Next trip I might look for that place that had the little museum where he found her portrait. The shoreline where he pulled her out of the water might be close to the place in Star Trek 4 where Spock and Kirk were walking along, making it a 2-fer-1 special.

recommended by my friend Jae

On a sidenote, I have to say that San Francisco's homeless population is pretty innovative.  Half the time, we wanted to give them money for their clever signs or their little jokes.  As in the above situation, a homeless guy approached my brother (my brother was really popular with them for some reason) and said, "I bet I can guess where you got your shoes.  But you hafta promise you won't laugh."  To which my brother, thinking there's no possible way he could ever guess where the shoes came from responded with, "OK."  "Promise? Promise you won't laugh.  Ok, I'll tell ya......on your feet."  To which, of course, we laughed.  It was funny. 

But I digress.  The final day of our little get-away arrived, and we really didn't want to stress ourselves out trying to get to all the other important places in San Francisco.  At this risk of not visitng the "must-sees," we decided instead to hop on a bus and go see the Pacific Ocean, realizing that we'd only really seen the bay.  Having gotten a late start, we weren't sure if we should just eat breakfast and skip lunch or wait a bit and eat lunch at a more reasonable time.  Our stomachs won the argument.  We decided to see what there would be to eat at the end of the bus ride, since we'd gotten a pretty good survey of the restaurants near our hotel.  Alas, at the end of the bus ride was only one, lonely restaurant.  It was quite strange actually.  It was almost literally the only restaurant surrounded by a neighborhood of houses.  We went there expecting the food to be less than par and kind of upset that we probably wouldn't be eating well.  Luckily, we were wrong and it turned out to be delicious!  My mom got corned beef hash, my brother a ham and cheese and mushroom omelette, and I a Greek omelette.  I really loved mine- spinach and feta cheese- and the English muffin that came with it seemed to be the best I'd ever had. 

With our stomachs now satisfied we walked along towards the coast.  Again, it was misty and foggy.  As we were walking we could see the outline of a very strange sight.  I still don't know what it is we came across but it looked like ancient ruins (although I'm pretty sure they weren't ancient).  There were people walking up and down and around but it didn't seem like anyone else was any more clued-in into what this was.  My brother, ever the adventurer, decided that regardless of what it was, it was worth exploring.  So, with my horribly improprer attire, I was dragged along.  We walked down to the cave to discover the fearsome end of jagged rocks, then thinking we would find a better route back, walked along the ruin walls.  I was having fun but was pretty miserable, as I was wearing a dress with flats that had no traction whasoever.  The trail on the way back was steep so I had to send my brother ahead to make sure I could walk up it without falling to my death.  The risk just made it all that much more interesting. =)

We eventually made it to the top, unharmed of course, but we never figured out what it was.  After looking at the coast, we headed back to Union Square.  We walked up and down Market Street for a while then decided it was time for dinner.  We'd heard of this restaurant called B44 that was a favorite of the locals for Catalonian food.  The restaurant was in an alleyway with a bunch of other little similarly European restaurants- French, Italian, etc.  It was really cute and made me feel like I was in another country.  We ended up ordering 2 paellas, and while they were really tasty, they were quite expensive.  It was a good experience overall, but having seen the Greek restaurant close by, decided Baklava would make a good dessert.  =)

With an early flight the next morning, we decided to call it a night after that.  All in all, a trip well taken. =)

I like trolley drivers with a sense of humor. =)

The next day began bright and early as we anticipated a full day. 

First, and this place was so good it deserves its own paragraph, we had breakfast at The Crepe House on Post Street.  It was simply amazing.  Because I like to be really healthy sometimes, I had me a banana and Nutella dessert crepe that could only be what angels eat for breakfast every day.  =)  Really, they were so good.  My mom, lover of junk food ;), had herself a chicken, mushroom and spinach with Hollandaise sauce crepe, and my dad had something with salmon and swiss cheese(whatever it was, I recommend). 

After our decadent breakfast, we headed down a few blocks to the Powell Trolley station to take the obligatory ride from Powell to Fisherman's Wharf.  Instead of spending half our day waiting in line to get on the thing, we a.) took a picture on an empty one, then b.) walked up a few blocks and just hopped on.  The ride was certainly fun, and I saw a lot of buildings whose names or history I didn't know (i.e. Transamerica).  After cresting over the last hill, we saw the wonderful Fisherman's Wharf.  The views were beautiful and so was the area in general. 

We basically spent our day there, doing various things that you're supposed to do while there.  We did an hour boat cruise around the Golden Gate and Alcatraz, walked up and down the boardwalk, went to Pier 39 only to be disappointed that the seals migrated, got some bread at Boudin, and generally just ate a lot.  Among our delectable delights we had crab sandwiches, crab and shrimp combination cocktail (awesome!), clam chowder (sans the bread bowl), and some Irish coffee from Buena Vista (yum!).  Our goal was to stay until sunset as we knew such a view could only yield amazing sunset pictures, so we towards the end of the day we settled ourselves onto the little meadow in front of Ghirardelli Square. 

