San Francisco was one of the few U.S. cities I knew about from a young age, likely because of its world-famous landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge. My husband and I had wanted to visit the city for a long time, and when we finally did, it exceeded my expectations.
Our visit had multiple motivations: its fame, a hotel with a cat, and simply needing a getaway. Now, let me take you along on our journey through San Francisco.
Coming from a southern state on the East Coast, I was surprised by how cool summer can be! Yes, both San Francisco and Santa Barbara are in California, but latitude makes a difference. As we rode in the Uber to the city, we saw the famous San Francisco Fog, caused by a combination of geographical location, sea and land temperature differences, and other factors. In short, if you visit this city, you’ll find yourself within the clouds.
Since we arrived late in the afternoon, our first stop was naturally a restaurant after checking into our hotel. We chose a Chinese restaurant I found on social media, which is nearly impossible to book on weekends. The southern Chinese-style cuisine with seafood was decent, and the shell wintermelon soup immediately brought back childhood memories. Our hotel, the Golden Gate Hotel, is on a hill near Union Square, so walking back from Chinatown involved quite a climb. As we ascended, we could see the skyscrapers shrouded in low-hanging clouds.
The next morning, the skies cleared, and the sun came out. Mornings are usually the best time to see the city clearly before the fog forms. It’s also the best time to take the cable car since most tourists are still resting:) If you’re visiting SF for the first time, I highly recommend getting a day pass for the cable car. Tourists typically stand on the sides, holding onto the poles, and I chose this method, though I got a bit frightened when we climbed a particularly steep hill. The hills in SF are quite steep and high, offering some fantastic views. The intersection of California Street and Mason Street provided a view of the Oakland Bay Bridge framed by skyscrapers, similar to seeing the Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn in New York.
We then took the cable car down to the Ferry Building and walked from there to Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf to see the sea lions. This whole “pier” is a large market for tourists, with many restaurants and shops, but they didn’t interest us much except for the amusing sea lions. The pier also offers a fantastic view of the sea, particularly the Golden Gate Bridge, which would be our next stop.
After a quick lunch at HINODEYA Ramen in Japantown, we took a bus to the bridge. I considered myself lucky to see the bridge half-covered by fog – just as it’s meant to be. With the blue sky and colorful plants, I felt like I was in heaven. There are so many vantage points for viewing the bridge, and ideally, I would have liked to climb the highest hill for a unique perspective, but time was limited. We then walked back toward the Palace of Fine Arts, our next stop.
The Palace of Fine Arts is a weird place. It was originally built for an exhibition but constructed with concrete in a European style. I was amazed by the grandeur and sophistication of the sculptures, though the modern door at the main dome felt somewhat out of place.
On our way back, we called a car, and it was the craziest drive! With all the hills in SF, we would descend right after ascending, repeating this process several times. The cars here must be incredibly powerful to handle the hilly terrain.
Back at the hotel, we spent some time with Skittles, the resident cat, who surprisingly followed my husband upstairs. I didn’t believe she would come into our room, but she did! She first patrolled the room to get familiar with the environment, then started playing with my rings and necklace. After she finished playing, she found a cozy spot on a chair and took a nap. We felt sad having to let her out because we were heading out for dinner.
We dined at a fantastic Italian restaurant called La Ciccia, where I enjoyed the most amazing ragout pasta of my life.
On our second day, we walked from the hotel to Lombard Street, where eight switchbacks are squeezed into a short, steep section of the street. However, what was more fun was actually the walk toward that tourist spot, as we stumbled upon some beautiful houses. The rest of the day was spent on a long city walk. In the Pacific Heights district, we noticed countless gorgeous, castle-like houses.
You cannot visit SF without having seafood! So in the evening, we went to an Italian seafood restaurant called Portofino. We believe this restaurant was opened by a real Italian immigrant and passed down to the second generation, who brought the flavors and species of Italy here. My seafood pasta was incredibly rich and spicy, making me question whether I was actually born in Sichuan.
It was sad that our trip in SF ended so quickly because we could have enjoyed just walking its streets, and there are so many different sides of the city we didn’t get a chance to see. I was fortunate to catch a final glimpse of the city and the Golden Gate Bridge as we took off. In a flash, they were out of sight, leaving me with the bittersweet feeling of having to leave.
San Francisco Travel Guide: Iconic Bridges, Steep Hills, and Culinary Delights
San Francisco was one of the few U.S. cities I knew about from a young age, likely because of its world-famous landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge. My husband and I had wanted to visit the city for a long time, and when we finally did, it exceeded my expectations.
Our visit had multiple motivations: its fame, a hotel with a cat, and simply needing a getaway. Now, let me take you along on our journey through San Francisco.
Coming from a southern state on the East Coast, I was surprised by how cool summer can be! Yes, both San Francisco and Santa Barbara are in California, but latitude makes a difference. As we rode in the Uber to the city, we saw the famous San Francisco Fog, caused by a combination of geographical location, sea and land temperature differences, and other factors. In short, if you visit this city, you’ll find yourself within the clouds.
Since we arrived late in the afternoon, our first stop was naturally a restaurant after checking into our hotel. We chose a Chinese restaurant I found on social media, which is nearly impossible to book on weekends. The southern Chinese-style cuisine with seafood was decent, and the shell wintermelon soup immediately brought back childhood memories. Our hotel, the Golden Gate Hotel, is on a hill near Union Square, so walking back from Chinatown involved quite a climb. As we ascended, we could see the skyscrapers shrouded in low-hanging clouds.
The next morning, the skies cleared, and the sun came out. Mornings are usually the best time to see the city clearly before the fog forms. It’s also the best time to take the cable car since most tourists are still resting:) If you’re visiting SF for the first time, I highly recommend getting a day pass for the cable car. Tourists typically stand on the sides, holding onto the poles, and I chose this method, though I got a bit frightened when we climbed a particularly steep hill. The hills in SF are quite steep and high, offering some fantastic views. The intersection of California Street and Mason Street provided a view of the Oakland Bay Bridge framed by skyscrapers, similar to seeing the Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn in New York.
We then took the cable car down to the Ferry Building and walked from there to Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf to see the sea lions.
This whole “pier” is a large market for tourists, with many restaurants and shops, but they didn’t interest us much except for the amusing sea lions. The pier also offers a fantastic view of the sea, particularly the Golden Gate Bridge, which would be our next stop.
After a quick lunch at HINODEYA Ramen in Japantown, we took a bus to the bridge.
I considered myself lucky to see the bridge half-covered by fog – just as it’s meant to be. With the blue sky and colorful plants, I felt like I was in heaven. There are so many vantage points for viewing the bridge, and ideally, I would have liked to climb the highest hill for a unique perspective, but time was limited. We then walked back toward the Palace of Fine Arts, our next stop.
The Palace of Fine Arts is a weird place. It was originally built for an exhibition but constructed with concrete in a European style. I was amazed by the grandeur and sophistication of the sculptures, though the modern door at the main dome felt somewhat out of place.
On our way back, we called a car, and it was the craziest drive! With all the hills in SF, we would descend right after ascending, repeating this process several times. The cars here must be incredibly powerful to handle the hilly terrain.
Back at the hotel, we spent some time with Skittles, the resident cat, who surprisingly followed my husband upstairs. I didn’t believe she would come into our room, but she did! She first patrolled the room to get familiar with the environment, then started playing with my rings and necklace. After she finished playing, she found a cozy spot on a chair and took a nap. We felt sad having to let her out because we were heading out for dinner.
We dined at a fantastic Italian restaurant called La Ciccia, where I enjoyed the most amazing ragout pasta of my life.
On our second day, we walked from the hotel to Lombard Street, where eight switchbacks are squeezed into a short, steep section of the street.
However, what was more fun was actually the walk toward that tourist spot, as we stumbled upon some beautiful houses. The rest of the day was spent on a long city walk. In the Pacific Heights district, we noticed countless gorgeous, castle-like houses.
You cannot visit SF without having seafood! So in the evening, we went to an Italian seafood restaurant called Portofino. We believe this restaurant was opened by a real Italian immigrant and passed down to the second generation, who brought the flavors and species of Italy here. My seafood pasta was incredibly rich and spicy, making me question whether I was actually born in Sichuan.
It was sad that our trip in SF ended so quickly because we could have enjoyed just walking its streets, and there are so many different sides of the city we didn’t get a chance to see. I was fortunate to catch a final glimpse of the city and the Golden Gate Bridge as we took off. In a flash, they were out of sight, leaving me with the bittersweet feeling of having to leave.