Blogs from San Francisco, California, United States, North America - page 196

Now you may have heard, as we had, that San Francisco is possibly the most beautiful city in the world… Now, not willing to just take someone else’s word for it, we thought we should devote a good few days to discovering for ourselves what all the fuss is about. Throughout our time in the Bay Area, we discovered a thriving and cosmopolitan city with sweet surprises aplenty around every corner…and we are not just talking about the chocolate! Here a few of our favorite things about San Francisco… The Houses - If you have a bit of a thing for real estate, and like to go around looking at other peoples houses like we do…dreaming about the future mansion that you will one day own… then like us, you will truly love San Francisco. ... read more

Well it's been 10 days since I've updated this but as I've been in a desert without communication for the last week, it's not surprising. So after I left Hawaii I landed in San Francisco on the 23rd of August and checked in to the Green tortoise hostel. On the 24th I caught a ferry tour out to Angel island (an island for mostly chinese immagrants into the US in the mid 20th century) and then Alcatraz which everyone should know about. It was really cool walking around alcatraz and doing the audio tour of the cells which tells you the history and where some of the more famous people (such as Al Capone) where held. That night a mate from Perth who has been travelling the world for 6 months arrived so we went out ... read more

Wow, I feel so bad that it will be a miracle if I get through this without throwing up. LA is a mental place, but I'll get to that shortly. We cut across from Eugene to the coast last Weds and caught our first proper glimpse of the Pacific and it was amazing. We parked up and were running about like five year olds (as normal) because it was just breathtaking, we weren't to know that this was nothing compared to what we were going to see. Most people travel down the famous Highway 101 but we looked at the map and decided to go further west and do the road right on the coast, Highway 1. Bit scary, most people know I'm not a good passenger and Greyhead took great delight in driving the car ... read more

Oh, I love this city…something very Melbourne about it altho’ they don’t have the same competitive issues, playing the heart-and-soul to LA’s superficial glitz that Melbourne does with Sydney! OK I have had some requests for pix of San francisco...the words have dried up...maybe I need another bike?...but it's short....and reflects some of my fond thoughts of this fair city....it's nearly midnight and the occasional screams still break thru' into my little room... Lots of archaeo-tectural building facades, Victorian era carved-faced edifices still hanging in, and glorious, amongst the high risers of concrete and glass….and a constant stark contrast between the crowded derro filled areas just near my hotel and only a block or two away, the ritzy galleries, restaurants, high-end boutiques, name brand stores, parks and museums…the heart of the tourist area it seems….I wonder ... read more

San Francisco was an amazing city. The rate of fake body parts on people was much less than the southern part of the state making for more real, less pretentious people. We walked a lot and visited everything we could. We took a boat ride in the harbor, under the Goldengate bridge and around Alcatraz. We went through chinatown's little alleys, even watched a fortune cookie factory in operation through a tiny doorway. We had great food in the italian section of the town.... you can tell San Franciscans like to eat! We also took the streetcar around the city. That was a lot of fun since you are allowed to hang on the railing outside of the car! Another interesting sight was the city's only remaining wooden street. It descends through a hill and is ... read more