Californian Adventures: Day Three in San Francisco

Hello Everyone, 

My third day in San Francisco didn't start out too well. After being so productive the day before, I sort of just wanted to have a bit of a rest and more relaxing day than the day before. My only real aim was to try out the cable cars, and eat in Chinatown, so nothing too taxing. 

I headed down to the bottom of Powell Street/Market Street, and I got on board a cable car to Fisherman's Wharf. A whole day pass for the Cable Cars, and I rode that line all the way down, and all the way back up again. I then decided to head down to the Financial District to see what was going on there.

Once I got down to where all the piers were, I found the Pier 1, where there is a Farmers' Market area, and where the Ferries leave to pass by the Golden Gate Bridge. I stopped and had a spot of avocado toast and a cup of green tea (the East Coast version of tea and toast). Hanging round the pier was nice, as I got to just relax and enjoy the scenery,

I walked down to get a little closer to the Bay Bridge, and to see what all the crowds were about. After stopping to take many, many pictures, I finally stopped at a piece of grassy park. There was a band playing there called the SOMAs. Hanging out there was pretty fun, and I really had a mooching day. I mooched around the rest of the day there, having a Starbucks Frappuccino and taking pictures.

I took the cable car back up to the Grace Cathedral and my hostel to pick up my laptop to try and get some work done before I went to dinner. Sitting in the sun in a park was pretty heavenly.

Dinner was interesting. I went to a Chinese restaurant, and I ate alone. The food was great and everything, but having been raised to consider food and eating to be a social thing that you share with people, eating alone is a very unnerving feeling. However, I'm glad I did it, it is something that you need to do at some point. Letting go, knowing people are looking at you (no matter how subtly they think they're doing it) and not letting yourself be bothered about it. Its pretty liberating, and once you've done it once, you know its not too bad and you can do it again.

Californian Adventure: Day Two

Hello Everyone,

My second day in San Francisco was an interesting day. I think I may have walked about 6 or 7 miles, (according to my map, which was in miles) Pretty impressive to me I think. 

I walked up around Nob Hill again, up Lombard Street to see the 'Windiest Road'. If driving in San Francisco wasn't hard enough, with all the hills, they have to put in a road with more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel. Eight hairpin turns help solve the problem of the steep incline, which was too steep for most vehicles and people to walk up. 

After stopping to take some pictures, and walking up the pretty steep hill. I continued walking up by Russian Hill, where I found a really pretty park with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. I considered renting a bicycle to get around on, but I wouldn't have easily been able to explore and take my time as I managed to do. 

Continuing on my way, I hit a lovely little cove beach, where I sat and enjoyed my time. There was a pier further down, with the path to Fort Mason, where I was heading later in the day. 

The Marina was pretty fun to visit. It is the hub of San Franciscan's fitness gurus. I must have passed at least five separate fitness classes, and tons of people running. It seems like a really cool place to be into fitness and being healthy. I walked until I was hungry, then headed back to the Fisherman's Wharf to grab something to eat, where I found a Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop. Of course I had to go in and get the biggest cone I could buy with the most interesting flavour of ice cream. 

I then headed to Golden Gate Park, to spend the rest of the day relaxing. I had a fantastic time exploring all around the park, seeing the Japanese Tea Gardens, the de Young museum tower, and the Shakespeare Garden. The Japanese Tea Gardens was full of hidden gems, like you had been transported to Japan in the middle of an American park. The de Young tower was amazing though. The best view of San Francisco, and its free.

However, the star of this evening was my dinner. To most people it would seem a little boring, but an Indian from a van in the park was my idea of heaven. A properly made Chicken Tikka Marsala with basmati rice and a hot chai was perfect. Strolling around afterwards watching the sun go down was pretty cool too.