19th January: The Golden Gate Bridge

On the 7th day of our journey, we only managed to leave the house at 10:15 and headed off to the Golden Gate Bridge. The smell of the sea, the warmer temperatures (around 19°C) and a little bit of sun made the walk along the shore feel very good. We stopped at several spots to take pictures of the beautiful views of the bridge and of Alcatraz.

We intended to go to Muir Woods and its super large trees (Redwoods, also known as Sequoias) afterwards, but first we decided to get lunch in China Town. I couldn’t wait to have some Hot Pot. In the end, it would have been stressful to go to the Redwoods if we wanted to be sure to have proper sunlight, so we went to Pier 39 instead. It’s a place by the sea with a view of Alcatraz. Despite the many attractions and shops for tourists (and the many tourists), the place had a really nice atmosphere. And we saw some sea lions!

I couldn't leave San Francisco without taking a lot of pictures of the intriguing houses and streets:

After that, we decided to split the cars again, with Max and Idriss going to the gym and eating at home while the rest of us continued on to the Castro district, the “rainbow area”. 

We had a very good time drinking Margaritas at a Mexican restaurant and talking about life. It made me very happy to get to know Audrey a bit better and I felt we had a lot of fun together as a group.

Ever since Pier 39, I was craving for some mini donuts with cinnamon sugar. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any in the Castro district, but we did find a cookie ice cream sandwich store – and it was totally worth it! They had pumpkin spice ice cream, it was super delicious.

We drove down the famous Lombard street and finished our sightseeing tour by driving up a hill from which we could see San Francisco from above. 

Written by Julia Heuritsch | Uploaded on 25th January 2019