Bay Area 6: Sightseeing

09 Jun 2019

Day 9

I got up and had breakfast at Mel’s Drive-In, a place dear to my heart. When my parents took us on a trip through the US, we also visited SF and there was Mel’s just around the corner of our hotel. We had breakfast there almost every day and I dreamt about those waffles with whipped cream and berries for years.

After Mel’s I went straight to the Palace of Fine Arts. From there I walked over to Crissy Field Beach.

I turned towards the Golden Gate Bridge, but visited Fort Point first. Anyone who played GTA San Andreas would have.

Then I walked up to and across the bridge. From there on to Battery Spencer. I decided to fill the last gap towards Sausalito by bus, but kind of regretted going there. I grabbed some ice cream and took a break to consider my next destination.

I went over to Mission and on to Dolores Park.

From there I meandered through the streets and took in the beautiful architecture.

I continued on to the painted ladies. The sun was slowly setting and I decended down into Hayes Valley. I found a nice place to eat and took a break.

I went over to City Hall and took a bus back to my hotel. The bus was full of crazy and borderline violent people and I decided to stick with taxis for night trips.

The tally of the day: 35.776 steps and 26,94km.

Day 10

While planning the trip in Vienna I made sure to book a trip to Alcatraz — can’t miss the Rock!

For whatever stupid reason I decided to spend the rest hours in downtown. On a 36°C day 🥵 I went to the Ferry Building, China Town, the Transamerica Pyramid and finally over to Fisherman’s Wharf. Back home they told me to have an In’n’Out burger, so that’s what I did. Finally I dragged myself back to the hotel with all signs of a heat stroke.

I walked 23.473 steps and 17,4km that day.

Day 11

I recovered over night and decided to go to the West side of Golden Gate Park. I saw the windmills and continued on to the beach.

Following the beach I arrived at Land’s End.

There were some nice hiking trails and I was curious what I might discover. Surprisingly there weren’t any tourists around, only a few locals waking their dogs and kids splashing in the water. I stuck my feet into the water and enjoyed the moment. From Baker Beach I took the bus to Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. I meandered around and enjoyed the cool shadow of the trees.

I walked over to Height Ashbury, Ashbury Heights and up to Sutro Tower. Underneath the tower, somebody kept a few goats. They had a million dollar view of the city.

It was one of those days where after climbing one hill I felt like climing the next one. And so I walked over to Twin Peaks.

Can you guess it? From Twin Peaks I saw the next hill, so down I went to Corona Heights Park.

I took a break to write some postcards and have a glass of wine. Then walked a bit more through the streets and found a nice place to eat. I tried to soak up more of the atmosphere. It was the last night before I had to go home.

Another day in the bag, this time with 29.306 steps and 21,46 steps.

Day 12

I had another long day of traveling ahead of me, but clearly this time with less excitement. I went to Mel’s to have one of those waffles loaded with childhood memories. Then I checked out of my hotel and took a taxi to the airport. This time I booked an isle seat, hoping it would give me more opportunity to stretch my legs. What I didn’t consider was how many butts would touch me when people would walk through the narrow isle.

It was twelve pretty intense days and I think I slept 14 hours straight when I finally got back into my flat. Even on the travel day I got in 7.462 steps and 5,45km.

Bottom line: During this trip I walked 249.927 steps and a whopping 184,34km.