I loved my time in California and can't wait to visit again "west coast best coast". Debatable if this is really true but let's continue. I went for a trade show for work and extended my time to visit a friend from Cornell who had moved to the area post-grad. When I was younger I used to think Silicon Valley was called Silicone Valley since it seemed many celebrities would get cosmetic surgery to increase the size of certain body parts. HAHA! While I'm embarrassing myself I also thought Ellis Island was called Elvis Island...ah to be young and a kid again.
It was much colder than expected when I visited and I was coming from upstate NY in the winter. Yes I know it's not beachy summer weather but I wasn't expecting as much wind, rain, and clouds as I experienced on my trip. See pictures below for evidence, with my hair blowing in the wind and a full winter jacket. Like many other cities, there is a homeless problem. Certain nicknames don't seem to fly well ... every resident of California will not appreciate any of my (unoriginal) nicknames like Cali or San Fran because it's trying "too hard" to act cool and hip but I LOVE nicknames for any and everything and abbreviations but to go with the flow we will call these places by their proper full names.
My friend Sam had to work for part of the time and I was so proud of myself for solo-traveling and navigating my way. I was shy at first but found the courage to be bold enough to ask strangers to take my photo in different places. Pics or it didn't happen? Yes, I was in my home country but I had never been to the West Coast before and was in a new city. I've traveled before alone (outside of the country too) but it was with a group, so it's different.
One of the easiest and most affordable ways to see a new city if you are on a crunch for time is to take a hop on hop off bus tour. Since I wasn't going to be there for long and my friend was working one of the days I was there, I used Big Bus Tours and made friends while using it...they were nice enough to even let me borrow an external charger since mine died. Bless their souls!
The meme below is one of my favorites and makes me chuckle, going back to the point earlier about how visitors of California may want to use abbreviations, and locals don't like those; yet they say things like below and are confusing.
In no particular order, here are some of the places I visited and enjoyed. What places have you been to in San Francisco or Silicon Valley that you enjoyed or what surprised you about the areas?
San Francisco
Alcatraz: Former federal prison. The boat ride is not long but did make me feel a bit nauseous.
Fisherman's Warf: Strong smell of fish for the obvious reason. I like my fish to hardly look, smell or taste like fish (LOTS OF SAUCE AND NO BONES) but you know the fish is at least fresh here.
Ferry Building: My all-time favorite bookstore is here, it's called Book Passage. It's a "one of a kind" unique book store. They had a bin with books wrapped up and you bought a surprise book which I thought was cute and they also had papers with notes from people who worked at the bookstore of recommendations for books and reasons why they loved them. Their location is also right on the water with a view. I also liked all the different places to eat. I had some great sourdough while here and cheese.
Pier 39: The Sea Lions are chatty and adorable.
Ghirardelli Square: Smells like heaven with so many sweet treats to pick from.
China Town: I was lucky to visit when it was the Chinese New Year's. The streets were filled with food, art, dancing and it was wonderful to experience. We ate lunch at the House of Nanking.
Little Italy: Sam and I had some delicious Gelato and they even let us bring our eco-friendly reusable containers.
Exploratorium: Super cool interactive science museum. My friend and I went on a day where you "pay what you want" rather than pay a ticket price.
Cable Car ride: It was a fun, unique way to get around town. It takes a lot of work to operate the car and turn it, kudos to those drivers!
Painted Ladies: It was pouring when I went to visit but I felt so nostalgic visiting this seemingly normal neighborhood where some of my favorite childhood content was filmed. Full House, Princess Diaries and That's So Raven to name a few.
Golden Gate Bridge: This bridge is LOOONG. My phone was at 1% before I made a friend who let me borrow their external phone charger, bless their soul here and I was so happy to get to see it in person and get a picture even though it's by no means a good shot.
Lombard Street: Sure it was steep but nothing different than the hills in Ithaca, NY where I went to college so I wasn't too thrown off by it.
Silicon Valley
(Do you know the way to) - San Jose
Cafe Stritch: It is worth a visit. I had so much fun here, such a good chill vibe. I love live jazz music and they have a nice American fare & drink options.
Palo Alto
Evvia Estiatorio: Pricey but delicious authentic Greek food
Sunnyvale
Il Postale: Get your carb and dairy fix here with a variety of pasta choices, pizzas, and cakes.
Alviso
Maria Elena's Restaurant: Off the beaten trek but vegetarian-friendly Mexican restaurant with great quesadillas by the water.
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