Hello! :) Hooray for the first blog post! :) My exams are over so I can focus on my blog now. :) A picture to celebrate the first one:
This was me when I was still a puny pre-schooler, around the age of 3. This was my first time to travel, and our destination? You guessed that right! United States of Red and Blue, I mean, America. Ever since I was little, I've been in and out of the U.S., and I've only stopped going there since I was 18 years old. Most of the time I've spent in the States was spent in California, particularly, San Francisco. I basically live there 2 months a year. The foremost reason why it's always in the Golden State is because all of our close relatives live there, hence the stay. Now off to our itinerary!
Itinerary:
Golden Gate Bridge
Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39
Alcatraz
Lombard Street
Chinatown
Golden Gate Bridge
Built in the 1930's this thing of beauty is known to be San Francisco's main attraction, keying in millions of visitors every year. You've never really been to San Francisco if you didn't see it and had a picture taken with it as your background. You can spend a leisurely time at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area if you want to spend a laid back afternoon with the Bridge as your background. For more details on this check out: http://www.nps.gov/goga/index.htm
The last time I went to San Francisco, we went through Sausalito and had our picture taken on top of a hill over looking the bridge. Which, I must say, is the best and closest that you can get to taking a picture with a good portion of the bridge. :) And of course after that, we had a little detour to the Sausalito port to see the yachts. But still, the best way to experience the Bridge is by crossing it. It's a bit windy, okay, maybe very windy, but it's not everyday that you can say, "I walked through the Golden Gate Bridge." If you want to go under the bridge, you can ride a ferry at Lakespur or Sausalito.
Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39
I remember getting off the Cable Car and walking a couple of blocks to these two sister attractions. I don't rememeber the specific street but there's a street there where they sell Clam Chowder on a carved big bread. They also sell really huge California Crabs. Want to see some seals? They have that. Walk a few blocks from Fisherman's Wharf and you'll find yourself in a bustling Pier 39. This place has food, clothes and whatnots. My brother bought me my first and only Beanie Baby here. I have a fresh pearl necklace bought here too, I don't know the name of the store because it was just a gift. You can choose what color of pearl you want because it depends on what you want to have, like prosperity, peace, etc. Just have a little walk around this favorite tourist spot and you'll see the local favorites such as the Wax Museum, Ripley's Believe It or Not and Hard Rock Cafe.
Since you're already at Pier 39, you can go to Pier 33 and ride a ferry that'll take you to Alcatraz Island, also widely called "The Rock." A former house to some of America's most famous gangsters such as the famous Al Capone, Robert Stroud, Machine Gun Kelly and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis. This old military fortress-turned-military prison is another very popular tourist destination, so you might want to book yourselves in advance through Alcatraz Cruises for a more comfortable time. It includes an audio tour as well. You can choose a daytime tour but it's more of a carefree self-guided tour compared to the formal guided nighttime tour.
The crookedest street on Earth. We drove through the street and took a picture at the end of the road after finding a parking lot a couple of blocks away. I've read that there's another crooked street around that area but they said that the Lombard Street is still way more photogenic than it. Probably because of the beautiful flowers and the thrill of driving through it adds up to its beauty. Now, that's one hell of a ride. Whoops! I meant, heaven. :P
Chinatown
Dubbed as the largest Chinatown outside of Asia, you can probably find anything that need you that is related to the Chinese. It is also the oldest Chinatown in the whole of North America. When you go to this place, you'll forget that you're in San Francisco because of all the Chinese architecture surrounding the place. I've only dined once in Chinatown and I forgot the name of the restaurant but surely, any spot will give you that authentic Chinese restaurant service. And there are a lot to choose from, you basically have the whole alphabet to choose from. :) For more information about San Francisco's Chinatown click this link http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/
Here are other tourist spots that you might want to visit during your stay in the Bay Area:
Palace of the Fine Arts
Coit Tower
California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Union Square
Oh, before I forget, to get that authentic Bay Area tourist feeling, the best way to get around is by using the Cable Car. I know the rates have changed so I can't really say how much they are now. But I know that you can get a ticket that will last you for a day so that you don't have to buy a ticket everytime you need to get on it. :)
Your Travel Buddy,
Grace
P.S. I actually planned on adding my own photos but apparently my photo album is at our other house which is very far from here, so I succumbed into getting photos from the internet. :( Some of the photos are mine though. :) Feel free to comment and suggest which country I should feature on my next Travel the World segment. :) Til the next. :)
