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Published: July 19th 2012
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So yesterday afternoon we did indeed head over to the Fisherman's Warf area where we first visited Ghirardelli Square where they make the world famous chocolate! We got some ice cream and dark chocolate hot fudge on top! The ice cream was mediocre but the hot fudge on it was worth it!
The walk around the piers and shops in the Fisherman's Warf area was nice. Pier 39 is the nicest of course, with tons of shops and restaurants. We started there by checking out the sea lions sunning on the docks. Apparently at certain times of the year (starting in mid August and later) the docks are filled with these animals, but in the summer months they head off to mate and so only a few stragglers lag behind. They were cute though.
We spent lots of time browsing shops including a lefty shop (Alisa's a lefty) and a Christmas shop (Alisa's obsessed with Christmas stuff). We then enjoyed some yummy clam chowder out of a sour-dough bread bowl. Mmmmm! Perfect warmth for the cooler weather.
Once the sun set, we head back to the hostel where were then chased by skunks around the area. I thought
the first one was a squirrel but Alisa screamed and ran yelling "SKUNK!" and I quickly followed.
We got ready for bed and ended up sleeping MUCH better last night. We did realize, however, that we may be getting "too old" for the shared dorm rooms. This realization was caused by the 3 young ladies who spent hours getting ready and made the whole room smell like a perfume shop, and then said girls returning from their wild night at 7am, as we were waking up.
Today was a late start due to Alisa being on the phone with tech support for her computer (yes, Apple computers also break down). We started today back at the Hyde Street Pier, as it closes at 5pm and we were too late to se it yesterday. There are some big boats you can pay money to board but we just admired them from the dock.
Next, we tackled the large hill that is Hyde Street on our way to go see the "World's Crookedest Street": Lombard Street. It was pretty cool with it's zigzagged curves. Tons of tourists trying to take pics while avoiding being hit by the traffic as
well. haha.
We did tons of walking today. We walked to the Cable Car Museum (free entry) which was really neat, as it explained how the cable cars in the city work. We had no idea the big wheels in the museum kept the cables constantly moving and that the cars only move when they hold onto the moving cable.
More walking next when we walked to the "North Beach" area, which is the Italian neighbourhood. We were searching for a restaurant called "The Stinking Rose", which I had seen on Pinterest and wanted to find. They are ALL about the garlic! It was SOOOOOOOOO good. We ordered all our food to share again (best way to try multiple things) and got a caesar salad (honestly the best one I have ever had), steamed vegetables and gnoccetti (mini gnocci) with asparagus in a cream sauce. They also serve fresh bread with what the server called a "relish" but was a mix of garlic, pesto, olive oil, and some other green I can't remember. The garlic was so strong in our food that I can still taste it as I type this blog and probably will continue to until
tomorrow!
After lunch was more walking along the water to see all of the piers. We thought all the other piers would be as exciting as pier 39 but this was not the case. It was mostly a bunch of piers that seemed closed off to the public, as I'm assuming this is where cargo is shipped to and from. Boring.
By now my feet, which had started to blister yesterday, were throbbing, and Alisa's back was acting up, so we swung back around pier 39, looked around a bit then head back towards the hostel for a quiet evening in. Although we felt guilty about the 5 hours that we could have been out running around the city, we also realized that we were both feeling drained and needed the rest. Man, site seeing takes a lot out of you! We were also so deceived by the maps, that make it look like everything is super close to each other and very easy to walk everywhere. Yes, it's possible. But it's definitely a distance. We agreed to rent a car tomorrow to go see some of the sites that are otherwise a little out of the way,
as it will save Alisa's back and my feet from future woes.
On our way back to the hostel, we passed a restaurant/bakery called Boudin's which makes sour-dough bread in the shapes of teddy bears, crabs, turtles, and even had a 50 pound alligator bread character in the window. Alisa picked up a mini turtle loaf and I got a cheddar jalapeno loaf, which we decided would make a perfect late/lite dinner after our large garlic lunch earlier.
We've spent the evening putting up our feet and getting caught up with emails and such. I did some reading while relaxing in the hostel's communal lounge. It was exactly what we both needed.
So tomorrow the plan is to rent a car, go see coit tower, the "Full House" house, Alamo Square and "The Painted Ladies" (the park they show in "Full House" with the houses across the road), Haighty Ashbury (hippie neighbourhood), Castro District (gay neighbourhood), Mission District (Spanish/Latin neighbourhood), and maybe some of the Golden Gate Park. There's just so much to see and so much land to cover! We're hoping tomorrow's car rental will save us some time and grief. We also switch to the
Pier 39
Usually full of Sea Lions but this time of year many have left to go mate. hostel downtown tomorrow, so the car would help in that move as well.
Hasta Manana!
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