Wherever I go, there I am!!...

I am still buzzing from my trip with a couple of girlfriends to San Francisco over long weekend 2 weeks ago. San Fran has everything that Vancouver does lack in some areas, the weather was hot and sunny, the architecture and buildings were innovative and imaginative, the rolling hills were impressive, the streets different and unique at every turn, the culture very diverse, the various modes of transportation, being from cable cars, trams, buses and trains, the food inexpensive, the taxi fares affordable, the people extremely friendly, the atmosphere always happy and joyful, the men confident, tanned, fit with gorgeous bodies to show off, the landscape vast and beautiful, the shopping cheap and cheerful and the lifestyle young and hip.

I had a wonderful time exploring all sides of San Fran, it’s amazing how travelling from one end of the city by the iconic cable car (which is fun), you experience a totally different scenery and culture. The streets are predominantly hilly which makes for hard work walking up them, especially on a sunny hot day, I wondered if the locals ever get used to the hills. My friends and I got to visit most of the attractions which we had on our list. The ‘crookedest street’ in the world was a sight to be seen, fisherman’s wharf was interesting but way too touristy, the golden gate bridge was impressive far away and up close, we went a on 26km bike ride on one of the days which took us from downtown San Fran, across the golden gate bridge to all the way on the other side of the island along the water then we rode through the country side then back towards the water and took a ferry back to the city, not an easy feet after starting in the morning and not getting back until midnight, my bum was in the shape of the bike seat after that ride!



One of the other highlights was the tour of Alcatraz, ‘The Rock’, we took a ferry ride from the city which took around 20 mins to the middle of the bay and onto the island. Having seen the show Prison Break, I was expecting Wentworth Miller the actor to greet us but not to be! The prison and island tour was very thorough and incredibly informative, the audio tour of the prison cells is easily the highlight as the commentary was done by former inmates, prison guards, office workers, children and wives of the prisoners. It was truly enlightening and very poignant to hear the stories from the people themselves as we walked past the various cells. We learnt of the famous ‘escape from Alcatraz’ story and saw the dug out hole of the vent in one of the cells where one of the inmates made their escape, this was a cool moment, we also saw the dummy heads that the prisoners used to place in their beds to disguise them, there were pictures on the walls of the famous prisoners of Alcatraz, namely Al Capone, Robert ‘Birdman Man’ Stroud and many others. The prison itself was cold and baron and the wind that swept through from the bay was icy. I could imagine how terribly cold this place would be in winter, there was no escaping that wind, we felt it all around and we were there on a relatively mild day. As we walked around we could enter certain prison cells and experience what it would be like to be stuck in such a small space, I am claustrophobic so I chose not to stay in the cells too long, but I certainly got the sensation of being locked up. The prison has been closed since 1963.

After our tour, I got this overwhleming sensation of sadness and sorrow for those who had to endure that but then I remembered that these criminals are criminals. I must say it was a welcome relief to see the boat coming to get us after our 2hour tour and it reminded me how lucky we are to have our freedom. We spent the rest of that Monday shopping and then having dinner and drinks with friends that night.

Our very early morning flight came way too quickly and it was time to leave San Fran or ‘Frisco’ as the locals call it. I loved my 4 days there and it will certainly be a place where I will return, even though I feel like I visited most parts of the city, I am sure there are many many parts that I have yet to discover and look forward to doing so.

Please check out more pics in my album..