March is a little early for SF, and the weather can be quite variable. Having been caught out by SF weather on a previous visit - in June, we are going to pack for everything from cold and wet to hot and sunny. It makes for a couple of heavy cases. Incidentally, SF has it's own somewhat erratic micro-climate. It can be a lot cooler than the surrounding areas, so be warned, it might be 35º down the road, yet SF could be 20º. On the other hand, it might not.

Cheap Flights
I like cheap flights, and for Europe, the cheaper they are, the happier I am. But after a couple of aggravating experiences with Ryanair, I'm less happy with the 'turn up and go' type of operation, . What I want is scheduled economy seats at rock bottom prices. However, for long haul, I've never liked sitting with my knees under my chin for hours on end - I didn't think it was healthy - and that was before they discovered DVT. So I was a happy convert when British Airways introduced World Traveller Plus a few years back. That's larger than Cattle class seats, with decent spacing, but with Economy service. (I've always referred to it as Business class, but bring your own sandwiches.) The seats cost more, but I've usually managed to swing it for business trips - as the cheap-skate companies I work for would never pay for business class anyway.

A quick call to Dial-a-Flight in Croydon (there you are Lenny, I said you'd get a mention) turns up a great package for a couple of World Traveller Plus tickets, a very decent hotel almost exactly where I want to be, and car rental for the rest of the holiday all for what I consider a very reasonable price - or about half of BA's published price for the flight alone. To BA's credit tho', the deal got even better at check-in.

Getting There
The day got off to a bad start, the mini-cab company had forgotten to turn up and we arrived at Heathrow late and annoyed. Then we saw the check-in queue. Now I use Terminal 4 frequently, on different days, at different times, and, although there must be a pattern to check-in queues, I haven't figured it out. They are either a few minutes long or a few hours long (Ok, exaggeration, 45 minutes to well over an hour long) never about 15 - 20 minutes. Today's queue is in the mega-big class. 50 minutes later we get to the front. And then the surprise, we've been upgraded to Club Class without even asking. Actually, the boarding passes are a bit odd, they have 'Involuntary Upgrade' printed on them. Sounds like they are forcing me into Business Class - can't you hear me screaming, "No, no, I want to keep my crummy seat at the back of the plane! I don't want your comfy bed things in Club class!".

I have a theory about this, because when I looked around after boarding, I thought there were rather too few business passengers and rather too many middle aged couples flying Club. This, along with last time I flew back from Philadelphia I was upgraded, and also on our return from SF as well. Three business class upgrades in a row - not coincidence. A couple of years or so ago, BA announced it was going to concentrate on business class passengers, as they were more profitable. So as the planes were refitted, they added the Club Class beds, and reduced the Economy class seating. Now, after September 11th, fewer business passengers are flying, so BA have a choice, fly half empty planes, or over-sell the economy seats, and then systematically upgrade all the 'suitable' passengers, to fill the plane. Notice the word 'suitable' - middle aged couples are 'suitable' for Club class, smart singles or younger couples without kids are 'suitable' for Traveller Plus, whilst all the rest are down the back as usual. Of course, this is only my theory, I doubt I could prove it, but...

A very comfortable flight, excellent meals and service, and plenty of room to stretch out and sleep. Those Club class seats look a bit odd, but they certainly work. We arrive on time, and apart from a bit of a delay parking the plane, we're off, through immigration and in a cab heading for the big city.

Navigating SFO
SF airport is a little odd if you want to catch a cab. Like most, it's split into two, Departures on the upper level and Arrivals on the lower. The odd bit is that the Arrivals level has 'public' transport, meaning taxis and municipally owned buses, whilst the car rental shuttles, hotel courtesy buses and privately owned shuttle buses are all confined to the upper, departures level. That means on arrival, if you want to use a hotel courtesy bus, you have to go up one level to departures. This is poorly signposted - actually, I didn't see any signs explaining this at all. Once you've found the upper level, the usual fleets of car rental shuttle busses are missing. It's a bit obvious when it turns up, the big bus marked 'Car Rental Shuttle Bus', but the absence of little busses is a bit disconcerting if you don't know. Am I on the right level? Are they on strike? Has SF banned rental cars? I like to think it's all done to feed the paranoia of the indigenous population.

San Francisco
$35 worth of taxi fare including tip, and we're dropped at the hotel. The "Crowne Plaza Union Square", it's not in Union Square, that's it's name - not quite as dishonest as "London Gatwick Airport" though, as it's only a couple of blocks up from Union Square. Check-in is quick and painless and we're whisked up to our room. Ok, on the 17th of 25 floors, but I didn't want the Penthouse Suite anyway. Damn, somehow I don't have any dollar bills, and the bell-hop is standing there wanting his tip. He seems pretty pleased with the 5 I give him. The room is sizeable, even for American hotel rooms, with all the usual amenities. Considering the price I'm paying, I certainly can't complain.

This is the first time I've been to SF with time to find out what it's about. Previous visits have allowed little time for exploring. Fortunately, SF is pretty hilly, so hilly in fact that the Mrs isn't as keen as usual on walking around. Don't get me wrong, the Mrs thinks I don't get enough exercise, and is into making up for 11 months of couch potato behaviour on my part with forced marches when I'm on holiday. I view SF as a 'safe' city, and provided you keep out of the obviously iffy areas, you're not likely to come to harm. Public transport is cheap (if you get a 'Muni' bus pass) and seems to cover most of the city without the need to walk anyway. So for once, I'm destined to get a view of a city from a cable car, bus or tram, without the Mrs insisting on walking me all over the place. Just so the Mrs thinks I'm getting some exercise, I don't mind walking from the hotel to the junction of Powell and Market streets to catch a bus or a tram or a cable car. It's less then 1 Km, and it's all down hill - with any luck, it'll be all the exercise I'll do that day.

Sunday is spent exploring the Napa Valley, a short car trip to the north. It's early March so grapes are out of season but plenty of samples of the wines are available. I avoid buying any wine at the wineries. Last time I went, I thought I'd found a bargain at $12 a bottle. Not a bit of it, I found the very same wine in my local wine warehouse for £4.95 a bottle. Since then I've come to the conclusion that the American prices for wines are a bit of a rip-off, and it's always cheaper outside the country, at the local Tesco or Safeway, or whatever. Also, sadly, most wineries are nothing more than wine warehouses selling their own brand plonk. Except the Mondavi vineyard. Mondavi does a real educational tour. They also charge for it, but along with the wine tasting, I reckon it's worth the $25 (2007) price. Visit their WEB site as the tour is adults only and pretty limited numbers. Oh, and taste by all means, but don't buy the wine if home is somewhere non-American.

Monday and Tuesday are spoken for because of the trade show which leaves the Mrs. free to explore the shops - dangerous - you can blow a lot of money without trying in downtown SF. Evenings are also spoken for as we're out for dinner with either businesses hoping to sell me something or old friends I haven't see for some time. So it's Wednesday before we start the holiday.

Lets start there, Powell and Market. It's about the centre of 'downtown'. It has all the shops, restaurants, the Tourist Info Centre, the banks, and most public transport stops there. Of course the first point of call must be Fisherman's Wharf. This is where up-market meets down-market, everyone has to visit the wharf and two of the three remaining cable-car routes go there.

Updated 01/10/03