The City by the Bay - San Francisco here we come!

We flew over to the U.S. with a rather comfy Boing 787 Dreamliner, in Economy Plus, and, had one free seat between us. 10.000 km in total, almost 12 hours flight time, but a smooth flight, on time.

It’s our 74th flight to the U.S., and, I remember the good old times, when you got your meals served on real plates with real silverware - though, it was the same question then: „pasta or chicken or pasta? – and when people told you to stay awake on the flight over because it helps you to get over the jetlag. But,,, nowadays they switch off the lights and dim the windows not quite an hour after take-off and - to my fullest surprise - people either lay down and sleep or stare at the TV monitor. The good old tradition of reading a book or planning the trip is gone. Remind you, it’s only early afternoon and we arrived to SF at 2 pm.

We flew a pretty Northern route and it seemed like the sun doesn’t reach that far at this time of the year. There was sometimes a reddish sunball just over the layer of clouds, but often it was almost dark. Always spectacular: the circling over SF before the landing at SFO:

Have been visiting SF for 16 times in the past, the second guidebook we wrote was on this city (after Atlanta, but before NYC!) and we did extensive research, not only in the city, but in the whole Bay Area. 40 years ago exactly, we flew to SF for the first time, on our first trip to the U.S. Lately, we flew through SFO often, thanks to a perfect direct connection offered by United from MUC to SFO, but always changed planes only and didn’t stay. Not so this time: We’ll be staying for four days, and our first stop - the  Lodge at the Presidio - showed to be a peaceful jewel surrounded by woods and water.

It's situated on the vast Presidio grounds, a former military installation surrounded by lots of greenery, among it huge eucalyptus trees. By the end of 1897, the Presidio was one of the five largest Army posts in the country with over 900 men and officers living there. The Montgomery Street Barracks built end of the 19th century have been renovated and one building was transformed into a comfortable and contemporary hotel: The Lodge at the Presidio. It's not far from the Golden Gate Bridge, which we see from our room, or rather from our bed:

 

 The hotel  opened in 2012 and offers a sleek-modern, "historically embedded" chic with superb views and a nice patio with a firepit, where we enjoyed a cheese-wine snack in the evening, after our walk. 

 

We walked the "neighborhood" after our arrival, about 5 miles, to get some exercise, towards the pillar of the bridge and down along the beach in temps we would consider a "cool summer evening". Photos belows were taken on this walk, including one of a hawk (?):

On "Infantry Row" (below) there is also the Walt Disney Family Museum and towards the waterfront a new park is coming up, to connect the huge Presidio grounds to Crissy Field, a recreation area with protected nature areas and trails and beaches (pictures above). We'll get a tour to see what's coming up tomorrow morning.  

Lodge at the Presidio 

      

View in the morning with Alcatraz in the background