San Francisco, San Jose & Sentinel Bldg

San Francisco, March 2023

This was one of my two awesome layovers in San Francisco in 2023. This time I was able to get a crew willing to visit the Yosemite Park but I will leave that report for later.

On the day we arrived we decided to go to a rooftop for a drink and stay awake as long as we could since the time difference is -8h.

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Charmaine's Rooftop

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Cupertino

On our way back from Yosemite, me and a colleague decided to see the Apple Park and stop in San Jose for a short visit before we returned our car in San Francisco.

There wasn't much we could see at the Apple Park site since we didn't have an appointment for a visit but the building itself is really impressive.

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City of San José

We stopped in San Jose out of curiosity but after our short visit I was thinking the city hasn't much to offer for a tourist. Here are the main highlights:

Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph

Sonic Runway

City Hall

We had dinner there (we went for Ramen) and we got back in San Francisco.

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San Francisco

Next day I was all by myself and I went to explore SF a little bit more. The Sentinel Building (or Columbus Tower) was something I wanted to see and photograph.

Sentinel Building

Down below the sister cities of SF and a TWA metal poster I bought at the Pier 39.

And the last day of my layover was already the return day to Lisbon. I went to the Ferry Building Marketplace. But first, a couple of photos on my way...

And finally inside the marketplace:

The last set of photos I took show the SF-Oakland Bay bridge and some kind of street art. I was also lucky to get a cargo MD-11 overflying it.

Despite its miserable longitudinal stability that caused some accidents, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is always a beautiful and gracious aircraft to see.

San Francisco, November 2022: Day 2

San Francisco, November 2022

The next morning I still had a few hours left in San Francisco. Despite we are still in November, many Christmas decorations were already in place. I loved the Christmas decoration of my hotel.

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Christmas Season

And I went back to the Union Square to take a picture of the tree during the day.

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Transamerica Pyramid

This has to be my favorite building in San Francisco. A wonderful 48-story skyscraper.

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SF-Oakland Bridge

I also visited again The Embarcadero...

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Salesforce Park

... and also this wonderful park.

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Powell Street

My last  stop before going back to the hotel was to enoy the view from the Powell St / California St intersection.

I hope you enjoyed it too!

San Francisco, November 2022: Day 1

San Francisco, November 2022

It seems crazy that it was 15 years ago that I started this blog under its original name "Nautical Miles", intended to be a journal of my Hajj experience in 2007 and forgotten after that. But after all it has been such a long journey.

These last years I have not been too active but I refuse to end the story of this blog. So let me share my last layover in one of my favorite cities: San Francisco. Flying the A330neo, of course.

This was not my first time in SF, nor the longest layover available. Despite that, I had the opportunity of having one complete day without worries to explore the city (I mean, without having an early wake-up call the next day).

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Alamo Square

My first stop was the Alamo Square with its famous "Painted Ladies", the Victorian style houses. I was on my way to the Amoeba Music store in the Haight Ashbury district. I would return later to this square to catch the last rays of sun while seated on the grass of the park.

Going back for a quick stop at the hotel, I saw this...

... it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... everywhere you go!

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Salesforce Park

This is another park in San Francisco placed on the rooftop of the Salesforce Transit Center that I enjoy a lot. It's quite surprising to have such a feature there.

The whole point of going there was to check the works (I was curious about that) on the sinking and leaning Millenium Tower.

Millenium Tower to the right

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The Embarcadero

Next stop was the Embarcadero waterfront. Always, a lovely place.

Ferry Building to the left

On the Pier 14 you get nice views of the illuminated SF-Oakland Bay Bridge.

As a curiosity, this bridge was built by the American Bridge Company, the same guys who built the "25 de Abril Bridge" in my hometown, Lisboa.

Also from the Pier 14, what an amazing view of the Financial District skyline!

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Union Square

Before returning back to the hotel and have a good sleep, I didn't want to miss the Christmas lights and tree in the Union Square.

San Francisco... always such a good vibe!

Closing of a route due to the pandemic

San Francisco, November 2020

By that time, during the first year of the pandemic, it was a rumor often heard that the San Francisco route would end soon. So, when I saw San Francisco in my roster I immediately did a mini-list of what I wanted to see and explore in the city in that short layover. One year earlier I automatically fell in love for San Francisco when I had a bigger layover but I still left many things to do for a next visit. This time, I was not sure if I would ever return again to San Francisco after this opportunity.

When I was warned that my return flight was canceled because the route was being discontinued and that I would return back to Lisbon as a passenger on the very same aircraft I was taking to San Francisco, I admit I was totally upset.

The flight to San Francisco took 12h35. 

A330-900 CS-TUE at San Francisco Intl

Since the return flight to Lisbon would depart only six hours after we landed, we went to the hotel for a much deserved small rest.

The City by the Bay in the morning

I didn't even try to sleep because it would be worse for me waking up only three hours later. So I just stayed in a low energy mode. This was my room's view:

And then, we were back to the airport again.

San Francisco International

Flying as a passenger, I was able to fully appreciate the traffic at the airport.

Flaps set and taxi-out for departure.

The in-flight maps of the IFE system are pretty neat and after take-off I was able to enjoy the amazing sights and the diverse geographical feats along the route, over the United States.

Sierra Nevada

Mono Lake and its Paoha Island

A330neo

Soon it was time for dinner to be served and to appreciate the new china celebrating the company's 75th anniversary.

And more amazing landscape views...

As we progressed eastwards, night darkness fell very quickly and the show was over.

Overflying Wyoming / Colorado border 

Main course

After the meal, it was pretty easy for me to fell asleep after so many hours awake... In the end, I didn't miss the opportunity for a photo of the passenger cabin of our A330neo.

At this point, nobody knew if the route was closed for good or if it was only temporary.