I can’t believe it… The sun was shining. And it was hot. When I got to San Francisco the sun was actually heating stuff here, not just melting snow. For the first time since I left Israel I was walking around in a short sleeve T-shirt. And I was sweating. It was wonderful. So I can’t be completely objective when I say that San Francisco is beautiful. It may be the joy of this weather that affects my judgment.
I entered San Francisco around noon through the Oakland Bay Bridge, which is a shame because I was hoping to drive through the Golden Gate bridge. I might rent a bicycle and do that though. I got to the Columbus Motor Inn, a hotel so positively reviewed on TripAdvisor I just had to take it. The hotel is located in the Fisherman’s Wharf area, surrounded by many places to eat and hang out in, close to the San Francisco piers. And it’s great – the room is clean, big and nice, I have a big flat screen TV (not that I plan to use it much, but going to sleep it’s nice to have a quality TV screen to watch) and my own wireless router in the room (so I can go wired or wireless.) There’s also an air conditioner that lets you set the temperature (unlike those where it’s either too hot or too cold) and a safe so I can put stuff there that I would normally carry around with me. Just need to remember to take them out when I leave :)
After settling in I got out to the street to wander aimlessly. I headed directly to the piers. A lot of people walk up and down the piers and a lot of joggers exercise there as well. I really need to resume some kind of workouts. I’m going to be here over a week so I’m considering starting tomorrow with a 10 km jog (the piers route is almost 5 km one way, so it’s perfect for me.) I never really tried running outside so this will be an interesting experience. That is, if I manage to get out of this lazy mode that I’m in. I’ve been moderately active the past two weeks, walking around in cities and parks, but it’s not the same as an actual workout.
While walking the piers I noticed the boat trips to Alcatraz and got myself an evening tour on Monday. It’s supposed to be good. I walked the entire piers route and going back to the hotel I returned through what turned out to be the San Francisco Chinatown. I “made plans” for Sushi and after napping for a while (I didn’t sleep well last night) executed them successfully. It appears that the nightlife here is also very vibrant, but today I’m going to just relax.
I need to find things to do here. I checked the weather for the next few days and while it’s going to be relatively warm it may rain on Sunday and Monday. I’m thinking about going to some big attractions like Six Flags (open only Saturday and Sunday), Disneyland (open all week but in LA) and Sea World (open all week but in San Diego.) i don’t know if I’ll feel like driving again. Right now I’m happy just walking around San Francisco.