Traveling: San Francisco

Thursday, 23 June 2016

California 2016 - Part 6

On The Way To San Francisco

Friday - May 27th 2016

The next highlight was already in front of us, because today we drove to San Francisco, but not before we checked out, got a coffee at the local Starbucks and spent some time at the lake finishing our hot beverages. After a couple of hours of driving we arrived at the west coast around noon. First we stopped at Chipotle in Berkeley for lunch. Since the university was basically just around the corner, we decided to check out the campus. On the way there we stopped at Cinnaholic for a cinnamon roll and at Ben & Jerry's for the new vegan ice cream they just created. After taking a walk through the campus, we were on our way to San Francisco, but first we had to stop at the Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville. Although there's nothing to do there, I just didn't want to miss the opportunity to get a picture of the studio entrance.

Lake Tahoe

On the Road

Berkeley

One of the best vegan Ice Creams

Delicious vegan Cinnamon Roll

University of California

Berkeley

The world famous Pixar Animation Studios

Finally in the afternoon we arrived at our motel in San Francisco. We stayed at the San Francisco Inn in SoMa (South of Market). While it wasn't very fancy, we enjoyed our stay there a lot. Our room was quiet and clean and that was all that mattered to us. Additionally it was only a 20 minutes walk to Chinatown and just a few meters away from the SoMa Streatfood Park, where we ate several times. After we checked in and dropped off our belongings, we headed into the city. The first stop was at the City Hall, and then we continued our tour via Powell Street and Union Square towards Chinatown. There we strolled through the shops until we returned to the hotel.

Our Room

San Francisco City Hall

San Francisco

Cable Car at Powell Street

San Francisco

Union Square

Chinatown

San Francisco

For dinner we went to the SoMa Streatfood Park's nono Burger, where I had the best vegan burger ever. The SoMa Streatfood Park, no the spelling is indeed right, was such a cool place that we went there every evening. One truck was selling craft beers, while the others sold different cuisines. It was a very relaxing atmosphere, sometimes even with live music, to enjoy some delicious meals and beers. Afterwards we bought some stuff at Trader Joe's, and then we headed back to our motel.

SoMa Streatfood Park

Veggie Burger from NoNo Burger

SoMa Streatfood Park

Wednesday, 22 June 2016

California 2016 - Part 7

Alcatraz

Saturday - May 28th 2016

Everyone knows Alcatraz and since I saw the movie "The Rock" starring Nicolas Cage, I wanted to visit that island with the famous prison. So long before we started out journey, we already booked the tickets to make sure to actually see it. Since we chose a slot in the morning, we had to get up early. After a coffee we took the bus to Fisherman's Wharf from where the ferry to the island departed. We were a bit early, but once boarding was completed, we were on our way. A short boat ride later, we reached the island. Alcatraz is tuly interesting and definitely worth a visit. Not only did we get to see the jail house, but we could also walk around the island and discover things on our own. During our visit there was a very interesting exhibition about elderly people in prisons going, which made us think. I guess we could have spent more time there, but after three hours we returned to the city. Back at Fisherman's Wharf we ate our lunch from Trader Joe's, and then we had some refreshing drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Fisherman's Wharf

Alcatraz Cruises

Alcatraz

San Francisco

Alcatraz

Golden Gate Bridge

Our Lunch from Trader Joe's

Hard Rock Cafe San Francisco

Later we walked around Fisherman's Wharf and watched the cute sea lions. What a live they have, sun bathing the whole day. As for Fisherman's Wharf itself, we didn't like it. It's a typical tourist trap with many overpriced restaurants and shops. So we decided to walk back into the inner city. After a short stop at Ghirardeli Square we were on our way and continued our walk via Chinatown to a shopping mall on Market Street. There we got a snack at Loving Hut and afterwards we decided to head back to the hotel to spend the evening at the SoMa Streatfood Park again. The park was very crowded, because many gathered to watch the game of the Golden State Warriors, which was really cool. With some drinks and Japanese food we also watched the game and listened to the live music until it was time for Trader Joe's.