This is a pretty and lively part of San Francisco down on the Bay with its focal point at Pier 39 which is a kind of shopping precinct on the waterside. There are lots of little shops with plenty of character, such as a little puppet shop and a shop that only sells clock-work toys.
If you walk through the pier you come out by the water's edge and you can see all the Sea Lions basking on the wooden landings (or whatever they're called). Apparently they used to rest on 'Seal Rock', further along the bay but they've gone off it.
There are regular sailings from Pier 41, nearby, to Alcatraz and Sausalito. We went on both trips. Alcatraz was very interesting, much to my surprise, but when we got to Sausalito the wind was so bad that we couldn't really get out to look around.
We did a lot of shopping for gifts down on the pier. Things weren't as cheap as in some areas but there was some lovely stuff. I bought a new set of Pan Pipes from a group of South American musicians who were playing on the street. Not that I can do much more than pick out a tune but still.
You can also buy things like convict suits and tacky tin mugs marked 'Property of Alcatraz' on them. Ofcourse we wouldn't be seen dead buying anything like that, would we?
Sshh!
