Travel : San Francisco!

I have just got back from a once in a lifetime trip to America. For those that don't follow me on Twitter or Instagram may not have seen the hectic life I had been living for the past two weeks. My mum, dad and I completed a mini tour down the coast of California, working our way around and seeing the sights! It was the most amazing thing I have ever done and I am so proud of myself for being able to enjoy every moment to the fullest. One of the things I am most proud of was the flights to and from. I have quite a big fear of flying which I thought was going to be a trigger for my anxiety, but I got on that plane. I had a safe, enjoyable flight and that helped me enjoy the holiday that much more. 

Now that I am home, and feeling well rested, I wanted to put together a little trip report of each place that we visited. In total we went to six different places and fitted a lot into two weeks! I also want to share the photographs that I have taken in hopes that one day I can look back on this little series and cherish the memories that we made. So sit back, get yourself a lovely cup of tea and enjoy!

San-Francisco

San-Francisco was probably the highlight of the whole holiday for me. Ironically it was the first place that we visited on this trip. Our flight landed around 4pm, so we had a little bit of extra time to explore and wander that we didn't think we would have. The whole city was beautiful. It's hard to explain it to somebody that hasn't experienced it for themselves, but the people were so friendly and despite there being lots of people it didn't feel busy. I could have stayed the whole holiday just in this place but being a stones throw from Macy's, Tiffany's and Victoria Secret for two weeks would have been a problem for me! 

Hotel

We stayed in the Handlery hotel in Union Square for three nights. It was such a beautiful hotel. To the moment we arrived to the moment we left, we were treated like family. It was my mums birthday the day after we arrived and waiting for us in our room was a bag of American treats as a welcome and happy birthday. Such a lovely treat for my mum. As I was travelling with my mum and dad, we were sharing a room which I thought would be small considering we were staying in the middle of a busy city! I was pleasantly surprised to see that we had LOTS of space. Even with two double queen beds inside. The bathroom was the only thing that let this hotel down. The shower was terrible and felt like a task to wash your hair. Everything else was incredible and I wish we could have stayed longer. As part of the room reservation we had breakfast included. When they say Americans have large portions they were not kidding! I asked for a small portion of pancakes and received a huge plate with about 5 piled up! I dread to think what the large was like!

What to do

We have been planning this trip for months and knew that to be able to see everything we wanted, and to get the most out of the holiday, we had to have things planned. To make the trip less expensive than it was going to be, we also booked a lot of things that we knew we were going to visit to save queue times as well as being a little bit cheaper!  Aside from the obvious, shopping, there is lots to do in San-Francisco. We took a 'bus' to Pier 33 and visited Alcatraz. Then we walked along the front to Pier 39 to see the California Sea Lions. On the same day we walked to Lombard Street and viewed the 'wiggly road'. Afterwards we took a tram back to Union Square where we went to a restaurant called John's Grill for fancy fish! The next day we went to our first baseball game at the AT&T building to see the Giants play. In true american fashion, I purchased a baseball cap which I wore with pride the whole day. In the evening we went down to Pier 43 1/2 to take a California Sunset Cruise with the Red and White fleet to see the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge. Sadly we went on a day that was very foggy so didn't actually see much, even when being directly underneath. That was such a shame however it still was a lovely trip. The following day we finally went for a little shop in Union Square before grabbing our hire car and heading to Yosemite. 

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

View of San-Francisco and Bay Bridge

The Bay Bridge

My not so clever 'prison look' for Alcatraz. 

Flags at Pier 39

California Sea Lions

Lombard Street

Lombard Street

View of San-Francisco from Lombard Street

Tram

Bay Bridge

Bay Bridge

AT&T Park

Dressed up for our California sunset cruise

Sausilito

The Golden Gate Bridge. Ironically you could see more in this picture than we could in real life! 

Tips & Tricks

The one piece of advice that I will give to anybody planning to visit San-Francisco is to bring lots of layers. It was blooming freezing, hot then freezing again! I made the mistake of not bringing any jumpers so had to purchase one whilst there. My next piece of advice is more for the photographers amongst you. Look up. I know that sounds weird but San-Francisco, especially Union Square, is very tall. The silhouette is beautiful and the buildings have so much detail which would be a shame to miss! Plus its quite cool to see how tall they are! Finally I suggest taking a cross body bag. There are so many things to do and see when out that you want to have hands free to photograph. Plus it keeps your bag closer to your body which is safer for you too! 

We had the best time in San-Francisco, and like I said we would have loved to have stayed longer. I would have liked to have seen the Golden Gate Bridge without there being any fog, and if we had a little bit of extra time it would have been nice to visit Sausalito. 

I hope you enjoyed this blogpost. I know it is very different to ones that I usually write, but I really wanted to share some of my pictures, as photography is a passion of mine too! 

Lots of love, 

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