After the Palace of Fine Arts, I entered the Presidio of San Francisco then walked along a beach to the Golden Gate Bridge, at the northern tip of the park. I walked on the bridge until the halfway point then came back to land and took a trail in the hills along the Pacific ocean.
After the boat ride on San Francisco Bay, I kept walking on Fisherman’s Wharf towards the Golden Gate Bridge. I visited the USS Pampanito, a submarine built during WW2. There is also a Liberty Ship nearby (the SS Jeremiah O’Brien) but I didn’t visit it. After that, I entered the Musée Mécanique, a free museum of mechanical games, some quite old. Most of the machines are coin operated and still operational. I then passed through Aquatic Park and Fort Mason on my way to the Palace of Fine Arts, built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition.
Harumi Passenger Ship Terminal (晴海客船ターミナル) is the Tokyo terminal for international cruise ships. It is located in Tokyo Bay at the southern tip of Harumi Island. It has one of the best views on Tokyo Bay and the Rainbow Bridge in the city. There is a viewing platform on the 6th floor but it was closed when I was there.
From Asakusa, an alternative to walking for reaching Tokyo Bay is to take the Tokyo Cruise Ship water bus. It follows the Sumida River southwards until Hamarikyu Garden and Hinode Pier. It is then possible to switch boat to pass under the Rainbow Bridge and reach Odaiba.
Takeshiba Pier is a combination of ferry terminal and promenade. This is where the ferries to the Izu and Ogasawara islands depart from. It also has a great view on the Rainbow Bridge and the mouth of the Sumida River.
After Yugawara, I stopped at the nearby Cape Manazuru, a small peninsula protruding into Sagami Bay. Apparently, its shape resembles a crane with open wings. At the tip of Cape Manazuru, there is a distinctive rock formation called “Mitsuishi” (三ツ石; Three Rocks). There are also trails in the forest near the rock but I didn’t have time before nightfall. To get there, I took the bus from Manazuru station to the tip of the peninsula and walked down to the ocean and the Mitsuishi rocks then went back to the station by bus.
Above, Cape Manazuru seen from Mount Nango.
Earlier this week, I went back to Yugawara. The goal was to get to to Makuyama Park and its 4000 plum trees, now in full bloom.
Kasai Rinkai Park (葛西臨海公園) is a park built on reclaimed land in Edogawa City, Tokyo. The park includes an aquarium (Tokyo Sealife Park), a bird sanctuary, two manmade islands, a viewing tower and a ferris wheel.
A couple of weeks ago, I went hiking in the sea-side town of Yugawara, in Kanagawa Prefecture, going up, in order, Mount Shiro (城山; 563m), Mount Maku (幕山; 626m) and Mount Nango (南郷山; 610m). They are not very high mountains but since the route starts at sea level, it still made for good exercise. The view on the Pacific Ocean during the hike was also great.
