Tracey & Neil's EPIC California Adventure - Day 4 - San Francisco

[tracey1302]

Pre-Trip Report

Day -2 : Universal Studios, Hollywood

Day -1: California Adventure Park

Day 0: LAX & Santa Monica

Day 1: Santa Monica to Pismo Beach

Day 2: Pismo Beach to San Francisco

Day 3: San Francisco

Day 4 - San Francisco

Our time in San Francisco seemed to be flying by! I remember smugly updating my Facebook status (why not, everyone else does?) saying we'd cycled over Golden Gate and we'd had some very jealous replies )

Our last full day in San Francisco was an array of sightseeing. Neil wanted to hit Coit Tower and I wanted to do Fisherman's Wharf again (I'd been researching clam chowder ) On our way back from the bike rental place the day before, we'd stumbled upon the absolutely beautiful Russian Hill on Hyde Street. Again, we fell in love with the little street side bistro cafes with twinkling lights. So that night, I'd booked us in at a highly recommended restaurant named Frascati so we were sorted for our evening meal.

First stop was Union Square. I knew I'd never get Neil shopping so it was a flying visit really, but nonetheless, to prove we were there





Then as I wanted to walk through North Beach and check out 'Little Italy' we headed back through Chinatown, taking some pictures by the spectacular Chinagate.



This was where we ate on our first night





I really loved North Beach. If we'd have had more time, I would have loved to have sampled all the beautiful Italian cafes and ice cream shops they had there. It was just so quaint and beautiful. And so different from Chinatown. All of the districts in San Francisco just seem to flow seamlessly into the next even though they are all so original in their own right.



Neil, of course, thought it would be rude not to sample some Italian gelato while we were in the area...



We also seemed to stumble upon the famous Lombard Street - packed with tourists of course. Tourists seemed to get on my wick that day - even though I was one and again, even though I'm so used to Disney!





After Lombard, it was off to Coit Tower for us. I hadn't even heard of Coit Tower but Neil had had it recommended so up we went! Although not without a little moaning and groaning from me because of how high up we had to go - my calves were killing and my bum was still a bit sore from the day before





Cont. below...

[tracey1302]

Cont...

As you can see from below, the views were just incredible:







After sampling the amazing sights of Coit Tower, it was down and back to Fisherman's Wharf. I wanted to go onto Pier 39 and see what all that was about. We weren't disappointed. It was full of life and the hustle and bustle of Disney so naturally, I lapped it up!



We got a few bits for our house back home and Neil bought some chocolate from Ghiradellis for his parents (and for us ) and took some incredible pictures on the pier.





I love this picture of Neil

I sampled the best clam chowder I'd ever had. And I'd been to Boston Neil who 'doesn't like fish' seemed to enjoy having a lot of my chowder!



As you can see it was a little windy on this pier, hence the reason my hair is MENTAL

After a busy day taking it all in, we reluctantly went back to our hotel for our final night in San Francisco. We had originally decided to not do the tram as the queue looked absolutely huge but we managed to sneakily catch it half way up



Our reservations weren't till 9pm (if only they had an 180 day window) so we decided to go out about 7 and have a few (too many) drinks first in Russian Hill.

This is me sampling an AMAZING peach bellini.



And the beauty of Hyde




I didn't take any pictures in the restaurant as it was majorly dark so none of them would have come out but the food was AMAZING. We can thoroughly recommend Frascati

I remember when we were walking back to the hotel this night, we couldn't believe how much we'd managed to cram in so far. And we still had so much to look forward to: Yosemite, Death Valley, Vegas & Disneyland

Although we both had to admit, we were very very sad to leave San Francisco

Day 5: San Francisco & Yosemite National Park is here

[NatsyNoo]

Great report so far! Definitely will help with my San Fran planning!

[KarenG]

I was sad to leave San Francisco, too (though we had a little more time there than you). Something about it is just so very charming, isn't it?

Although I liked the pier at Fisherman's Wharf I was so glad we didn't stay there - the crowds were unbelieveable the day we went, and we literally had to fight our way along the sidewalk. I wasn't keen on the area overall, though I know loads of people are.

Your dinner sounds like it was delicious

[Pussycat Doll]

Excellent day, you were so lucky with the weather! Pussycat

[chrisdisney]

Wow you encountered some great weather in San Francisco

[orlandosgr8]

Another fabulous day exploring San Francisco. As much as I adore Florida I really hope to explore other areas of America one day

[chrisdisney]

When did you go to San Fran the weather looked amazing

[tracey1302]

Originally Posted by chrisdisney

When did you go to San Fran the weather looked amazing

See more...

It was June when we were there but the locals were saying the whole time we were there that we'd brought some great weather with us. I don't think it's usually like that at all

[Siddex]

Another great day. We also ate at Frascati and had a lovely meal.