Lombard Street

There is was, rising up ahead of me, a massive hill just waiting for me to climb it. I stood at the base of it, catching my breath for a moment. I'd already hiked part way up but I'd yet to hit the most well-known part of this area. That's right, I was at the base of the famous curvy, windy portion of Lombard Street in San Francisco. It was nothing like I expected and yet, everything I had hoped it would be. I watched as people climbed the steps that flanked the street. Cars serpentined their way down the street, snaking along the red brick road.

I'd made my approach from below the street, starting down the hill at Columbus Ave. If you aren't familiar with the area, Columbus Avenue is more or less a level walk across to the waterfront. The walk up Lombard from Columbus starts innocently enough, a gentle incline that might trick the average visitor into thinking that this walk isn't such a big deal. Then you get a street up from Columbus, that's when the hill really hits. The gentle slope has now become a killing walk. Each step up the slope is work but I'm determined to get there to that famous curvy road and this wasn't it. I pushed forward, resting every so often to catch my breath and check my progress as I drew ever closer to my goal.

Finally, I made it to the base of the red bricked portion of Lombard. I was there....along with dozens of others, all anxious to see the road. As I caught my breath before beginning the climb up the steps I watched others who prepared to do the same. Many tourists had no regard for the cars on the road that were trying to continue their drive down Lombard. They stood in the middle of the road and took pictures while a car would come lumbering down the road, and across the intersection, never moving until the driver of the car honked. Finally, the pedestrians would move ever so slightly off to one side or the other so the car could pass, then they'd move right back into the middle again. I watched as the routine repeated over and over. No one really clued in that they should probably take pictures from the side of the road instead of the middle. I had to laugh a little as I shot some photos from the sidewalk. Then, unable to stop myself, I crossed the street and took pictures of those tourists I'd just been standing near.

I turned my attention away from the people in the street, I was ready to climb those steps and experience Lombard Street for myself. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this portion was actually easier to walk than the rest previous portions had been. I climbed the tiny steps and slowly made my way, taking pictures of the cars and the houses along the way. It was interesting to see one house so high above the neighboring house that one might be able to step from the first houses driveway onto the rooftop of the next house. I listened to the squeak of the tires on red brick road as cars slowly passed by me. Occasionally, a driver would stop to take a picture resulting in the toot of a horn from another driver further up the road but amazingly traffic moved along the road at a good rate. In spite of the tourists I knew still hovered in the roadway at the base of this section, cars rarely stopped moving forward.

I stood off to the side of one section, really on the side of a driveway and stared at a beautiful blue house covered in bright pink Bougainvillea. Just a gorgeous sight to take in. Other houses along the way were equally beautiful. All manners of styles of house stood alongside the street but it seemed to me that all were made up of multiple stories to accommodate the narrow and steep hillside. I still wonder what the inside of one of these houses might look like. I also wonder how the homeowners put up with living on such a busy roadway. I think one might have to have the patience of a saint to live along this road.

I kept moving ahead on my climb up the stairs until I finally reach the top. I snapped some pictures of the city from the top. I was in awe of the beauty in front of me. It really was a pretty place to visit. For my trek back down the hill, I decided to cross and head down the opposite side of the street. I laughed to myself as I crossed among the clusters of people who had blocked the top of the roadway as well to get their pictures of the street. I smiled at those who were making their way up the steps as I zipped my way back down. It was a neat adventure to have, one I knew I would be destined to experience again. One actually, that I did experience in an unfortunate accidental climb up the side approach to the top of Lombard Street. (Which for the love of God. Don't do it if you aren't prepared. It's so much harder than climbing the steps.) For this particular trip, I was glad I had finished my trek up and down Lombard Street. It was another goal to knock off my personal bucket list. This is definitely an adventure I will repeat, or perhaps, I'll explore the hill to Coit Tower, I still haven't' made my way there. One day I will, I just know it. I'm not finished with my visits to San Francisco yet.