I snuck in a second ‘city break’ holiday after my flight was delayed… here’s how

“I’M afraid your plane has a technical fault, so it’s going to be delayed,” the airport staff said over our annoyed groans.

While a flight delay is the worst way to end your holiday, I managed to make the most of it – by squeezing in a whistle-stop city break while waiting.

Following a bucket list trip to Hawaii, I ended up back at San Francisco while waiting for my connecting flight home.

The six hour delay ended up becoming a much longer one, thanks to a fault with the aircraft.

And after a quick Google, I realised I could quite easily fit in a trip to the American city, having never visited before.

I hurried over to the exit, asking a friendly security guard if he thought it was a good idea, greeted by an enthusiastic encouragement.

While maneuvering the train situation caused a few issues – having to jump on a quick airport train then another into the city – I once again was met by a friendly train conductor who helped me get the needed tickets.

And 30 minutes late I found myself right by San Francisco‘s harbour, with a few hours to kill.

Leaving the airport, I was told to go straight to The Embarcadero train stop.

It was an early start, so the classic San Francisco fog was still gripping the tops of the skyscrapers (fog so famous, it has even been named Karl the Fog).

But after a quick morning coffee – an extremely large an expensive iced latte – the fog was lifting along with my spirits.

Stepping out onto the pier, I waved goodbye to eager tourists departing on a boat to explore the nearby Alcatraz.

I didn’t have the time myself nor did I want to risk being on an island and missing my long flight home.

But the clearing skies meant I could see it from the mainland – ticking off my first of the city’s iconic tourist attractions.

A short walk across the pier, I heard barking in the distance, not one of the many dogs being hauled along by their e-scooting owners.

Not dogs, but instead the famous sea lions, all piled on top of each other and yelling at each other in their own loud language.

Another tick and I’d only been in the city for under an hour.

By this point the city was waking up, with clear blue skies and a scary number of self-driving cars whizzing by.

As I reached my second hour of visiting the city, I managed to spot both the Golden Gate Bridge (just), ticking off my third attraction.

As much as I wanted to try some of the city’s finest dishes too, told of amazing chowders and crab salads, I knew I had to head back to the airport.

Thankfully it was in style, with a cool electric Tesla taking me straight to the terminal in just 30 minutes.

Of course, I’m not pretending I can now say I have ‘been’ to San Francisco – two hours is barely scratching the surface.

But it was a great way to get a taste of city… and stretch my legs with some Vitamin D before getting a flight home.