San Francisco Diary: The Golden City

Finally we arrived at the epicenter of our trip.
San Francisco is a massive cluster of tightly knit buildings, many built on top of each other. Its roads are twisted and curving, its streets going up and down again and again creating a small roller coaster affect. The city is crowded with clusters people from many different cultures and ways of living. There was much to see on the trip including China Town, Fisherman’s wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Rev. Jeff Garner’s church. Our first night in San Francisco, we attended a service. There was a tremendous spirit of worship that flowed through the church the moment that we walked into the building. A great place that housed a magnificent atmosphere that only God can provide. Jacob Presidia was there, serving as the churches Youth pastor. I got to hang out with him for a portion of the night.

Here are a few places of interest.

Cable car- Traversing the up and down streets of was made easier by the convenient cable cars which provided easy transportation on the snaky and curving roads. Riding inside it was either a matter of sitting down on the side of the cable car with our body facing the open outside or standing up and holding on to the horizontal metal bar for dear life.

China Town- a foreign and alien world filled to the brim with Chinese culture, and language, Chinese food, and cuisine. Here we saw live animals awaiting their fate at the butcher’s blade. We saw signs that could not be read. We saw an extremely dirty park, and filthy streets crowded with masses of people. Restaurants served authentic Chinese food, and many stores sold all kind of Asian souvenirs, clothing, toys, videos, and other oddities.

Grand Palace Restaurant (in China Town): An unoccupied karaoke stage can be easily viewed from this two-story restaurant. Alien food that defies imagination, sticky rice, chicken on a complete bone, egg rolls filled with meat, and wormy noodles, and steamed vegetables are served by the rudest staff {who speak limited English} I have ever encountered. The waiters are probably expected to be that way though.

Lombard Street- The second “crookedest” street in the world {the first been Wall street.} curves and winds like a viper curled in the dust. Extremely nice houses overshadow the landmark, along with rich pink flowers and well-tailored trees that create a vivid and flourishing atmosphere.

Ghirardelli- Not your average commercial mall, the Ghirardelli sold fine leather fashions, elegant women’s ware, unique British sweaters, crazy shirts, travel apparel, and Greek jewelry, hats, and sunglasses. They sold animal motifs, dog, and cat themed gifts, design building, and garden books, brass gifts, glass art and sculptures, and culturally themed ornaments. Chocolate and exquisite deserts could be purchased at stores. A very unique shopping experience.

Alcatraz- As we walked along the pier we could easily see the island prison in the San Francisco bay. Although we did not get to visit the Rocky fortress it made an interesting sight against San Francisco’s backdrop.

Pier 39-

Pier 39 is San Francisco’s #1 Attraction – a festival marketplace with more than 110 stores, 11 full-service restaurants with bay views and numerous fun-filled attractions.

-From the official Pier 39 website

A really cool place reminiscent of Sea Port village except many times better. Pier 39 is filled with fun stores selling everything from knives, and swords, to movie memorabilia to Victorian Prints and gifts. There was so much to see that we could have spent much more time than the humble hour that we were allotted. Good times.

Street Performers- Along the streets of San Francisco there were many interesting sights such as the Break Dancers who manipulated their athletic bodies to unbelievable positions. We saw the Silver men who acted like metallic robots, their clothes, and skin plastered with a silver color. We came across the Bush man, a man {David Johnson} who hides behind a green bush and then jumps out and growls and unaware passersby’s.

Golden Gate Bridge- Of all the vistas in San Fransisco, the greatest landmark we came across was the Golden Gate Bridge. It rises out of the sea like a mythical monument stretching out up to scrape the sky. Its red arches can readily be seen by the people from the city. Riding across the bridge one can gaze out at the buildings of San Francisco. We stopped at a lookout from which we could survey the Bridge, the surrounding city, and a Spanish Presidio.

We visited an old military gun bunker, which provided a great view of the bridge and put us on eye level with many of the skyscrapers. The wind was extremely strong up there, almost on par with what I have experienced in Hawaii at Pali lookout.