San Francisco 19.04.-24.04.2017

On 19.04. we took the 2-hour flight from Seattle to San Francisco.

Arriving in SF, we happened to meet Patrick at the train ticket counter at the airport. Patrick is from Aargau and works at AZ Medien, but has been living in beautiful San Francisco since Nov. 16 to keep us Swiss up to date on technology/social media topics.

Patrick shared many great and valuable insider tips about things to do in SF. Our bucket list got much longer!

Once we arrived in downtown, we checked into our humble little hotel, Parkhotel... Well, it was meant to be... The elevator broke down during our stay and we had to carry our heavy suitcases up to the 3rd floor :-O Unfortunately, no hotel staff could help us due to cost reasons... Well, time and luxury always cost a lot of money!! :-)

The next day, shopping was on the agenda for the first time... After a few great purchases, the day was already over and our bags heavier and our wallet lighter.

On 21.04. we followed Patrick's advice and went to the Castro district. This neighborhood is known for its residents. Peace and love signs, zebra crossings, and flags in the colors of the rainbow adorned the streets of this district. Wow, it was fascinating how this neighborhood is still shaped by the peace movement of the past. We actually encountered an older NAKED gentleman...

In the evening, we picked up our visitors from Switzerland from the train station... Rinor had traveled well, although the long flight was exhausting.

On Saturday, we visited Alcatraz and were impressed by the old and dangerous walls of the prison.

Suddenly it was already Sunday. We started the day with a fantastic cable car ride and visited the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, we underestimated the distance to the bridge a little. This was our biggest city so far. When we finally arrived at the bridge after an almost never-ending walk, we enjoyed the great view in very windy weather.

Off to Lombard Street! This famous street was also on our to-do list.

After our sightseeing day, we continued walking to Pier 39 to eat shrimp at the famous Bubba Gump restaurant (from the movie Forrest Gump)...

On Monday, we continued our journey and picked up our Hyundai Santa Fe at the airport...

Next stop: San Jose/Santa Cruz...