Skyline of San Francisco from the Alcatraz Ferry.So Sunday was our first Wedding Anniversary, and we woke up with big plans... to walk the Golden Gate bridge! I'm not sure what happened (maybe it was the bunkbed sleeping situation) but we were sort of over-optimistic about how far we could walk after some pretty heavy walking the two days previous.
Mark takes a break on our bunk at the Downtown YHA.
Fort Mason Park.We didn't EXACTLY head out in the wrong direction but it became clear pretty early we weren't going to make the distance in good spirits. We did instead, however take a rather lovely walk along Fort Mason and through the very well kept neighbourhood of Pacific Heights, which ended up being quite enjoyable in itself. Oh, and if I ever have money drop on me from the sky I'd like an apartment at 3665 Scott Street please, you can look that up on google maps if you feel curious :)
Palace of Fine Arts.
The De Young Museum.We visited the rather extraordinary and monolithic Palace of Fine Arts (once used to house telephone books!) and then caught a cab over to Golden Gate Park to visit the De Young Museum. First, there is no way I could do justice to just how good the viewing platform is in this museum. Second, Golden Gate Park is just so vibrant and beautiful, and if I ever return I'd be attempting to do and see more there. In the short time we were passing through we saw rock 'n roll dancing, a big brass band and segway tours, we didn't have the time to properly take much of it in at all. So many people were sunning themselves on the grass with friends or riding around on a bike, I just got the feeling that this might as well be a place for me if I return.
Happy first wedding Anniversary to us!We finished the day with a pretty special anniversary dinner at a restaurant called Aziza, recommended to us by our San Franciscan friend Deb. Well, I could get more used to dinners like this! We had meatballs and grilled grapes on skewers, de-boned chicken wings and the most wonderful grilled flatbreads with home made spreads. Not as expensive as Sydney, I even enjoyed a few glasses of wine and we came in under $150, not bad at all for something attempting to be a little more special. We even managed to hold prolonged conversation after hanging out for four days straight, so a gold star for both Mark and myself!
Alcatraz.Today we hopped on the ferry to take the quintessential tour of Alcatraz. Sort of dragging our feet at the idea of doing something overly 'touristy,' this was all rather well-organised and efficient, it ended up being informative and enjoyable! We boarded the ferry and took the 10min ride to the island, where we took an excellent audio tour of the buildings and learned about the history in some more detail. It ended up being one of the highlights of my San Francisco stay, so by all means do it if you visit.
We finished off our day visiting our San Franciscan (is that how you put it?) friend Deb, who we met in our Sydney yoga class earlier this year (she was visiting Sydney for work and was disciplined enough to find a local yoga class!) She kindly invited us to one of her 'weekly barbeques' that she holds at her house in Mountain View. It was raining, so about 7 of us ended up around the kitchen table eating home made apple pie made from the tree in her backyard! Funnily enough, this has ended my visit to San Francisco perfectly. Even though attractions, fancy food and shopping can be dazzling, good conversation and friendship is what makes these experiences truly satisfying. Quite a few people at the table had either been to/are going to Australia and gobbled up the Tim Tams I brought along. I also knew once and for all I was in Silicon Valley, sitting at a table with 2 x googlers, an aeronautical engineer, a robotics engineer, a network security specialist and a drama teacher (ha! San Francisco!)
We leave San Francisco in the morning for Monterey, giving our tired feet and stretched wallets a bit of a rest as we hit the road for a few days of driving. It has been a little rainy and San Francisco city is now full of corporate visitors for a Java/Oracle conference, so it definitely feels like our time has come to leave.
I hope to be able to pass on some more news from the road!
