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Published: July 17th 2012
View From Behind Our Hostel
Golden Gate Bridge on the left, Alcatraz on rightSo Alisa and I decided to take a trip to San Francisco to celebrate my 30th birthday... although, let's be honest, it was just a good excuse to do some traveling.
She flew from Philidelphia and I flew from Buffalo (much cheaper than Toronto) and our planes met in Chicago and from there we had a 4 hour flight to San Fran.
The flight was nice, as it was good to catch up. It's been a year since we've seen each other and we had lots to share. ALISA JUST GOT ENGAGED!
Arrival in San Fran was easy, collected the bags and went up to the second level to find the shuttle we'd arranged ahead of time (
Go Lorrie's ) where a nice man that works for the airport told us where to wait and called to ensure they were coming.
The thing that struck us most was how cold it felt! It was drizzling and felt like about 12 degrees celcius!
When we arrived at
Hostel International's Fisherman's Warf Hostel we checked in, were given instructions and sheets and sent to find our bunk. It's about $30/night/pp for a bunk in a coed dorm room. It's a big room with
22 beds in it! Since we got in around midnight (local time but 3am our time!) we were super quiet and messed around with a flashlight to get our stuff settled, get ready for bed, and try to catch some zzzzs.
(NOTE: for future travelers, request beds 5 and 6 in coed dorm room 1 so that you get the electrical outlets at your beds! We're at 3 and 4 and they're right at the door where lots of light comes in and it's noisy with the door opening and closing) We got up this morning around 8am and went for breakfast, which is included in the price of the room. You can choose from bagels or waffles, as well as coffee, tea, juice, and fruit. After breakfast we showered and cleaned up and were off to see the sites!
Our hostel is gorgeous because it's right in Fort Mason park, it's on the water with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, and has bike and hiking paths surrounding it. We got some great photos and started walking down towards the Marina area. The views are stunning! We instantly fell in love with the city and
we've only seen a small fraction of it.
We walked down by the boats and along the marina to the Palace of Fine Arts, which is also stunning! We decided not to go into the Exploritorium as originally suggested, as it looked like just another museum.
Even the houses along the marina strip are just so different and cool looking. What I would give to live in a beautiful house like that, with such a gorgeous view!
We had lunch at a restaurant just inside the Fort Mason gates called "Greens Restaurant", which serves only vegetarian cuisine. My friend Jeanette had recommended it to us and we're so glad we went because the view and the food were both amazing. We got a table right by the window, which looked out over the marina and to the Golden Gate Bridge. For lunch we shared a black bean chilli as well as Brochettes (which were grilled veggies on a skewer with chimichurri sauce) that were served with a mix of rices with roasted pumpkin seeds, and a cabbage salad. SO YUMMY!
We then came back to the hostel to rest for a bit, since neither of us
Perspective
Alisa and the Palace of the Arts... showing how big it is slept well the night before.
The plan for this afternoon is to head to the Fisherman's Warf area, see the Ghiradelli chocolate factory, some seals on the pier, and eat some yummy seafood. We may make it over to the world's crookedest street (Lombard Street) as well, but we'll see how our time goes.
Less than 24 hours here, and I'm already SOOOOO in love with this city!
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