At Ghirardelli Square, we sampled the new Peanut Butter chocolate squares, and then headed over to Kara's Cupcakes, a place I learned about from other TB reviews. =)  If you read them, they're all right.  They are absolutely amazing.  I purchased 4 as my treat to my family, and everyone, including my dad whose lack of sweet tooth perplexes me, loved them.  We got Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache, Java, Kara's Karrot, and Banana caramel.  We all said our own was the best.  =)

We got this hotel in a last-minute package, so I'm pretty positive we paid much less than it's typical going rate. However, I was a little in love with it. The facade of the building is quite unassuming, but once you step inside, you can feel the understated luxury. The lobby looks very Moroccan/Bombay-esque, and was a lovely place as a meet-up. The Serrano is one of the many Kimpton Hotels in the San Francisco area, with each hotel having a different theme. The theme of the Serrano is "Fun and Games," which provided for a check-in game of Black Jack for the gift of the day and the ability to check out over 100 different board games to play either in your room or at one of the many tables in the lobby. A different aspect of "fun" was the Wine Hour from 5:00-6:00pm every night, where guests could go enjoy glasses wine of the month (in our case, California's Little Black Dress) for free. I believe they offered beer as well, but since we were in California we opted for the wine. =) As for the room, the beds were no less than amazing. My only complaint about the beds was that the full seemed to be much smaller than a typical full, but it wasn't uncomfortably so. Mini-bar was fully stocked, although expensive. I don't really know that it's important to people, but the toiletries(i.e. shampoo, conditioner, face bar, etc) all smelled amazing. Our view wasn't the greatest, but a fellow guests said his was amazing (he preferred this hotel to the Westin). Overall, the hotel was great- friendly, helpful staff, good location (only a couple blocks from BART Powell Station, and a few more blocks from Chinatown), and wonderful beds. Highly recommend! =)

Was literally what San Francisco was for us.  Don't know if you know this but Texas is HOT!  So going from upwards of 90 degree weather to the oh-so-lovely 70 degrees in San Francisco was god-sent. 

Lucky for us, the metro system, BART, was quite easy to navigate (except for actually buying the ticket that is) and we arrived at our hotel pretty quickly.  Walking into the hotel only made the day better, as it was beautiful inside (see review).  It was just a few pillowed seating areas short of a Moroccan dream.  We were more than pleasantly surprised at the what a great value we got with our package, as we weren't expecting such luxury.  The beds were another great example of that luxury, and having started our day at 5:00am coupled with the time change, we decided to indulge a bit.

After a short nap and reading of visitor's guides, we discovered our hotels Wine Hour.  Basically, from 5:00- 6:00pm everyday the hotel offers complimentary beer and wine to its guests.  My dad, who can rarely stay in one place too long, decided to socialize.  A few minutes later he returned with samples for us of the white wine and about a half hour later returned with a couple bottles he finagled.  =) 

With these gifts safely tucked in our minifridge, we decided to walk the few blocks to Chinatown, the one thing I think my dad was really looking forward to.  Unfortunately, we didn't actually get to experience much of Chinatown, as the seductive glow of "Cheap Electronics!" stores lured my father in.  I was in the mood for a little knock-off purse lovin', so my mom and I did walk up and down a bit, but I was disappointed in the selection.  He ended up spending the better part of 2 hours haggling with the workers over a Canon lense and flash, but, alas, the price was just not right (and then, when it was and we went in search of an ATM to pay our dues, the salesman decided the price was so right it was almost stealing and took back the offer.  It was lovely.).  All the negotiations really worked up an appetite, so we headed over to Hang Ah Tea Room, reportedly the oldest dim sum restaurant in San Francisco, and had us sum dim. ;)  Well, really, only I did, but the food was pretty good.  I believe I had Crispy Shrimp Balls, which were quite strange but tasty, and Sticky Rice with Pork, which was pretty good. 

After all that, we decided to call it a night and headed back to the Serrano. 

A real little find, the Golden Gate is family-run, which gives it a cozy and personal feel. You’ll probably be welcomed (and slobbered upon!) enthusiastically by the young Labrador pup, and the owners of the hotel will make you feel just as welcome (only without the slobbering, haha!). The hotel is located a short walk (a couple of minutes) from the entrance gate to Chinatown and reasonable walking distance to the Union Square area and its shopping, so an excellent location. Parking is a real problem in San Francisco so another good point is that there’s a parking garage (at reduced prices, $20,- p.d. for hotel guests) right opposite the hotel. The hotel is located in a four-story renovated Edwardian building, furnished in lovely wicker furniture and decorated with antiques and mementoes. Be sure to have a look at the pictures of ‘old San Francisco’ in the hallways and the ‘interesting’ old-fashioned elevator! The hotel has a very European feel to it and reminded me of the time we used to live in Holland. Rooms are not large but furnished nicely with soft and comfy bedding, flowerpots in the windows. During your stay you’ll probably be visited once or twice by Pip, the ginger manx (tailless) house(‘hotel’)cat. He insisted on sitting in the only chair in our room and looking out of the window, mewling at the pigeons outside and then taking a drink from the faucet! Quite a character. Most rooms have no en-suite bathroom and we were a bit hesitant about this at first (especially since we’d come from a couple of day’s camping and really wanted a long hot shower!), but I have to say: no problem! The bathroom is at the end of the hallway, shared with 4 other rooms but it is kept scrupulously clean. There are a couple of rooms with en-suite bathrooms available. In addition, every room has a sink with ample toiletries (with Pip-inspired logo!) and towels. A good breakfast is included in the room-rate, with coffee, fresh OJ and delicious croissants. All in all, I’d heartily recommend staying at the Golden Gate, for the location and the nice service and amenities, it is quite reasonably priced, too, at $95,- a day (w/o tax), especially for an expensive city such as San Francisco!

