I love San Francisco
There are things in life you do plan. Then there are those you don’t. There are also those you don’t expect at all but they just happen. My 10-day visit to San Francisco, ”Darling of America’s west coast”, was a mix of all of the above.
Honestly speaking, I knew very little about San Fran before I took my flight from Las Vegas. But even though I don’t read Lonely Planet, knowing that they named SF as #1 city in the world in their book Best in Travel 2013 meant just one thing – it kind of guaranteed the best time there!
at Golden Gate Bridge
People around the world do all know about the Golden Gate bridge which has become the most-known bridge on the Earth in the 21st century. They might have also heard of SF being built on many hills with the steepest ones of around 30% of grade. The number of the hills differs from the official 43 up to 47 but just 7 out of them all are original. I didn’t really care how many of the hills were original to San Francisco. I cared about the city being hilly because it not only opened my eyes to amazing views of the bay but also let me stay fit walking around.
However, what many of us don’t know is that San Francisco was established only on the 17th September 1776 as a Spanish Presidio and called after the patron St. Francis de Assisi. It makes me laugh when I realize that my little home town Snina in Slovakia is around 760 years old and it’s still kept a secret while San Francisco is visited by at least 16 million visitors each year spending here around $9 billion yearly! There are almost 33,000 hotel rooms in the green city of SF, would you believe it?!
in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco
But San Francisco is much more than just the Golden Gate bridge or the hills. The 49 square miles (126 square km) offer its visitors many things to see and do in a relatively short period of time as everything is kind of close by and the city is pretty walkable. And the places where I can just get around walking easily are my kind of thing!
The 7th happiest city in the world, the 2nd most expensive one in the US, and the most European city in the US really got the best out of me. I planned to stay for just 4 days (the average stay is 4.5 days) but in the end I realized not even 10 days of my extended stay were long enough to pay a visit to all the unique places SF has to offer.
at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco
But those 10 days were definitely enough to make romantic, mostly foggy San Francisco my 2nd favorite city in the world just after Barcelona with just one difference – I hated Barcelona my first time there but then it changed from the initial disgust to my #1 city ever. I did give Barcelona a second chance.
The funny fact is that Barcelona is one of the San Francisco’s Sister Cities since 2010 and the two cities share more similarities than just many homeless people and the smell of the weed on the streets (none of these things make me love both cities as to be honest I dislike any kind of drugs and I’m not very comfortable with homeless either).
The funniest moment ever was when I got a present from Jordi (he is in charge of B44 Catalan Bistro I ate at twice in San Francisco). Jordi is from Barcelona but lives in San Francisco now and he made a music CD for their special guests. The cover of the CD is Park Guell from Barcelona and the second half is Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco! I mean, how did you know, Jordi?
San Francisco and Barcelona CD I got in B44 Catalan Bistro
With San Francisco it was love at first sight.
And no wonder why. For 16 consecutive years San Francisco was voted as ”Best US City” by the Conde Nast Traveler magazine. All those people just cannot be wrong, right?!
Trust me, I left my heart in San Francisco too. Yes, I was just one of many.
at Pier 39 observing sea lions
I am not sure though why the average age of the SF visitors is 41 years. There’s uncountable amount of things to do in the city and surroundings if you are in your twenties or thirties. In my opinion, one of the reasons can be the average daily hotel room rate of $188. Pretty expensive, right?
All I can say now is that I truly love San Francisco. I love its hills that make me run out of breath very often, I love its restaurants even though you gotta add up to 18% tip to the total check, its views of the bridges and the bay, I love its cable cars horning the famous songs when crossing the roads.
It’s official, I love San Francisco.
on Alcatraz island overlooking San Francisco
For more information about San Francisco, please visit San Francisco travel.
Crazy sexy fun traveler
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Comment@ The Guy:
Sea lions are so cool! Hm not really sure which street you are talking about as many are steep and windy :D
The Guy
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I also have fond memories of my (only) visit to San Francisco, although that was around 15 years ago.
It is a very beautiful city and the views by the harbour are stunning. I remember there being more sea lions present when I was there and they made quite a racket.
Did you go down the really steep and windy road? I can’t remember the name but it is definitely one of the tourist attractions.
Crazy sexy fun traveler
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Comment@ Ruth:
Go back to SF if u can, I definitely would ;) Glad u love it there too.
Ruth
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I love San Francisco too. You pictures bring back good memories. I think it is time to go back and explore more of the city. I have only been there once for four days and there were a lot of places we missed. I am looking forward to my next visit. I am glad you had an excellent taste of what the West Coast (and California) has to offer.
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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Comment@ Victoria Nguyen (MapWanderer):
There’s tons of things to do in the SF area, indeed! Shame we never had a chance to meet when I was there.
Victoria Nguyen (MapWanderer)
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So great to hear that you loved SF!! It really is a great city. I’ve only recently moved back to the area, but I love being able to explore it as if it’s new to me…I’ve discovered so many new and cool things to do here. :D
Happy travels,
Victoria