I left my heart... in San Francisco!
Trip Start
Jan 17, 2007
1
67
Trip End
Jul 20, 2007
San Francisco, California
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
San Francisco is a really beautiful city and a place where we instantly felt we could spend a long time. The city is broken up into distinct suburbs, each with its' own unique identity. The tourist hub is around Fisherman's Wharf, the charming piers and promenades that look out to Alcatraz and tell of San Francisco's sea-faring history. Behind the hills that lead down to the wharf is the biggest Chinese population of any city outside of China and thus the biggest Chinatown in the world. It was good fun to walk round the narrow streets, highly decorated with banners and Chinese laterns and feel a million miles away from America. To the south of Chinatown, in the middle of the city is Union Square, the main shopping area and where all the public transport connects. We walked through the square each day to get to wherever we were going and found an amazing all-American diner - Lori's, where we felt like we were stepping back in time into 50's America. The food tasted great, the portions were huge, the waitresses looked like they'd walked off the set of Grease and to top it off there was a full size turquoise Cadillac sat in the middle of the booths!
Our suburb, the Mission district is so heavily populated by latino people that even the signs and billboards are in Spanish! It was lovely to see a local side to San Fran away from the prettier and cleaner tourist and shopping areas. The Castro district is particularly good looking and is where the majority of San Francisco's big gay community live. The icons of 70's hippie culture lived in the quirky streets of Haight Ashbury and you can still very much still feel the love there today! Diversity and multiculturalism are a celebrated part of San Francisco culture, which make it not only great fun but gives a very natural and welcoming air to the city. There are book shops, art galleries and independent music stores on every corner and it's obvious that locals have very different priorities to their image-conscious Pacific coast neighbours in LA.
We spent the majority of our time down at Fisherman's Wharf where the streets are bustling with hordes of tourists and locals at the weekend who have come out to soak up the lively atmosphere. The prom is lined with buskers, street entertainers and artists eager to distract your attention from the beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge, harbour and Alcatraz island. Pier 39 is where the majority of restaurants and shops are found along with a beautiful wooden carousel and the 7th and final Hard Rock Cafe of our trip! The pier is shared by some of San Fran's most famous residents - the sea lions who lie on the jettys and bask in the sun.
A short walk from pier 39 takes you to the Boudin Sourdough bread factory which makes the bread that is famous across the world. It was great to see the factory at work and to taste the San Fran speciality of Clam Chowder (and French onion soup for Laurie!) in a Sourdough bread bowl.
We walked past the old canneries to Ghiradelli Square, home of the chocolate factory which dominates the skyline view from the harbour and sampled some of its goodies.
We have had some excellent meals, especially on our anniversary and have really enjoyed San Francisco's hospitality, it's a lovely place and we look forward to coming back again sometime.
We just have the flight back to Heathrow and then on to the Isle of Man to go and then we'll be home. It's been a trip of a lifetime and we're so thankful that we've had the chance to see so many amazing places. We're really looking forward to having summer on the Isle of Man and to seeing you all again soon.
Lots of love
Jilly and Laurie xxx
