fine dinning rooms. Across the street from the wharf are some wonderful one of a kind shops.
Take ferry to Alcatraz Island. We took a tour of the prison, that the United States Government built, because they thought no one could escape from it. We saw the cells of the Bird Man of Alcatraz and Al Capone were kept in.
Where to shop:
The classy shops are surrounding Union Square. They are very expensive. I like to browse there, because it doesn't cost a thing to browse.
Chestnut Street has a lot of trendy cloths. A lot of them are loose fitting and that's super for a woman built like me.
.:Where to eat:.
On Chestnut Street we went to the Cozmo's Café. Everything is cooked on a rotisserie. I had never tasted seafood cooked this way before.
Ton Kiang, on Geary Blvd, makes great Cantonese food. I love the shrimp toast and the salt & pepper dry short ribs.
Splendido, on Embarcadero, makes excellent home made pastas, and pizza.
The Waterfront Restaurant is at Fishermans Wharf. It's the best place to eat seafood in San Francisco.
For wonderful Mexican food you can't beat the food at La Taqueria. You'll find it on Mission Street.
.:My Final Thoughts:.
I love San Francisco and I hope you can visit it one day.
The link to their Tourist Board page is:
https://sfvisitor.org
We enjoyed this flight, and have since flown United a few times since then.
Thank you for reading my review.
©LL2004
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