Streetview: San Francisco

My dad has always been my travel buddy. We share the same sense of adventure, and we've been close for as long as I can remember. 

So when I got a call two years ago asking if I wanted to accompany him to California, I jumped at the opportunity, both to reconnect with Dad and see something new. We visited a number of landmark sites on our trip and of course, I snapped a few pictures. 

It was a beautiful trip. While we were there, we visited San Diego, Monterey and San Francisco. Each city impressed me in its own way. San Francisco was endlessly entertaining, so full of things to see and do that the few brief days I spent in California were completely insufficient to enjoy its charms. The best way to see the city in what little time we had, we decided, would be to actually walk around it. 

So without further ado, I present to you San Francisco as I saw it:

The Golden Gate Bridge, seen from below. 

Architecture in San Francisco favored buildings like these colorful ones, called "Painted Ladies," close-set, narrow and in the Victorian style. I found it very different from Texas. 

Alcatraz Prison. If you plan to visit, make sure to book your trip to the island well in advance. When we arrived, we found it sold out for two months. 

The terrain is incredibly hilly. From different vantage points across the city, you can look out and see the blue water stretching out before you. It's incredibly beautiful, but the walk can get tiring — it's often an uphill battle.    

What goes up must come down! San Francisco's dramatic geography really became apparent as we walked through the city and examined some of its neighborhoods. We found one apartment complex near the wharf that was built up along a hill, with an incredibly long staircase to reach the street below. It was an exhausting walk. Here is the best picture I was able to get of the staircase, and even then, its scope is not fully apparent. There was another set of stairs below this one.

This picture was taken in San Fran's famous Chinatown. Dad and I stopped by a stall that sold fruit and I bought his first lychee, which we peeled and ate with our fingers as we walked. I was incredibly excited to show something new to my Dad, who worked as a journalist when I was growing up and introduced me to many exciting things.

Here I am, making a goofy face next to the sign for Haight Ashbury. This place was basically a locus of hippie culture. It was my favorite part of the city, but you might get a contact high from wandering into some of the shops.