Bridges and Ocean

The city of San Francisco is located on a peninsula and is connected with the "mainland" by beautiful bridges.
The most famous of them - Golden Gate Bridge, is a continuation of HWY 101 and connects the city with the district of Sausalito.
The area near the Sausalito is also very beautiful.
There are many beaches, beautiful paths, historical sites and lookout points here.
You can see the ocean and the bridge "Golden Gate" against the background of San Francisco.
Tourists visit here to places like Stinson Beach, Muir Beach, Panoramic HWY, Conzelman Rd., Battery Spencer, Battery Mendell, Hawk Hill, HeadLand LookOut, Point Bonita Lighthouse, Vista Point.

We turned from Highway 80 to Highways 37 and 101 and drove to the coast.

During the trip on the West, we are so accustomed to open spaces, but here was a struggle for every scrap of land.

We drove by the HWY 1 and Panoramic HWY, across the hills and forests.
GPS-coordinates: 37°53'03.0"N, 122°33'13.8"W

And here is the pazzl near the road.
What do you think, what is it?

I knew, but the wife had no idea
"Chests with the tools and the beehives" - it were her answers.
In fact - this are the usual mailboxes for correspondence.
Therefore, the postman does not rise to every hill, to every home.

And here is the ocean!..

We went back on HWY 101, passed through the tunnel and turned onto Conzelman Road.
GPS-coordinates: 37°50'01.4"N, 122°29'01.6"W

The road runs through the park, near the ocean, close to the Golden Gate Bridge.

We decided to take pictures of the bridge from the lookout point.
Oh, fog prevents...

Conzelmann Road - the road with the observation points for tourists:
Best GG Bridge Vista, Hawk Hill, Headlands Lookout, Point Bonita.

Tourists travel between view points, they looking for the best place for photos of the bridge and the ocean.
The Conzelman Road ends at Point Bonita Lookout, from where you can walk to the Point Bonita Lighthouse.
*Point Bonita Lighthouse*
GPS-coordinates: 37°49'17.5"N, 122°31'47.9"W

Here, there are also former naval fortress - forts: Battery Spencer, Battery Mendell and others.

Battery Spencer - is fort with huge guns, so named in honor of General Spencer.
The battery was used from 1897 to 1942.
The Fort had protected San Francisco from the sea.
*Fort Baker*
GPS-coordinates: 37°49'46.4"N, 122°28'59.9"W

Here, excellent views of the ocean.

We passed across the view points near the ocean and made some photos.

And now it's time to check the strength of the Golden Gate Bridge!

Golden Gate Bridge - a suspension bridge across the bay.
This is one of the most recognizable bridges in the world, a symbol of the United States.
The bridge connects the city of San Francisco with the district of Sausalito.
The construction of the bridge began January 5, 1933 and lasted for more than 4 years
Golden Gate Bridge was opened on May 27, 1937 at 6:00 am.
*Golden Gate Bridge*

The bridge was the largest suspension bridge in the world since opening in 1937 and until 1964.
The total length of the bridge - 2737 m, the main span length - 1280 m, height of supports - 227 m above the water.
The height the roadway above surface of the water is 67 m.

The road traffic on the bridge is carried out on the six lines.
You pay for travel on the bridge, when you drive to San Francisco and free of charge in the opposite direction.
Ambulances, police and fire vehicles cross the bridge for free.
Pedestrians can also cross the bridge for free.

After moving across the bridge, we were in San Francisco.
There are a lot of interesting things there and we would like to see "all".
But we had only a one and a half day to see San Francisco.

First, we stopped at the lookout point near the bridge...

Then, we drove in the direction of Baker Beach and Land End Point, away from the bay and the bridge of the same name "Golden Gate".

Finally, we drove to the center of San Francisco , to the two hills - Twin Peaks.
Sometimes we stopped and made some photos...

Buildings on the hills are very impressive, the houses are built in tiers...

The streets, through which we were traveling, were hilly and quiet.
And the house had two or three floors.
We were very surprised by the huge number of wires above the roadway.

And then, we came to the temple...
It was Orthodox Church, a white, bright and beautiful.

The Cathedral of Our Lady “Joy of All Who Sorrow” is located in San Francisco, on the corner of 26 th Street and Geary, in Richmond - Russian district of San Francisco.
The parish was founded: the 2nd of June, 1927.
The construction of the church was started on June 25, 1961.
Great Blessing was on January 31st, 1977.
*Holy Virgin Cathedral*
*Holy Virgin Cathedral - Wiki*
GPS-coordinates: 37°46'48.4"N, 122°29'10.1"W

The cathedral is one of the attractions of San Francisco.
It is the spiritual center of Russian Orthodoxy on the west coast of America.

The green sleeping area with toy houses and quiet streets left behind us...

The streets became wider and the road traffic more hard.
We were approaching to the center and to the "Twin Peaks".

"Twin Peaks" - are two picturesque hills in height 282 meters, are located in the heart of the San Francisco Peninsula.
Hills are situated at a distance of 200 meters from each other, they have their own names.
The north hill - Eureka, and the south hill - Noe.
*Twin Peaks*

On the northern hill is a popular tourist area, known as the "Christmas Tree Point".
A beautiful 360-degree view of the bay and of San Francisco offers from this point.
The hills are very popular among tourists.

Unfortunately the weather was not too good.
On the hills was cold, the strong wind and light rain.
And of course the fog that hid from us all the beauty of San Francisco.

San Francisco in the fog...

The building density is simply amazing...

From the observation point perfectly visible the Market street, a street from the center to the bay.

You can see the individual objects and buildings using a telescope.

Houses, churches, streets - everything is very close.

This is DownTown ...

It was cold, we got into the car and drove through the narrow streets with toy houses to HWY 1.
And further in the direction of our motel.

The city of San Francisco is very beautiful and it is visited by many travelers.
Therefore, in the tourist areas, the price is expensive and motels are booked in advance.

In order not to overpay, we booked the motel for 2 nights in Redwood City, about an hour's drive from downtown of San Francisco.
An hour drive - this is nothing for those who have traveled thousands of kilometers...
We were not in a hurry, because we fulfilled our plan for this day.

On the way to the motel, we stopped only at the beach "Pacifica State Beach", to see the surfers.
GPS-coordinates: 37°35'53.1"N, 122°30'07.2"W

And without stopping, to the motel...