San Francisco: Day 2

*Pics of me at the bottom of Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. And from the top, where you can appreciate the hills of San Francisco.

Day 2 in San Francisco was filled with walking, walking, and more walking. I haven't walked that much in such a long time. And the hills??? They are really crazy. I'd heard about them but I didn't realize just how bad they were until I had to walk them 200 times. Needless to say, my body is extra sore from suddenly tossing it back into active work after such a prolonged sedentary lifestyle.

Oh, lucky for me, the weather is suddenly unseasonably warm, rising to the mid 70s yesterday, and 80s for the rest of the weekend. I always bring the warm weather:)

Things that I did yesterday:

-Made some pancakes. It was funny watching the different hostellers, try their hand at making pancakes. Hilarious! Several of them burnt theirs. Others, had pancakes that ended up being broken up and looking like scrambled eggs. Then, they'd note the ease at which I was making my perfectly round fluffy pancakes and try to peep my technique. LOL. It was quite amusing.

-Saw a bicyclist get hit by a cab driver. Great start to my day. Well, actually, I just missed seeing the event actually occur in two seconds it took me to look down at my map. I looked down, heard a boom, looked up, and there was this man laying on the ground in front of me. A few seconds later, the Indian/South Asian man, got out of the car, yelling at the bicyclists for doing "that". I guess that he tried to cross the street while the cars were still going? I don't know. But, the guy was alright in the sense that he was alert and was able to at least be walked off of the street and onto the sidewalk. Meanwhile, I was thinking hmmm, I hope that he really is ok and doesn't have an epidural hemorrhage.lol. For my nonmed friends, that's pretty much when someone has head trauma, seem like they are fine for awhile, and then suddenly are not (ie: die). This man didn't have a helmet on either, so I hope that he really ends up being ok. The Southasian man reminded me of Nigeria though; where they'll hit you or run you over and then yell at you for not being smart enough to move out of the way. Smh lol.

-Took the historic street cars down to Pier 39. Walked around for a bit then went to the Aquarium by the Bay which was cool. Not nearly as big as the ones in Baltimore or Atlanta. But nice, nonetheless. I got to touch a sting ray, which was slimy feeling, and a star fish, wish surprisingly felt like rock/concrete. Not how I expected them to feel.

-Had a brief personal boat ride along the coastline that allowed me to see Alcatraz, the sea lions, Sausalito, the Golden Gate bridge, the Wharf, and some other little things.

-Hate the infamous clam chowder in a sourdough bowl. It was delicious and filling. I couldn't finish that bowl.

-Quickly walked around Fisherman's Wharf

-Walked to Lombard St to see the Crookedest Street in the world. It was interesting watching the tourists record themselves in the car on the way down. It was also interesting how many freaking hills, and stairs I climbed to get there smh.

-Went to Ghiradelli square and had a sample of the most delicious chocolate! mmmmm....

-Walked to North beach and took a little rest in Washington square ( a park).

-Walked some more to Coit tower. Now, half way to this point, my legs started to give out on me. It started shaking and yelling at me. So I tried to catch the bus. Waited, got on, then got off at the wrong stop, which is how I ended up at Washington Square. I ended up having to walk the rest of the way to the tower anyway. The hills and stairs on this path??? Craaaazy! I had to keep telling myself that I was almost there. The view from Coit was nice, although I didn't pay the $5 to get all the way to the top.

-Finally, I got on the bus to head back to Fisherman's wharf so that I could take the cable car back. This was a journey in itself. The street cars were always so full, that they kept driving by us. I ended up crossing to the other side, so that I could ride back to the end of the line, in order to be able to be at the first stop and ride back up.

-Ended up getting off at the wrong stop and had to wait again.

-Finally, got to the stop closest to the hostel and watched some young black street performers do some dancing. The way they moved their bodies as if they had no joints was cool....and creepy. But, still cool. Continued the walk back to the hostel, hoping to partake in the Lasagna dinner for the night which ended up being canceled. Which means that, yes, I had to go and walk again.

-Ended up getting some, what I call Indian Efo/spinach stew. It was spinach and chicken. Tasted pretty good. Of course, I had to order naan. They did disappoint me however, as it was slightly burnt. Still good.

By the time I got to my room and showered, I literally crashed. I had no recollection of anything going on around me. No roommates moving. Nothing. I was just that exhausted.

Let's see what today brings. I'm thinking Golden Gate Bridge(to walk or to bike it?), Sausalito, and Muir woods. We'll see!


Oh and I'll post a link soon, for those of you who'd like to see the pics.