The plan was always shipping the car to Tacoma port near Seattle or Long beach. California depending on when we could start to get the best of the seasons. After having problems with shipping arrangements, the only option that we were given was the port of Oakland in San Francisco. So we shipped our car from Auckland New Zealand to Oakland USA.
Our old friends from university time who are living in San Francisco kindly invited us to stay with them till we can get the car from the shipping agent. It happened much faster than we expected but having the company of good old friends that we haven’t seen for 14 years was so tempting that we decided to stay for few more days and enjoy their company.
San Francisco is an interesting place. It is known as a hub for technology and innovation, housing many prominent tech companies, startups, and venture capitalists. At the same time it is famous for its drug crisis and car robberies and theft in general. Before arriving, I wasn’t sure if it is safe to park our car outside here. All these facts are somehow true but it doesn’t necessary mean that everywhere is unsafe. Like every big city it has its own paradoxes. And it has its good areas and bad areas especially around the city center.
After all we were pleasantly surprised with the city in general. Having greats local friends who showed us the beauty of their city was probably playing a critical role in how we felt about it.
While we were in San Francisco, we had to get ready to start living in the car full time. It included unpacking all our luggage and fitting them in the car, Do the last minute shopping that we couldn’t do back home like gas canister and bits of pieces like bear spray that we don’t even have or need in New Zealand.
It also gave us the chance to use the efficient public transport system in San Francisco and see the real city in action.
We also got surprised with the amount of green area and parks that are available in the city and how many people are doing serious cycling in this hilly city.
The Victorian architecture and charming houses were hard to miss too.
We’ve spent an afternoon to walk through the Golden Gate park, which is a significant size park with lots of cool features including its Bison paddock and carried on into the famous Haight street in Hight-Ashbury district with its quirky feeling and interesting shops that I could spend days exploring. This areas is made famous by the hippie movement in the 1960’s and there are still hippies living on the streets here especially on the intersection between Hight and Ashbury streets.
We also visited some cool restaurants and bars, had a German bear locally brewed in San Francisco and had a Jordanian feast in a local restaurant called Jerusalem. That’s one of the key benifits of living in a diverse multi cultural city.
In Alamo square in San Francisco, there is a famous location which is probably the most photographed location after the Golden Gate bridge, It’s called painted ladies and to me, its appeal is showing the old versus the new and the harmony of both in San Francisco. Our friends, Shadi and Siamak took us there just before sunset to capture the magic of this spot.
To explore the diversity of San Francisco, on the last day, we’ve visited San Francisco’s famous Chinatown and its Italian district called little Italy just few meters away from its Chinatown.
Built in the early 1850s, San Francisco’s Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in America and has played an influential role in the growth of Chinese immigrants in the country. Just before getting in the China town, there is a small park that is packed with Chinese people playing cards. We’ve spent quite some time watching them playing seriously before getting into the actual China town.
Walking few blocks from Union Square, the heart of the city’s shopping and entertainment district, entering Chinatown, feels like walking to another country. From there we went to Little Italy and experienced two different culture within an hour!
And it was the summary of our time in San Francisco. We know that we missed so much so the plan is to come back when we are heading south from Alaska on the west coast. Especial thanks for Shadi and Siamak who made our time memorable in their city, showed us around and introduced us to their great friends in the city. We will back in few months!
And we packed Chaapaar to start the journey. Even though we had to go west, we couldn’t resist the idea of going north first to go over the Golden Gate bridge before we head west!
The next destination is going through Sierra Nevada mountain range and explore eastern California. Till then, take care!
