A beautiful clear warm day, perfect for exploring along the shoreline. We went straight to food nirvana, the ferry building markets where there was organic local produce of every kind. The standouts were chocolate coated peanut brittle, cheeses, a salumi shop, rose geranium macaroons, and mushrooms! We had dim sum for lunch in a Chinese teashop.

We caught a trolley bus to pier 39 to see the sealions and fishermans wharf and what a tourist pit this area is - it has a carnival atmosphere and was so crowded. Not sure if it was the super tacky shops selling enormous statue "art", the usual souvineers and deep fried and sugared everything, or the themed restaurants and wax museums that were pulling the crowds. Even the ghiradelli chocolate shop was a disappointment catering for bus tour tourists and not the factory with lots of samples that I was expecting. Avoid.

Jane and I found a tasting wine cellar and tried some wines - nothing special yet, the wines are alcoholic and don't stand up to our kiwi and australian wines.

We had to walk up a big very steep hill to see Lombard st, famous for being the curviest st in the world, great views. It was time for dinner and we had been given a great suggestion for a restaurant in the Hayes area - nopalita Mexican, specialties handmade corn tortillas with crispy pork belly and coriander, and tortillas stuffed with potato cheese and jalapeño chillies - $6 the dearest of the dishes. We walked back to the city, and stopped in at a great bistro bar called absinthe for a cocktail. We are finding there is lots of individuality in the different parts of the city and the more you get away from the tourist hubs the more we are being rewarded.