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Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, USA)
by dkm1981
The Golden Gate Bridge is probably the most famous of San Francisco's landmark and arguably the most famous bridge in the world. It spans the bay from The Presidio to Marin County on the other side and, as far as bridges can be, it is actually quite pretty. It isn't the biggest bridge in the world, but that doesn't stop it from being one ... of the most impressive.
It is a suspension bridge that was finished in 1937. At either end of the bridge is a little placard showing off some of its most impressive facts; the two towers are a lofty 746 metres high, the roadway across it runs for 1.75 miles and the cable used to construct it is enough to circle the Earth three times. Apparently it is five times stronger than it needs to be, which explains why it has suffered no damage despite years of hurricane winds, earth quakes and extremely heavy use. One of the most fascinating facts though in my opinion is that it can sway up to 21 metres - something that I absolutely wouldn't like to have tested whilst I was on it. The bridge is painted in 'international orange' a colour that makes it even more famous - I wouldn't like to guess at how many extra tonnes the paint gives the bridge.
A trip to the city isn't complete without crossing the bridge in one form or another. One of the most popular ways to do this is by cycle and there are lots of 'cycle the bridge' tours available from the Fisherman's Wharf area of San Francisco, where bike hire will cost around $18 for a round trip. The first time I visited, I crossed it on a bus. If you are thinking of going by vehicle, then you need to bear in mind just how busy the six lanes of the bridge get and that there is a $5 charge for the south bound trip. It is worth it once you've done it though because there is a lovely viewpoint at the far side where you can take some fabulous photos of both the bridge and the city in the background.
This time I visited, we walked across the bridge. I actually bottled it about a third of the way across as you can definitely feel the sway that I mentioned. This isn't helped by either the huge vehicles trundling past on the other side or the numerous signs along the way offering counselling to those who have thoughts of jumping off. Its status as the world's most popular suicide spot is, unfortunately, something else that makes the bridge famous and the evidence of this status is there in the signs.
My husband (the daredevil) walked much further than I did and took some spectacular photographs of the huge towers and the island of Alcatraz in the distance. He wasn't enough of a daredevil to look too far over the side in the middle of the bridge though, where there is a small protrusion which acts as a kind of viewing platform.
Back on terra firma at the beginning of the bridge there is a grassy area where you can admire the construction in all its glory, as well as a rather overpriced gift shop that, as the numerous signs tell you, has no toilet facilities. There are also a couple of benches and some quite interesting signs that tell the story of the bridge from its construction to now.
You can't possibly go to San Francisco without experiencing the world's most famous bridge, but if you haven't got a head for heights, be prepared to be afraid - very afraid!
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Lombard Street (San Francisco, USA)
by dkm1981
Lombard Street is one of San Francisco's strangest tourist attraction in my opinion because it seems odd that anybody would want to go and look at a bit of road, but as we found out when we visited this is not just any bit of road.
Lombard Street in its entirety stretches through the North Beach area of the city but it is the ... section at Russian Hill between Leavenworth Street and Hyde Street that draws in the visitors because this section has been dubbed the 'crookedest street in the world' thanks to its numerous tight turns in such a short distance. Its claim to being the crookedest street in the world has been contested, but it still makes for a fun and picturesque place to visit.
As you may know the city of San Francisco is famous for its steep streets and the seven switchback turns that make Lombard Street crooked in this section are a solution to the 27% gradient of the hill. It was far too steep for cars to comfortably pass through it so the turns were built in. The road is now paved with red stones and lined with flowerbeds and very quaint houses that make it a lovely place to go and see. Interestingly the houses that line the street here are some of the most expensive in the city, although I don't think I'd fancy living here because of the sheer number of people and cars that pass by - it must also be one of the busiest streets in the city if you ask me.
The street is one way as the road is very narrow and so cars can only travel from top to bottom. The best place to get a photograph from though is the bottom and if you are staying in the Fisherman's Wharf area of the city, it is just a short (albeit quite steep walk) from the area. There is a cable car line that passes along the bottom and stops just near the bottom of the road if you want avoid the walk.
