Graduation Trip to San Francisco

Hi All! I’m about to graduate, and to celebrate my boyfriend Nate and I went to San Francisco, California to celebrate. We were lucky to have a great friend to stay with – my friend and fellow volunteer from Tanzania, Al. Our first day we arrived around noon to his house in Oakland, just across the bay from San Fran. The three of us then headed off for a walk around Lake Merritt, a great suggestion from my friend Mary!



After that we cleaned up and headed out for a big night in San Fran! We had dinner at Café Aldano, a great restaurant recommended by my friend Jaime. We also had tickets to a performance of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra courtesy of my parents! They played several pieces, but the highlight was Brahms 2nd Symphony – it’s one of Nate’s favorites.



Our first full day in San Fran started with a drive down the Embarcadero. We parked in the Fisherman’s Warf and headed to Pier 39 which was lots of fun. We got to see the famous Sea Lions, who were napping and pushing each other in the water. One was barking and trying to wake the others up – he was annoying and reminded me of myself haha.



Next up was a trip to Boudin’s, the well-known bakery, for a bread bowl of clam chowder – you have to do it! Thanks again to Mary for the great suggestion! We next walked down North Beach towards Coit Tower. This tower has great views of San Fran and the bay. It was built in 1933 and used to serve as a lookout! Below is a picture of the view:



Next we hopped on a couple buses and headed to Union Square. We enjoyed a glass of wine in the park while listening to live music. We also had to take the Westin glass elevator to the top (32 floors) for a view of the square from above! We also took a cheesy picture in front of one of the 4 hearts that stand at each corner of the square:





Following Jaime’s advice, we hopped on the Powell-Hyde cable car for a ride up Nob Hill. After that we took the Red Fleet Boat Tour of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bride. We got a great picture on the back of the boat despite the wind!



After our boat ride we walked to Ghiradelli Square, but we were too full for ice cream sundae! Instead we just got back in our car and drove down the “Crookedest Street Ever” – Lombard! It really IS crooked and it is STEEP! I was glad Nate was driving! We drove back to Oakland and had dinner in Jack London Square at a restaurant recommended by Mary called Yoshi’s – awesome sushi! It was a great way to end the day!

Monday was Napa Valley! Unfortunately, it was raining in the morning so our tour of Beringer was a little more indoors (wine cellars) than outdoors (vineyards). It was still great and very informative and as a plus we got to taste 7 wines instead of 5! We learned a lot about different wine pairings and history. The barrels in the cellar I thought were particularly cool:



Next we had lunch at Cindy’s Backyard, a great recommendation from my mom. We did a quick tasting at Sutter Home before heading to Robert Mondavi in the afternoon. By that time the weather was nice, so we did a few wine tastings and walked around the vineyard:





We were pretty tired after Napa – we definitely want to go back again and get to see more wineries, and get a chance to get to Sonoma! We had dinner back in Oakland that night at Pizzaiolo, recommended by my friend Anton – and Al came with us! We had a great time.

Our last day was great, we started by walking the golden gate bridge! It was fun although the bridge is more red than golden!



After walking the bridge across AND back, we drove to Delfina’s for lunch (big thanks to Anton and Sandy for both recommending it!) We had the best pizza there! Next we drove through the Golden Gate Park and Alamo Square. You just have to take a picture in front of the Full House Victorian houses in the square! Nate’s picture is the funniest:



We continued driving towards the coast and down to Point Lobos. The view was amazing:





After that we followed a scenic drive through Percadero and Sea Cliff recommended by Jaime. The views were beautiful! We ended across the Golden Gate Bridge at a very cool lookout over the bay (thanks again Jaime!).



We continued on to Sausalito, a town my mom and dad love. It reminded me a little of the Amalfi Coast in Italy. It was very cute, and we had a nice glass of wine on the water and relaxed for a bit!



We then drove back into the city for a final cable car ride, which we had better seats for – at the front. The cable cars are classic – and everyone has to do at least one ride (we did two!). It dropped us off in Chinatown, which was fun to walk through. We also saw the Ferry Building after we passed through Chinatown. I really liked the cable car though, obviously:



We took the F street car up the Embarcadero back to Fisherman’s Warf. We had dinner at Greens restaurant, a vegetarian restaurant on the water recommended by my friend Sarah. We had dinner at sunset, which was the perfect time, and we got to see the Golden Gate Bridge as the sun set and as the night lights came on. Really beautiful:



In all, it was a wonderful but short trip, but we did as much as possible! We can’t wait to go back, it was a really great time. We had an even better trip thanks to awesome recommendations from all my friends! Up next: GRADUATION!