San Francisco, California - Travel Diary!
09:42:00
Hello lovelies,
I have most certainly saved the best US travel diary for last. Today I will be sharing some of the things I got to do and see on my trip to San Francisco. Only an hour flight and a price of $49, the three and a half days spent in San Francisco were worth every single penny. San Francisco was most definitely my favourite destination of my overseas adventure in the states and I would love to return one day.
Once Adrian and I arrived at San Francisco’s airport, we got a train to the city centre, and from there, walked to our hotel and checked in. Something that surprised me about San Francisco is that there were some areas that seemed a bit rough and had what I only assumed to be gangs. This scared me a little but thankfully didn’t lessen my opinions of San Fran.
By the time we were settled, there wasn’t time to do the most exciting things. But we did go for a wander and managed to do a bit of exploring. We headed to Union Square which at the time was lit with a crazy amount of Christmas lights. It was really pretty. It then began to get dark as the sun set. We headed to China town to check it out. A salesman was trying to bargain with me to get me to buy some ridiculously tacky ornaments. After some bargaining and checking out all there was to see in the China town area, we headed on a walk to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Pier 39 is a very touristy area in San Francisco and doesn’t fail to offer a large range of shops by the seas. The shops ranged from clothing stores to tacky little stores selling seashells and sea themed souvenirs, to some hipster art stores which were pretty cool. We decided that we would head back on one of our last days to get some souvenirs.
Our first full day in San Francisco involved climbing the twin peaks and looking down at the stunning sight of San Francisco. Following this, we headed on a long walk. We first walked around Golden Gate Park for a little while. I remember seeing some people filming themselves skateboarding who we happened to see again in a restaurant we ate at. After exploring the park for a little, we went to Ocean Beach where the cutest dog ever followed me as I walked beside the Pacific Ocean. By this time, it was lunch time and we developed a bit of an appetite so mutually decided to go to a diner that was close to the beach and the Lands End trail walk we decided to go on that day. I was really craving fish and chips that day and I thoroughly enjoyed it whilst looking out at the ocean. The Lands End trail was a very picturesque walk which allowed us to capture some unique pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. It took us awhile to complete the trail, but it eventually led us to another beach called Baker Beach. It was here that we watched the sun set again. That evening we went for dinner at a diner close to our hotel in the city and shared a banana split for dessert. This was the first one I’d had in years.
Our second full day in San Francisco was probably the most exciting as we finally were going to cross the famous Golden Gate Bridge. We got a bus out to the centre and were both eager to cross the bridge on bikes. Unfortunately, we had to go back to where we came from to get bikes, so decided to walk across instead. Before heading, we had to take a few mandatory touristy selfies with the bridge. It probably took us about 40 minutes to cross the bridge including the time we took to stop and take some photographs. Once we got across, we went up a hill to see the bridge from another angle and then decided to visit a town called Sausalito which was on the side of the bridge we were at. We got a taxi to the main area of Sausalito. Sausalito was a lovely town, not particularly entertaining to be honest, but it looked nice. We went strolling around for a bit, got some ice-cream (Adrian got the most delicious peppermint flavoured ice-cream) and then got a ferry back to downtown San Francisco. Sausalito completely reminded me of my holiday to Madeira last summer. We got off the ferry at the ferry building and explored the large market inside the building as well as the areas surrounding. That night when we got peckish, we found a place called “Hot Spud” which sold a variety of delicious baked potatoes with toppings of your choice. It was almost like a potato version of a burrito place. That evening we also walked down a street called Haight which offered a variety of cute vintage and hipster looking shops. I bought a very nice necklace with an E on it there.
Our final day in San Francisco was very bittersweet. We still had adventures to have but it was our last day of travel in the US before making our way back home for Christmas. Our morning started in a long queue to go on the famous cable car around San Francisco. San Francisco has very steep hills and there is just something extremely idyllic about riding a cable car around hilly San Francisco. We reluctantly got off at a stop somewhere close to Lombard Street as this was a sight we really wanted to see. Lombard Street is that zigzag street that is seen very frequently in movies and has a lot of attraction. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn’t on our side that day and we couldn’t manage to take a decent photo of it. After seeing Lombard Street, we went walking around for a bit and then headed to see the Palace of Fine Arts which was absolutely gorgeous. We also returned to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf for some last minute souvenir shopping and chilling by the sea before heading to the airport. We also tried some deep fried Oreos and explored Japan town before heading to the airport to depart.
There is still so much I’ve to do and see in San Francisco. However, it really was such a great trip. I really hope that you all enjoyed my US travel diaries and I hope you enjoy the other travel and lifestyle posts I have coming in the future.
Have you ever been to San Francisco?
What was your favourite part?
Let me know in the comments below.
Bye for now,
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