Publisher's Note

Publisher’s Note
by CK May is the month of flowers not just in the Philippines but also here in Calgary. A lot of my neighbors have done their spring cleaning and unfortunately I cannot cope up with them. I remember that during this time of the year my husband, Hank gets busier day by day. He takes care [...]
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TRAVEL REVIEW BY CK – San Francisco, California

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA…….AS THE SONG GOES “I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO”

When planning for a trip, I always consider some pointers to choose our destination. It was in the fall of 2005 right after our wedding, when my husband and I went on a trip to SAN FRANCISCO. We chose to go to San Fran because it doesn’t take that long to fly and weather is nice. Aside from that, there was a full itinerary that I have listed for the 5 days that we will be there. I did my research and told myself, yes, I want to see the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Sausalito, Red Muir Wood, to go on a city tour of San Francisco, visit Chinatown and walked on the crookedest street and see more just what it has to offer. Oh, yes, not to forget the SONOMA VALLEY WINE TOUR. Yes, indeed, there’s lots to do in 5 days and it’s not enough to see the whole of San Francisco.

It was our 1st day and we decided to go to the FISHERMAN’S WHARF where you find lots of places to eat and the specialty of course it seafood. The wharf has a line up of different restaurants where you can pick and chose to go and dine depending on your appetite. I love seafood and so we went to this oldest seafood restaurant ALIOTO’s which began as a fresh fish stall in the 1920’s. They served good food and ambiance is very cozy. We will definitely go back and visit this restaurant when we plan another trip to San Francisco. One thing we also had fun was going to the Ghirardelli Square where we find chocolates to the galore. And we ended up buying chocolates to take home with us and share with our family and friends.

So much for the indulgence on food and chocolates, we then went with some of our tours and the first one we did was to visit ALCATRAZ. Alcatraz Island, located in the middle of San Francisco bay, is a must-see attraction for any visitor to the area. One of the most infamous prisons in the country for housing notorious criminals, it holds much history that will interest buffs and novices alike. No longer housing prisoners and managed by the National Park Service, tourists are allowed to visit by the boatload. Alcatraz was used as a federal maximum security prison from 1934 until 1963, when it was closed due to high costs and security issues. Tourists are able to take the regular self guided walking tour (with the aid of headphones narrating the story of Alcatraz — sometimes by the prisoners themselves who inhabited it).

Anyone intending to visit Alcatraz can book a ticket online in advance from the official ticket site which is www.alcatrazcruises.com. Tours can book up several days in advance, but it is easy to go online to purchase and print tickets. (Reservations are taken 90 days in advance.) With tickets in hand, proceed directly to Pier 33, Alcatraz Landing on San Francisco’s Embarcadero. Plan on arriving 30 minutes before your scheduled departure. The only line you need stand in is the boarding line for your tour. No printer, no problem. Purchase tickets online and write down your confirmation number. Arrive at Pier 33 a bit earlier than the requested 30 minutes and go directly to Will-call. Your confirmation number and photo id are all you’ll need to get your ticket and be on your way. (Source: Tripadvisor)

On our way back, we decided to do another side trip to SAUSALITO, a very quaint town and almost comparable to VICTORIA in BC, there’s lots of local artists and artisans and neat shops where you won’t find it in San Francisco. Sausalito was picturesque, a trendy little seaside village. My husband and I visited several art galleries.

Then we took a bus tour that took as to the Golden Gate Bridge where you will see San Francisco city view. It was great. Although all you need to do is to make sure you get a picture with the bridge as the background. There’s lots of bikers going thru the bridge and on a nice day people can walk from one end to the other end of the bridge and they say that it will at least take 45 minutes to walk the stretch of the bridge. The guide gave us complete and very interesting information.

Our next stop was the Red Muir Woods, where you can see the beauty of the woods that will take your breath away. There were hundred years old trees. I got some great nature pics. If you like to walk in the forest, then this is for you.

In the evening we took the Chinatown tour where we joined other tourists for a Chinese buffet dinner in one of the best known Chinese restaurants and then we walked down the streets of Chinatown with our tour guide and ended up in a Fortune cookie factory. There was a Chinese lady who showed us how to make the forture cookie and how to find your luck in the forture cookie. It was indeed an interesting evening with full of history in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

The next day we decided to take a ride on the cable Ride on a cable car. It’s worth the wait. There will be long queues/lines. Ride up front and stand rather than sit to get the full experience. Keep your eye on the driver to see all the work that goes into getting this fascinating transport system to work. Then we decided to get off and visit Lombard Street, the twistiest street in the world. Simple concept but definitely worth seeing. Its free, a great photo venue and you ask yourself if you would like to live there! It was crazy watching the cars go by on this street, it’s so amazing to see the houses on each side of the street. Definitely something unique that you will not find anywhere else except in San Francisco.

On last thing we did on our bus tour was going to the Mission Dolores. The Mission District seemed a little less safe than some of the areas we explored but I think this is just because it was less crowded. The fee was $5. each for Mission Dolores. He let a couple of children ring the bells which had a beautiful tone and then he proceeded to give a thorough history of both Mission Dolores and the basilica next door. Even if a docent is not present, there is a brochure that you could use for your own walking tour. Both buildings are rich in history and beauty and I would highly recommend a stop here. The stained glass in the basilica is amazing as is the tile mosaic outside. There is also one of the only cemetaries in San Francisco in a lovely setting outside.

So if you are in for a real adventure to do a lot of sightseeing, they SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA next time you are going for a holiday. I guarantee that you will have tons and tons of pictures and stories just like me. Yes, I can say that I left my heart in San Francisco because I want to go back one day and see other sights that I missed on my short trip

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TRAVEL REVIEW BY CK – San Francisco, California

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