Charming San Francisco, this was such a memorable week. Every day spent in this gorgeous city was jam-packed, we managed to fit so much in! This was my second time in SF but it felt like a completely new experience as we did a lot of things that I didn't get to do the first time. It was so nice to be able to get around the city by public transport and walking after being in two car cities (LA and Merced/Yosemite). We were spoilt for good company and good food here. I was very excited about this part of our trip; my cousin lives in Oakland and I never get to see her obviously because she lives halfway across the world. Despite only having previously met her on 2 occasions (now, 3), we've been extremely close since our first meeting and our reunion was something I looked forward to for months. I was really glad that she got to meet my best friend Bella too, since both these lovely ladies are such important parts of my life.
Seriously, every time I put together another one of these travel posts, I am reminded of just how amazing this holiday was. I'm happy that I can share it on this little corner of mine on the internet.
The architecture in San Francisco was so beautiful, I wanted to take photos of every street we walked down and every house we saw.
One of my favourite meals we had on this trip was at Pizzeria Delfina per my cousin's recommendation and I'm still dreaming of that pizza! Can't believe we ate an entire pizza each. I found Bella this gorgeous, deep red, strappy dress while we were thrifting and I forced her to buy it because she looked stunning in it. The style had a vintage vibe about it but could also pass as a piece from the 90s. We decided to have a little fun and do a photoshoot with it around our Airbnb building as it is in an extremely old apartment built in 1912. It had those retro elevators with the manual sliding gates and the lobby was decked out in wood and old lighting. I think the polaroids turned out really cool!
One of the nights after we had dinner at a fancy sushi bar with my cousin, she took us to the Cheesecake Factory at the top of Macy's for dessert. The view up there was pretty at night. Bella ordered a sundae and it was so ginormous that it was kind of off-putting.
We visited Alcatraz and listened to the audio tour which was narrated by ex-prison guards and prisoners. It was super interesting and very well done. As you can see, I was digging the pastel aesthetic hard.
A definite highlight was the 14+ km bike ride that we did from Fisherman's Wharf (Pier 41) to Saucalito. We went at the perfect time and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge as the sun was setting. I can't even explain the pure joy I felt. I really loved seeing the city's skyline everywhere we went. We took the ferry back to the Main Ferry Building afterwards and had to ride a little further to return our bikes at an afterhours garage. It was hilarious because the rental company that we got our bikes from was called Blazing Saddles and after our ride, I can certainly see why it's called that. We struggled to walk or sit for days.
My cousin spent the weekend taking us around. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and I took so many videos of the sea otters. They're seriously the cutest! We also got to see puffins for the first time, I didn't get a photo but they were adorable waddling around in the water.
We saw a Golden State Warriors game on our second-last night in SF. I am not a sporty person at all and didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It was a home game in the Oracle Arena so the atmosphere was buzzing and so contagious. The game was easy to follow and extremely close that it had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I had such a blast and my only regret is not seeing a second NBA game in New York.
On our last night, we caught A$AP Rocky on his tour with Tyler the Creator, Vince Staples and Danny Brown. The concert was fun but far too short! The experience itself was so different from any other concert I've ever been to. The crowd was exceptionally violent! Luckily we found seats in the balcony looking down.
One of my favourite meals we had on this trip was at Pizzeria Delfina per my cousin's recommendation and I'm still dreaming of that pizza! Can't believe we ate an entire pizza each. I found Bella this gorgeous, deep red, strappy dress while we were thrifting and I forced her to buy it because she looked stunning in it. The style had a vintage vibe about it but could also pass as a piece from the 90s. We decided to have a little fun and do a photoshoot with it around our Airbnb building as it is in an extremely old apartment built in 1912. It had those retro elevators with the manual sliding gates and the lobby was decked out in wood and old lighting. I think the polaroids turned out really cool!
One of the nights after we had dinner at a fancy sushi bar with my cousin, she took us to the Cheesecake Factory at the top of Macy's for dessert. The view up there was pretty at night. Bella ordered a sundae and it was so ginormous that it was kind of off-putting.
We visited Alcatraz and listened to the audio tour which was narrated by ex-prison guards and prisoners. It was super interesting and very well done. As you can see, I was digging the pastel aesthetic hard.
A definite highlight was the 14+ km bike ride that we did from Fisherman's Wharf (Pier 41) to Saucalito. We went at the perfect time and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge as the sun was setting. I can't even explain the pure joy I felt. I really loved seeing the city's skyline everywhere we went. We took the ferry back to the Main Ferry Building afterwards and had to ride a little further to return our bikes at an afterhours garage. It was hilarious because the rental company that we got our bikes from was called Blazing Saddles and after our ride, I can certainly see why it's called that. We struggled to walk or sit for days.
My cousin spent the weekend taking us around. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and I took so many videos of the sea otters. They're seriously the cutest! We also got to see puffins for the first time, I didn't get a photo but they were adorable waddling around in the water.
We saw a Golden State Warriors game on our second-last night in SF. I am not a sporty person at all and didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It was a home game in the Oracle Arena so the atmosphere was buzzing and so contagious. The game was easy to follow and extremely close that it had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I had such a blast and my only regret is not seeing a second NBA game in New York.
On our last night, we caught A$AP Rocky on his tour with Tyler the Creator, Vince Staples and Danny Brown. The concert was fun but far too short! The experience itself was so different from any other concert I've ever been to. The crowd was exceptionally violent! Luckily we found seats in the balcony looking down.
Signing off on another travel post. Next post will be my journey on the California Zephyr - a 50+ hour train ride across the country.
chloé
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