Goodbye San Francisco

It is with great sadness that my time in San Francisco is coming to an end. The city possesses a unique vibe and feel good factor that really captures the imagination and the smiles on the faces of the locals are evidence.

I have also been fortunate that the weather has been glorious each day, meaning that the vantage points overlooking the city become even more photogenic.

Yesterday I took a trip to the iconic Lombard Street, the world’s most crooked street and star of many films and TV programmes over the years. Despite being flooded with people jockeying for the best photo, the street is actually magnificent and well worth a visit.

With the temperature rising further, today I took a trip to Washington Park to indulge in a spot of people watching in the sun and was greeted by a celebration parade marking Columbus Day. Although I didn’t have a clue what was going on, it was certainly the longest parade I’ve seen, marching band and all.

As they say, all good things come to an end and tomorrow I move on.

Thanks San Francisco, it’s been a blast.

San Francisco continued

Upon leaving the UK, I vowed to myself to try and eat as healthily as possible and try and keep active in order to stay relatively trim. I needn’t had worried as over the past three days I think I must have walked every inch of San Francisco, managing to get lost numerous times along the way.

Yesterday saw me and some friends decided to check out Hayte Ashbury area of the city. Hayte Ashbury is about as bohemian and hippy-like as you get. An aroma of marijuana wafts down the bustling main street, between scores of independent boutiques and bars. By the time that we left I almost felt stoned and found myself bopping along to mellow reggae beats for the majority of the tram ride back into the city centre.

Then followed the hostel pub crawl which ended up with me doing shots with a redneck guy from Kansas and a US marine, as you do. Details then began to get a little hazy but all I know is that I made it back to the hostel despite inadvertently wondering through the cities red light district in a highly intoxicated state.

Despite initially waking up with a thumping a headache, my insistant Ozzy roommate decided that we were to visit the Golden Gate Bridge. After stopping off for food, beer and football stops, we finally made it and it’s easy to see why the image has become so synonymous with the city of San Francisco.

San Francisco

My body still may be reeling from the jet-lag and the aftermath of an 18 hour flight, but wow, what an incredible first full day in San Francisco.

The journey to the states was long and painful as expected. Changing planes in Reykjavik and Seattle and the associated layovers had left me questioning whether or not the cost-cutting measure was worth it, but what I do know is that I’m here now and San Francisco is like no place I've ever been before.

I arrived late on Tuesday night, having seemingly passed through the stage of immense tiredness. I’d gone from being unable to keep my eyes open on the plane a few hours earlier, to somehow not being able to sleep despite my body working at 8am UK time once I got in bed.

I eventually managed to grab what could have been no more than five hour kip before going downstairs and signing my name up to the hostel walking tour.

Signing up for the tour is definitely the smartest thing I’ve done so far during my time here. The knowledgeable tour guide led us around the city showing us the various sights and vantage points to photograph the stunning cityscape.

San Francisco is like hilly like no other. The hills are an intimidating prospect to walk up but the views at the top make the struggle well worthwhile.

Our tour initially led us to Union Square, a compact space which is the setting for many important episodes in the history of San Francisco.

From here our tour progressed through the fascinating Chinatown, onto Little Italy before descending down to the sea front which displays stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

Each district of the city oozes its own culture and identity and San Francisco emanates a very bohemian and mellow vibe.

The place strikes me as a tolerant city, where the people who live there are free to express themselves however they see fit.

Many of the landmarks are recognisable from various media and a walk around one district led us to a bar where the likes of John Steinbeck used to hangout, not to mention the church where Marilyn Monroe once tied the knot across the road.

All-in-all a very successful first day, met some cool people, got my bearings and finished off with a fantastic calzone and a beer in the searing afternoon heat.

Eagerly anticipating what the rest of my time in San Francisco has to offer.