We did our San Francisco tour on June 4th. First we went to Pier 39 by Taxi, where we had lunch at the sea-facing restaurant Neptune.

Pier 39 is a festive marketplace built atop a pier near fisherman's warf, a very popular tourist place. Enjoy the fresh and lively atmosphere with soothing blues music playing in the background, go for a ride on the merry go round and enjoy the waterfront sight of the Alcatraz Island. The Neptune served some amazing Fish & Chips and an assortment of seafood items. It gave us a beautiful view of the Alcatraz Island while through the wall sized windows. We had lunch quickly and then took off for a bus tour of the city from Pier 39. It was an antique looking motorized bus with lovely wooden interiors and a very funny tour guide cum driver who kept us amused all the way telling different stories connected with the places we visited as well as important history. The guy was an expert. The bus took us to all the popular landmarks and attractions with 3-4 hours. We took a tour of downtown San Francisco, which covered the Palace of Fine Arts, Japantown, Chinatown, North Beach, Old Mason Street, Fort Point, the Golden Gate Bridge (!!), and back to Fisherman’s Warf.

San Francisco is a beautiful city.. a blend of old suburban homes in a variety of styles with modern infrastructure and amazing sights. I remember Gary asking the tour guide to tell us a joke and he said the biggest joke is that he's driving :). Fort Point is a small fort located just off the shore. It had some amazing views, compelling us to take lots of photos there. We just got 15 minutes wherever we stopped (which I guess was enough or our camera batteries would have drained anyway). We walked half way through over the Golden Gate bridge and came back.We came back and had some crepes at Pier 39. We then walked out to see the sea lions! Fresh sea breeze, soft barks of the lazy californian sea lions, and an evening sun in the backdrop.. that was just an amazing experience. I then walked back to the hotel with David and his english friend discussing iPhone and Guitars :)

This is part of a series of blog posts on my JavaOne 2009 experience..