San Francisco #2

I’m looking for a husband

The first day in San Francisco begins with eggs, bacon, hot chocolate and pancakes. 🙂 After that I need to sleep (after a busy night flight) and then time to go to streets! I have my plans, I want to see all the places I know from the familiar postcard pictures with my own eyes. Since I have not found the same spirit among my crew, I’m happy to go on my own and enjoy my favorite city by myself. Before the flight I was often making jokes that I wanted to find a husband in San Francisco and as soon as I’m out in the streets, I get few proposals 🙂 One black guy waiting at the bus stop even offers me a marriage together with his American passport. 😀 At least he makes me laugh.

Again with a map and notes from our hotel “Bell boy” Im wandering around, soon able to read public transportation system even without his instructions. The first stop is PIER 39, where I want to see lazy seals. Then I want to find another PIER which I know from the pictures. I just don’t know its number. Finally it’s PIER 7, so quite far away! But I’m proud of being able to find it. The weather is amazing today, the beautiful sunshine at Fisherman Wharf. On the way back to the hotel, I take a quick walk through China Town, Lombard Street and Russian Hill with beautiful views. There I find bookshop called “Forbidden Books” at the corner of the Chinese District. It is a beatnik’s museum and a bookstore in one with an unforgettable atmosphere. They sell old discs, comics and first editions of famous beatniks books such as Jack Karouac and Allen Ginsberg. Lombard Street I find only when it is getting dark outside. The steep, hilly streets are a pretty decent maze! And a nice workout! 🙂

Muir Woods

Next day I hardly get up, I have such a pain in my muscles! But I have to get up, at eight o’clock I have pick up for a bus trip to Muir Woods Park and the town of Sausalito on the other side of the bridge. Our guide and driver is an old and very funny Russian guy who likes to break the rules. On the way to Muir Woods I find out that San Francisco is the most expensive city in the United States. Renting an apartment will cost you way more than one in Manhattan in New York! I also learn why San Francisco is so cold. That’s for the winds coming from Alaska. Heavy fogs are results of differences between the cold ocean and the hot Californian lands. Summer is therefore not the happiest time for a vacation. In shorts you will see only unprepared tourists! 🙂 But during the fall months of September, October and November is the city most beautiful. Yet in my most favorite season! Also spring is suitable for a stay but in the winter it usually rains constantly. But the locals enjoy the rain because they know it will not rain again for the next eight months. Everywhere we pass by we see trees, but the ground looks very dry. Muir Woods Redwood Natioanl Park is a park that allows tourists to explore a piece of forest full of gigantic red sequoia trees. I feel that elves and giants still live here! I feel so small here… 🙂

On the way back from Muir Woods, we pass by to Sausalito, one of three picturesque towns set in a rocky bay along the bank of the Golden Gate Bridge. There are plenty of art galleries and Leppert’s ice cream store, which has the best ice-cream in the US. From Sausalito you can take a ferry back to San Francisco for $ 11, but I choose a faster and warmer bus because I have other plans with the city. The driver will first take us to the cliff where we have a beautiful view over the Golden Gate Bridge. Then, through the city, we reach Fisherman Wharf, where our trip ends. But he will also draw attention to a small restaurant in the Little Italy district called Stinky Rose, where all the food is made of garlic, even desserts! I gotta try out next time!

From Fisherman Wharf, I take a walk to the hotel for a new map of the city (I’ve lost first one), and I happen to find a gateway to the China Town and the beautiful street with pink lanterns. There I buy traditional Chinese dress. After this trip, there are only two places I still want to visit – Painted Ladies and Height Ashbury – popular area of Hippies. I take a bus to Ashbury, but on the way coming back to hotel Im wandering around and admiring crazy shops. I guess every weirdo in the world can find something interesting for themselves. There are shops for transvestites, trance music fans, hippies, Rastafarians, Goths (“Little Creepy Things” store) or nostalgic people. To me the most interesting was The Fashion Museum, where you can buy costumes from every age. In my view, you can find here every style that has ever been worn. Also shop assistant looks like he comes from an another time with his mustache and a watch on the chain. On the way back to my hotel I find also Painted Ladies. The park overlooking the old-fashioned houses is being renovated, but the view is still worth it. Also other streets around are full of funny colorful villas and houses. The day is slowly coming to an end, and I start to realize that I have walked all San Francisco in two days. 🙂