Because the Lombard Street is so famous, I went to take a look. I took the wrong cable car and ended up at the bottom of the street. It was actually not that bad, because at the bottom of the street you can take nice pictures of cars coming down the street. When I walked up the stairs to get to the top of Lombard Street, people kept asking me whether that was the crookedest street. Before they drove down, they should have seen the road sign...

The Golden Gate Bridge is obviously a must-see attraction in San Francisco. A friend and I decided to bike all the way to the bridge. It was very windy that day and the wind kept pushing me back. When we finally arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge, I was so exhausted that I decided not to bike any further. Unfortunately, it started raining and we biked back as fast as we could. It was a memorable day for sure!

I really love Chinatowns, because I am interested in how Chinese people in other cities or countries live. Although I understand that most local Chinese people do not go to their Chinatowns anymore nowadays, it is still a must-do thing for me. San Francisco's Chinatown is the biggest one in North America (or maybe in the whole world)! Everything there was very Chinese to me. You can find a lot of places for dimsum, pastries and souvenirs. It was pretty safe to walk around, even at night.

Our room was quiet and pretty. The beds weren't the most comfortable, but we didn't spend much time in them anyway! The bathroom was big and clean. The hotel was in the heart of Fisherman's Wharf, and all the main attrations were within walking distance. The parking fees were a little high ($40/night) but we didn't have to worry about our car while we were out having a good time.

Great location in Cow Hollow near the Marina distrtict in San Francisco close to many good restaurants and shops. Convenient deli right across the street. The internet connection was shaky and the room was small but clean. Service was not overly friendly. Very reasonable rates along with free parking. Overall, the Greenwich Inn is an excellent value for the price. I stayed only two nights. From what I can describe from the amenities: the towels were clean, but the bedsheets were a little stained. Toilet seat was a bit old. We stayed on the very first floor, and I gotta tell you... it did not feel safe at all. The curtains were very thin, so anybody could pass by and see what you were doing. So the downside is, if you stay here... there's no privacy. Anybody can come up and knock on your door or window. Parking was free, but only reserved to about 10 spaces. Overall it's ok if you just need a room to bath and sleep, but I wouldn't stay here the entire day.

This would mark my second trip back to San Francisco, but this time it was for business. I figure that since I was in the area for just two days, it would probably be more suitable for me to find an inexpensive hotel. It is located about a few miles from Union Square, so the shopping centers and the sightseeing isn't too far away. My impression of the rooms were outstanding. I thought I ordered a king sized bed, but I ended up getting two queen sized. Besides the point... the beds are luxuriously comfortable and anything you forget to bring on your trip, you can find on any of the street corners. The room was pretty much clean and the service was great. The location was the best thing about staying there, so I would definitely come back here to reserve a room. The hotel is truly a classic San Francisco treat and it boasts excellent five-star service. If you are planning to hold "the" perfect event, you should not decide on the venue until you see its new top of the tower banquet space.

As we began our descent into SFO, the skys were clear and we had great views of the coast, the Golden Gate Bridge and the city of San Francisco. We landed and I made my way over to customs. The customs official kept looking at my form, flipping through my passport and looking up at me like he was puzzled. What did I do wrong? Finally he asked, "You went to all these countries by yourself?!" I smiled and told him I was mostly with a group. He wasn't satisfied with this answer. Then he looked at my birthday on my passport and said, "Oh, you're over 21." He thought I was much younger than I am so when he saw my age, he was finally okay with my trip and let me through. I collected my backpack from the baggage claim and exited the area. I bought some water at a cafe. At the same cafe were two monks in robes enjoying hot beverages. In this day and age, the whole world is Same Same. But different.

My first time in California in what is said to be one of the most relaxed cities in the US: San Francisco.
I stayed here a few days before starting my roadtrip. I had a hotel just a block from Union Square which was just a great location. Union Square was the perfect place to get a coffe in the morning, check the news (free wifi) and just take a look around.

Cablecars, steep streets, Golden Gate, Alcatraz, just so cool to see them for real. Unfortunately I haven't been to Alcatraz itself, you had to book the tour way in advance, and ofcourse I didn't. I even had a short swim in the Pacific, it was freezing cold, but at least I can say I swam in it, my friends chickened out...