San Francisco-Cable cars, Aquarium and Shark feeding!

Did you guys know that San Francisco is one of the only places left in North America that still has the cable car? It is the city that is most famous for them, at any rate. It is one of those touristy attractions that everyone does. Even the locals take the cable car if occasion warrants it.

That said, because there are so many people taking the cable car, there is often a long line up to get on. We waited about 30 minutes before getting on ours. That said, we did hit the "peak" time at around 11:30am. We all like sleeping in a little, and had some food beforehand, making us leave a bit later than we'd expected.

Our trip ended at Fisherman's Wharf, which is another one of those huge touristy destinations. It is also the terminus stop of the cable car. When they are at the terminus stops, the cable cars have to be turned around by workers, and it creates a backup. That means that the cars are stopped for a while, leading to some fun photo ops!

We didn't stay long at the Fisherman's Wharf, but instead made our way to the Aquarium of the Bay! We had pre-booked tickets to do a behind the scenes tour and shark feeding, but wanted to go around the aquarium first. We did go to a lovely cafe for dessert, but, you'll have to wait for the glorious, mouthwatering photos of those until later, when I do my desserts of San Fran post.

Do you know which wrist is mine?

I think I've made it clear that I LOVE aquariums. I hate the whole captive fish thing, and the removal of sensitive species from their natural environments, but I also love science and the wonder of things that inhabit the most unknown area of the world-the oceans. The sheer amount of beauty in the creatures under the sea, and the weird turns through the path of evolution that some of these species have made is just mindbogglingly awesome.

The actual aquarium wasn't that spectacular. I've been to some of the world's biggest and best aquariums (such as Osaka Aquarium, Tokyo Aquarium, Busan aquarium, etc) so this one was rather small and limited in the species that were on display. It was still a nice aquarium, but I think I've been spoiled too often in the past, in terms of awesome aquariums.
The actual tour was pretty awesome though. We got to learn about the different feeding and breeding programs that some of the species undergo in the aquarium. We also got to see the decontamination areas for new incoming fish, as well as where the creatures go when they get sick. Finally, we got to feed all the different kinds of sharks! I didn't get any pictures of that, since I was wearing my gloves, and didn't want to get my camera covered in fish guts. But, this is right after the feeding.

How cool is that? If you're in the area, I highly suggest taking the tour. It was super informative and a lot of fun to feed the sharks!

Up next-ANOTHER chocolate factory, and the Exploratorium!