There are steps running up both sides of the street so you can walk up and down it if you wish, which I'd recommend if you can because it is a very pleasant place to be and the top affords fabulous views back down into the bay and you can even see Alcatraz Island in the distance on a clear day.
We visited the street twice; once we walked to the bottom as I mentioned and we took some lovely pictures and enjoyed the general buzz that seems to surround the street. The second time we went as part of a tour on a GoCar, which is a self guided little car than you can hire by the hour to see the sights. We drove down the street as part of the tour which was a whole lot of fun - I honestly can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. We also became a bit of a tourist attraction ourselves driving down the street in a bright yellow car!
I'd definitely recommend a quick visit to Lombard Street if you are in the city as it is a quaint and picturesque place and there is certainly nothing else like it in the world!
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Top of The Rock (New York City)
by summerdays
Recently I was lucky enough to visit New York City, and one of the things I did was go to Top of the Rock observatory. The Rockefeller Centre is basically a really tall building, and the observatory level is at the top of the building. From the observatory level you get brilliant views of Manhattan.
The Rockefeller building ... is located between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The tickets cost $25 for an adult and $16 for a child. However looking on their website, it costs a few more dollars if you want to go at sunrise or sunset. I never actually paid to go to the observatory deck as I had a city pass ticket which is basically a ticket you buy, and it lets you visit lots of attractions, and the Rockefeller centre was one of the activities you could do.
We arrived at the building about midday, when we entered, we had to show our city pass tickets to the employees at one of the desks. We also had the chance to buy a map, the map was basically pictures of all the buildings you would see from standing on the observatory deck. It told you what all the buildings were called, and a little explanation about them. The map cost $2, and we decided to buy it.
After showing our tickets and buying the map, we then went to a lift, which went up 1 floor, we then had to go through security checks, which were very qucik and didnt take long at all. After that we had the chance to get a picture of us all, the picture was set out to look like the famous work men photo, to take the photo was free, but it cost to buy it. We then got the chance to watch a short clip about the history of the building which was interesting, and to me worth a watch.
We then made our way to the lift that took us to the 67th floor. It takes 42 seconds to reach the top. And going up in the lift, is actually really cool. While going up, there were flashing lights, and a clip playing, i wasnt too sure what the clip was to be honest, i was too distracted! When we reached the top, the lift doors opened to reveal a beautiful view of Central Park with plenty of buildings surrounding it. The 67th floor was indoors so on a very cold day I imagine its a nice floor to be on! There is also a gift shop on this floor if you would like to buy any touristy stuff! If you walk through the gift shop and out the other side you can get to the other side of the building which revealed a lovely view of the empire state building, but I'll talk about that in more detail later! We didnt stay on the 67th floor for long, and soon made our way up the esculators to the next floor.
The next floor was outside however there was safety glass surrounding the edges of the building, and I was actually pleased about that as I know without that glass i would be very scared to go near the edges of the building! There were infact gaps between the safety glass which meant that I could squeeze my camera through the gaps to get lovely pictures, however becareful not to drop your camera! Finally we made our way to the very top of the building. To get to the top of the building you go up some steps and your at the top. There is no safety glass on the very top, however the floor below is larger so if you did fall over the waist high barriers (which is very unlikely) then you would just fall on to the floor below.
Throughout this review I havent said much about the views, but I finally will! The views from the top floor are stunning! Face one direction and you have the Empire State building infront of you, It was so close and very easy to see it. It was lovely to take some photos of me and my family with the famous building. There was also so many other lovely things to look at. Central Park I found was gourgous to look at. It was just this huge green square in the middle of one of the busiest citys in the world! You also got a view of the Hudson river and I think it was Washington Bridge, which was also a brilliant view. The day we visited top of the rock was a lovely sunny day, and i can honestly say the views were simply stunning.
I would definitly recommend this experience to everyone, in my opinion it is one of the best ways to view Manhatten. When i was at the top, i was too busy looking at all the views that I even forgot to look at the map. Next time I visit New York, i would love to go in the evening as i think it would be pretty cool to see all the lights! All though this might seem like an expensive activity to do, I personally think its worth it!
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