The Mission District

       Today was about another walking tour through San Francisco, this time visiting the Neighborhood of Mission. It was basically about going to see all the street art you can find in that district, ah, and eat a Burrito at a local Taqueria! It was very interesting seeing all the Latin influence in that part of the city which you can find almost everywhere in San Francisco but in the Mission it's very strong. We also had a quick look at the Basilica and then we finished our tour at the Mission Dolores Park with a wonderful view over the city to the skyscrapers of Downtown. Before returning to the hostel I decided to have a quick look at one of only three remaining Japatowns in America... Not much to see just a lot of sushi restaurants and some Japanese shops.

Chinatown

        The biggest Chinatown community in North America deserves his own blog posting, that's why I decided to go back there yesterday and spend some more time walking around and checking out some more stores with all that weird and interesting stuff they sell... Completely worth it, it's like travelling to another continent within minutes. At one point I completely forgot that I was still in California and not in China. Very impressive everything.

Bike Tour

       Thanks to a very cheap rate for hostel guests of 18$ for a whole day I was able to get a bike and spend most part of the day on it. I left Fishermans Wharf at 9.30am from where I biked along the coast till the Golden Gate Bridge, after crossing the bridge I went down to Sausalito, then I continued to Mill Valley where I had a little walk through the redwoods. My last stop was in Tiburon from where I took the Ferry back to San Francisco Pier 41 at around 4.00pm. The duration of my trip was 7 hours and I calculated approximately (probably more) 30km from Fishermans Wharf to Tiburon. It was completely worth it!

Downtown: Walking Tour

        The good thing about staying at hostels is that you can take part of very cheap or free activities, this one was free and it was completely worth it! A volunteer who lived in San Francisco for many years took us around Downtown showing us places where usually no other tours go. We started Wednesday morning at 9.00am, we were only five people including the guide, which made it very nice. First stop was Lombard Street, I guess one of the most famous streets in the world which I was pretty excited to see too. Then we continued our walk through different neighborhoods and hidden (public but by local people maintained) gardens. Then we arrived at Coi tower, we didn't go up because we had a very nice view to Golden Gate Bridge anyways from the base. After that we had a little break at Levi's Plaza, then we walked through Broadway Str. to Chinatown, the biggest in North America! We also visited the Cable Car Museum before finishing the tour at the Grace Cathedral. From there we continued on our own down to the Ferry Building. After a little break at Starbucks I decided to check out the SFMoMa which was unfortunately closed because of renovations, but it was nice walking through Yerba Buena gardens part of the Arts Center. My last stop was at Civic Center and the City Hall, then I took the Cable car back to Fishermans Wharf via Powell Str. with a 20min interruption because of Mr Vice President: he had an event at the Fairmont (I believe) so Police, Sheriffs and a bomb squad cut a whole block, no one could even cross the street. I have to admit that it was exciting. Welcome to America!

San Francisco

         So I was pretty excited about today, today was the day I first travelled to the USA! I left around 1.00pm from Vancouver, after about two hours and 20min we landed in SFO. It took me a time till I would figure out how to get to the Hostel, located at Fort Mason next to Fishermans Wharf. I first took an airport train, which brought me to the BART Station, a train which takes to Downtown where I switched to a cable car. After getting off at Fishermans wharf I still had to figure out how to walk to the hostel, which ended up not being to complicated. Excited about the Californian evening sun I took my camera and I went for a walk by the Pier. Highlight of the evening was the sunset over Golden Gate Bridge, ah, and the crab sandwich! I should have brought a sweatshirt though: once the sun was gone it was freezing in the shadow with the wind blowing. 

About a last day in Vancouver

         So this was yesterday, when some friends and I decided to spend a whole day together making most out of it! It was my last day in Vancouver before travelling to San Francisco for a week, where I am right now (after that I'll be going back to Canada, as long as they let me re-enter the country ;) and my last day with my Aussie "Lake Louise sister" Rosa.

         We started in the morning going to Lynn Canyon in North Vancouver, after a little walk through the forest we drove down to where the seabus crosses the water connecting Downtown with the northern part of the city, there is a nice little farmers market as well as some restaurants where we had sushi. We got on the car again and after struggleing almost one hour through Vancouver traffic we arrived at the UBC campus where we went to the beach. After that we decided to park the car in Downtown and take a little ferry (you can not really call it ferry, it was just a tiny little boat) to Granville Island where we enjoyed some smoked maple glazed salmon and local cheese till they closed at 7.00pm. At that time we went to the Brewery on the island and had a little beer tasting before leaving our stuff at the hostel and running down Davie Street to watch the sunset from English Bay. The day finished with some Döner Kebab and drinks at a Bar in Downtown. I am looking forward to meet all of my awesome Lake Louise friends again and do all that stuff over and over again.

 

Back to Vancouver

        More than six month in the Rockies came to an end, last week I left Lake Louise and all the awesome people I met there, as well as true friends which I hope meeting again some day (I'm sure I will). I have to say that Lake Louise has changed my life for good, so many amazing memories, stories and experiences I won't forget for a long time... And yes, I will come back, I still have so much left to do like seeing the lake melted!!

        Now I find myself in Vancity again before leaving to San Francisco. I am glad to spend some days here, I have never seen Vancouver so green! Its beautiful: everything is in flowers and it's mostly warm and sunny.