We got up about 10.30am on Wednesday morning and was starting to feel a lot better but we both still had a cough but it was time to get out and about. It's only a short walk of about five minutes to get to Market Street where all the main buses run so we headed on up there on caught the 5L towards Ocean Beach for a thirty minute ride, got off in the Richmond district then headed into Golden Gate Park and spent around 30 minutes or so walking down to the Conservatory of Flowers on what was now a beautiful sunny warm day without a cloud in the sky, winter in San Francisco really is amazing place to be with flowers in bloom and bee’s zooming around.
There a small coffee shop just outside so it was time for a large coffee and a bit of a sit down before we got the tickets to go in. At $8 dollars each, it was well worth it, inside it is split into the sections, tropical, sub-tropical and dessert, I honestly thought that when we went into the tropical section it was going to be really hot and humid but it wasn't that bad; even my glasses didn't stream up. The plants in there are truly incredible, I've never seen a pitcher plant that big, everything seemed to be at least ten times the size that you would think it would be. We moved on through the various parts until we come to the special exhibition they were are at the far end on aquatic water gardening, we were the only people in that part at the time and they had a member of staff there who told us all about how and went these gardens created including fish in the tanks. I think we spent about a couple of hours in there in total but we now we had to move on.
Only a short walk from there is an ornamental garden called The Japanese Tea Garden, I wasn’t too sure about going in here as it very hilly inside and Jane probably wouldn’t be able to get around but as we were here we thought we might as well do it. I think it was $10 dollars to go in but when we got to the ticket window the man behind the counter said we could both go in for free as Jane wouldn’t be able to get around about half of the place which was nice of him. Inside was like being in a giant bonsai garden and they had some of the biggest koi carp I've ever seen in a large pond at the bottom. We followed a path that took us up a very steep hill and over some stepping stones (that was a bit trickier for Jane) to the Japanese Tea shop. This sort of tea isn't our cup of tea so to speak so we headed into the gift shop. I don’t think I've seen any give gift shop that was so expensive but then again a lot of the items on sale were handmade. From there we walked over to the big tower that is inside but the name of that escapes me at the moment, I had to leave Jane there at that point while I went and took some photographs as the paths were too steep and uneven for her to get any further. After taking far too many photos we found a path back down to the bottom that didn't involve crossing the stepping stones again and headed out back into Golden Gate Park. The strange thing about this place is that there is a wheelchair ramp outside up to the entrance but if you couldn't get it out of the wheelchair then you would only be able to look at the fish in the bottom pond.
We were both starting to feel a bit hungry now as we hadn't really eaten much in the last couple of days with not feeling well so we headed on over to a stall that was selling hot dogs nearby to get something to eat and drink. It was very pleasant just to sit there in the Music Concourse in this amazing park and watch the world go by on a sunny afternoon. By now it was starting to get late and it goes dark at this time of year around six here so it was time to cut through into Fulton Street and catch the bus back towards the hotel as we were both starting to feel a bit done in. Luckily there was a bus waiting to go so there was no hanging around not that you have to wait very long for a bus here most of the time for the thirty-minute ride back to Market Street.
So now it was time for the usual, head into Walgreen’s and get a sandwich and some bottles of drink then head back to the hotel. The funny thing was as we were going into the shop the security following somebody out who has stolen some items, he basically grabbed hold of the bloke as he got outside by the collar and took everything he had in his pockets that he has stolen from him then pushed him into the street and said don't come back again, they don't seem to bother calling the police for this sort of thing with the many homeless people that live around here it’s an everyday occurrence I think. With that, the bloke just sat back down on the pavement outside the shop again. I think they must get these sort people all the time in here and the other stores that are round here, they all have security guards on the door and wandering around. So that was another day over and with each one that passed, we got a little bit better every day. Time for some TV and the massive comfy bed now until morning.
