Monday, October 31, 2011

7 things to do in San Francisco

It feels just like yesterday that i started the year off in San Francisco.... 


1. Walk the Golden Gate Bridge
Okay this is a MUST do even if you have to take a taxi straight to your hotel, drop your luggage and head out right away. Although it is a not short walk but the view from the middle of the bridge is gorgeous. Just a suggestion, do not press the little round red button on the yellow boxes. They are there for people thinking about committing suicide, and you will notice they are only on the right side of the bridge that's facing the city. December 30, 2010 is when i took my first walk across the Bridge - the Bus dropped the group off on San Francisco side of the bridge and walked across into Marin County.


2. Golden Gate Park
Similar to New York City Central Park but 20% larger. A large urban park consisting of 1017 acres of public grounds. With 13 million visitors annually, Golden Gate park is the third most visited city park in the United States after Central Park in New York and Lincoln Park in Chicago. This windmill in the picture above was built in 1913 and was used to pump water throughout the park, the blades shown were onced covered canvas sails.

 
3. Smugglers Cove
The neatest place to grab a drink, to chill and hang out with your friends. Most drinks come in a skull. Located 650 Gough Street, Just a 15 minute walk from Hotel Whitcomb.


4. Alcatraz
A lot of history are inside these walls, They show a short video clip at the beginning a brief history of the place right when you walk in and then from there you grab your self guided radio and headphones and work at your own pace. Only way to and from the island, by ferry and there are only four during the day so make sure you do not miss it or you are stuck on there. And I wouldn't want to be stuck there - talk about creepy!

 
5. Public Transportation
Experience the city as a local. Taking a Bus at Rush hour, 4pm is an experience to have here in this fabulous city of San Francisco. The Buses are so crammed it is hard to move around and hard to get on and off the bus. Brooke and I got up from our seats heading to the exit and this little lady was pushing us more away from the doors so she could have our seat. Not very polite she was. We missed the stop we wanted to get off, it took 20 mins to go from one stop to the other. It was faster to get out and walk back to the hotel.

Taxi's are another fun ride to take in San Francisco and the cheapest. From the airport to the Hotel, only took 10-15 minutes. They weave in and out of traffic so fast. And being so fast when they go up and down the hills in San Francisco, Fun! The front tires actually leave the pavement.


6. Little Italy
The closest thing you will get to Italian Pizza without actually being in Italy. You will know when you are in Little Italy by the light posts - they will have a Italian Flag painted on them.

And after lunch we were left to explore San Francisco on our own, well everyone split into groups. Groups form quickly on a Contiki tour!


7. Bike and Roll San Francisco
Bike and Roll the streets of San Francisco and those hills are steep. At least our Tour guide for the Bike and Roll was nice and gave us a small hill to start but then the Second hill was a steep one and half of us, okay maybe a little more than half had to get off their bikes and walk the rest. We got to ride on the other side of the Bridge (Left side) so that helped less pedestrians walking and being in our way. That wind that day, whew! Not easy.

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