Before I start telling you about San Francisco, I’d like to mention a plan I had for my west coast trip that I couldn’t fulfill. Something that was supposed to complement that “doing it for the first time” desire. It consisted in renting a sleeper van and being able to sleep along the road (hopefully next to the ocean) and stretch my ride to San Francisco, however, due to costs I had to abandon it. Hopefully it’ll happen some other time!… back to the story.

Hey, Google!

After a good night sleep, it was time to head towards SF, but before that, I had planned to stop by Google headquarters, after all, I do have a google account and it was time to check the mail (ba dum tsss🙄). The original plan was to access the facilities through an acquaintance, but things didn’t pan out, still, I wanted to check the facilities. Google is huuuuge, like ridiculously huge. Employees have access to bikes to move around the campus. Visitors are not allowed to use them unless they’re accompanied by a staff member. Regardless of this minor inconvenient, I walked around and checked the place.

I think that it’s an incredible campus, but unless you know someone there, there’s not much to do other than walk around and maybe have lunch from any of the food trucks that park outside of the buildings.

If you’re going to San Francisco…

I continued my journey towards SF and before returning the car, I had planned to drive to Point Bonita Light House. It’s supposed to be a gorgeous place, a must if you’re there. You can get there by public transportation, but driving was obviously easier. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open that day, so instead, I decided to drive to Muir woods and check it out. After hitting some traffic going through the city, I finally crossed the Golden Gate bridge and blasted my stupid playlist even more wohooo! It is humbling to see and be on this structure, what an incredible piece of architecture. I crossed the bridge and when I reached Muir woods, I was informed that I was supposed to make a reservation prior to coming for a hike or even for a peak…. (Planning-Daniel!), reservations can be easily made online with your phone, however, given the geography of the place, I didn’t have any signal, so I did the next best (and closest) thing, I drove to Muir beach, where some surfers were enjoying the day.

It was a nice and cold beach day, so I sat for a while to check them out. After a while, it was time to eat, so I stopped at a supermarket and grabbed a sandwich. While having lunch I checked my GPS and realized that in order to expedite my trip back to SF and return my rental, I had to go back by crossing the Golden Gate again (great!), but there’s an $8 toll and I had forgotten to set my toll payments (planning!!!). So, I called the toll people and a nice lady helped me to set up the payment; “all set, she said”. Thanks ma’am, I replied. I drove back to SF and all the way to the airport to drop my car. I was finally ready to hope on the B.A.R.T and check in my hotel. I found a cheap room at a hotel that was the in-between of a hostel and a hotel. Why? you ask. Well, I didn’t have to share the room with anybody, BUT the bathroom was shared with 20 or so rooms. Funny enough and as clueless as a tourist like me can be, I had booked a hotel in the Tenderloin triangle. This zone can be sketchy and unfortunately SF has an incredibly high homeless community due to the housing shortage. This zone of the city is well known by locals and frequent visitors. Fortunately, nothing ever happened to me, but I must say that it was really sad seeing people in these conditions when the city has SO much money.

One awkward night-out

My first night in SF was really funny-ish (…) because I signed up to a meet-up group in which tourists from all over the world are taken out by a local guide to explore SF. I was hoping we would get interesting tips and where to go places, and that was the case, kinda. One memorable thing from that night was that I met a lady in her 50s from Canada who looked exactly like Allison Janney. Of course, I told her and of course, it wasn’t the first time she had heard that comparison. The second "highlight" was the comedy show we were taken to. I think they were 6 from which 1 or 2 were genuinely funny (at least for me). The others were… how to put it… not my cup of tea if you will. The “humor” ranged from awkward to sad, then again, humor is so subjective, I think I’m hilarious, and even more in Spanish. There was that point in the show in which they were asking the crowd if there were people from other countries and I did raise my hand. The comedian started with the German - yes, the comedian made the Nazi comment, but it was just that, a dry comment, almost awkward, so, before they asked me if I knew Escobar, I brought my hand down. He proceeded to mock the American girl dating the French, the Dutch, the Indian, the Canadian… don’t get me wrong, I can take jokes, but his act was just weak. I definitely bailed after the comedy show and went to sleep.

My snickers were made for walking

During my time in SF, I was lucky to meet up with one of my cousins, who also attended the wedding and happened to be travelling around, as well as different friends, and enjoyed their company and tips. My cousin took me to Amoeba music, located in Haight-Ashbury. If you’re a melomaniac, it’s a must to check this place. I was proud of myself for not buying the whole store! During the hike to the store I spotted maybe 1 or 2 hippies or hipsters? Who knows at this point? From then on, I spent my days walking around SF, stopping at places like:

Walking around Embarcadero

Rincón Park

Pier 33

Pier 39

USS Pampanito

Chinatown

Transamerica Pyramid Center

Peace Pagoga

Presidio

Golden Gate view

And the wave organ during low tide…. (genius!). I also (and highly recommend it) rented a bike and biked all the way to Sausalito. I did decide to walk across the Golden Gate because I don’t trust amateur bikers, so instead of biking on the left side of the bridge, I walked my bike on the right side, the side that faces Alcatraz. Once I reached the other side, I took a moment to contemplate the bridge, and it’s a breath-taking sight:

I biked down to Sausalito and lock my bike to the first bike post I could find. I walked around the town for a bit and grabbed some lunch at the least crowded place I could find, the town was paaaaacked. After, it was time to find some ice cream (mission accomplished by the way) and find a good spot to enjoy the view.

After the view and 1 or 2 beers, I decided that it was best to take the ferry instead of biking up the hill, to the bridge and down to the pier where I rented the bike. I got in line for the ferry and after almost 30 minutes under the sun (yup, I forgot to bring my sunscreen) I was onboard, all at sea!

Unexpected meet ups

I had the chance to meet up with two friends from Boston and explore different places. One friend happened to be in town for the ASM conference. We met up for a drink at the thirsty bear and I suggested to check the wave organ whenever her and her friend had a chance, and told them to made sure to go during high tide. We also agreed to check the Exploratorium:

Well, that was fun!

After my visit to SF, I can definitely understand why people would move for a month to do a very Serious exploration of the city. It’s full of contrasts! The food, the architecture, the history, the ocean. I walked some more during my last days, and finally visited Lombard Street; “just like in the movies” I thought, while standing at the top of it: