29/09/18 I finally made it to San Francisco and as usual, went to the tourist info centre to grab brochures and get some inspiration. I parked nearby for an hour 20 minutes, and it cost me $25! The parking budget is seriously ruining this trip, with the AUD exchange rate being so bad at the moment that does not help.
Next I drove to Baker beach and walked along (passed the nudists, mostly men) to reach the famous Golden Gate Bridge. I had to Google why it is called golden because it is bright red, and it is actually named after the Golden Gate Strait, the narrow entrance between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. A US army officer named it Chrysopolae (golden gate) in his memoirs because of its similarity with the harbor of Byzantium.
In the evening, again searching for a 24h restroom without success (street parking in the city is metered), I drove 20 min away and found a spot near a park for the night.
30/09/18 I drove to Treasure Island for the ShoptoberFest, a special market event. I was there one hour early and could get in for free with 2 other ladies as no one was at the ticket desk yet. I only had a hot chocolate and did not buy anything, just had a nice chat with a 75 years old guy originally from Hawaï, selling handmade items from his island.
Then I checked the Silicon Valley tours from the brochure which looked really interesting but they were a lot more expensive than I thought $675 to $1000+) so I decided to explore the city by foot instead. I parked close to Lombard street, the famous steep street with 8 turns. As it is Sunday, it is almost free everywhere to park. Then I walked up to the steepest street to take some pics of buildings (more than 30 degrees angle!). I had dimsums in Chinatown where I also found the sesame rice balls I like.
Then it was time for the hostel check-in. As I wanted to make sure I had a free parking slot I went early. I explored the hostel and saw a Murder Mystery event with 3 course meals in 3 different places organised for backpackers that night which sounded fun, but I was hungry early so had a sandwich on site then started to work on backup and blog update, until I bumped into the same issue as with the previous tablet, it does not recognise my phone anymore. After hours of unsuccessful attempts to fix it, I remembered that I fixed it last time by installing the latest iOS update so tried this again. But as the update is 3Gb heavy, it took forever to download, so I didn’t join the night activity.
30/09/18 The complimentary breakfast was very basic so I left early for a walk to the pier close to Fort Mason, where the hostel is located, and following the Pier to Pier walk, I reached Pier 39 via the popular Fisherman’s Wharf. I shopped for souvenirs and had a nice banana and strawberry crepe at a local restaurant nearby, with a free large tea cup to take away thanks to a coupon found in the brochures. I took the bus back to the hostel for free as the cash machine on board was broken. In the afternoon I drove to 2 graffiti zones in Mission suburb (not the best to wander) for a few pictures and passed nearby the Painted Ladies, a few local style houses nicely decorated. I ordered a healthy salad back at the hostel and had time for some laundry then attempted again to transfer my photos on my tablet without much more success than yesterday. Bloody Microsoft!!
02/10/18 My back was hurting when I woke up and I used the accessory the chiro gave me trying to fix it but it only got worse. As I had 3h drive planned to Santa Barbara I googled for a chiropractor and booked an appointment. He made a big adjustment in the middle of my back, a big relief as this is where it was sore for a few days but the pain moved to the neck and right shoulder.
Before leaving the hostel, I said goodbye to my favourite black backpack who has been my companion for about 10 years. I won it on a radio show, thinking I was playing for movie tickets. It was given away to raise awareness about climate change. I am not an activist but like most of us I try to do the right thing for the planet, and there was a movie about it coming up. The bag had the perfect format for a walk and was strongly made so I kept using it over the years. But it recently suffered from the constant sun, had a few holes and started to deteriorate from the inside so it was time to say goodbye. I finally found a new bag that I like in a gift shop of San Francisco, on Fisherman’s Wharf. It is more colourful than my old friend, hopefully I won’t attract too many bees and other flying annoying bugs.
