4th of July

03:30 shows the clock. Same problem as always. Daylight saving time still causing us some trouble. Breakfast is served from 07:00, so we can snooze a bit more and take a shower around 6:15. The breakfast selection is simple, with toast and fresh bagels - but it tastes great. You can choose cream cheese or the typical American peanut butter with strawberry jam. Also coffee and orange juice. Sometimes Germans dress up and we sit next to two Germans from Leipzig who were also on our flight.

We were full and satisfied, and arrived on time at our first stop of the bus tour at 9 o'clock. It is the same company we know from London. We got off shortly afterwards at the 'painted ladies', the colorful row of houses that is famous from the TV show Full House. Many stops later, finally the crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge came, even at the front of the bus. Wohoo.

Our next stop was Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf. Here we had delicious burgers with fries for lunch. The whole Pier 39 consists of many small shops and restaurants in a wooden style, and the highlight is the free-living sea lions that show off in the harbor basin on small wooden platforms and make a lot of noise.

After a walk and the activation for Alcatraz at the visitor center for tomorrow, we continued with the bus towards 'Union Square'. Here we went to Macy's, the Apple Store, and Ben & Jerry's - yummy.

After all the walking around today, we took a little nap to be fit for the big 4th of July fireworks. Now that we are familiar with the map of the city, we took the completely crowded bus again to the Pier 39, where the fireworks were supposed to start at 21:30.

We have never seen so many people in one place. People everywhere. Long lines in front of the shops. We only had to wait 40 minutes for a crepe with strawberries and bananas 😂

The fireworks were typical American - long, loud, and spectacular. Afterwards, an endless line of people made their way to the bus and downtown. We quickly gave up the idea of getting on a bus.

Our day ended with a 4 km walk through the illuminated city at night.

Because of the delayed sun today, I also got a little sunburn on my face 🙈

It's quarter to 12 now and we managed to stay up a bit longer than yesterday.

Good night for us and good morning to you 👋