Thursday was our last full day in the bay! There was no rain in the forecast so we booked an all day walking tour, called 'The Real SF'
And a better bow and arrow pic!
Selfie before it starts!
Finally got to ride a Trolley car to start it off!!!
View of the trans American pyramid
First stop.. Chinatown! This building is the "white house" of Chinatown
Streets
At the top of this building is a Buddhist temple that is open to anyone wanting to meditate.. Or pay respect
View from outside the temple.. I so desperately wanted to snap a photo of the inside, but none were allowed =[ .. Took all of myself not to sneak one! It was sooo elaborate with tons of gold and red.. The ceiling was covered in ornaments with tassels hanging down.. A Buddha in the middle.. With an alter and boys of oranges around it.. Need to google the oranges! So beautiful!
The width of the original streets (before the earthquake remodel)
Map of Chinatown on the ground
Upside down, but these are scattered throughout Chinatown and provide a semi-self guided tour.. Pointing which direction to go until another one is found at an important landmark! Cool!
We then headed to a fortune cookie 'factory'.. Tiny place consisting of one elderly lady making them.. We got to try a flat one! Tasted extra fresh to me! Unfortunately no photos allowed without giving a tip.. I would have gladly paid the 50 cents, but Cor was not having it! I see his point!
Next stop was a tea shop.. Hibiscus tea samples for all
Yummy!
When dropped into a glass, this tea "bag" opens into a flower!! So cool!!
I probably would have ended buying a bag of these, but when I asked to use the restroom.. A rather unfriendly Chinese woman said "No, customers only"... Ok lady now I'm definitely not buying anything from you! Rude!
Underneath this building is where the Godfather part 1 and 2 were edited! Awesome!
Better shot of the trans American pyramid
We then headed to an art supply store which has a tunnel in the bottom floor that used to be used during prohibition to sneak alcohol around the city.. They have since been sealed, but certain place still have mini ones!!
Famous actors like stop in this place.. And the now true cappuccino machine used to hold whiskey during prohibition
Jazz mural and flying book sculpture.. I guess they light up at night!
The best I could get but at the top of that building is a banksy original .. Now worth a million dollars
These "parklettes" are put all over the city to help beautify it.. The store front pays for it and can make it unique with whatever they want, but anyone can use it!
St. Peter and Paul church
Top of Russian hill .. Used in several movies
A standard Russian Hill car.. Full of dents.. Bc no matter what you will hit your neighbor when you open your door!
Public walkway behind some multi-million dollar homes in Russian Hill
Russian hill view
The curvy Lomard street!!
View from the Art institute of San Francisco
Diego Rivera mural
Next we headed to Ghiradelli square!
Inside the 'factory' a lovely gentleman greeted us with chocolate squares and an admiration for Cor's "big blue eyes" =]
This smelled divine!
We walked up a hidden staircase for some great views!
This Safeway has "meet ups" every Wednesday where people will come to connect with other singles.. Maxim magazine even voted it the number 1 hotspot to meet a mate! Funny!
The Mrs. Doubtfire house!
The painted ladies! I had been wanting to see these all week! This park is where the opening credits of Full House was filmed!
In this part of Hayes valley, restaurants aren't allowed to be there unless they are 'temporary structures' so restaurants have popped up in shipping containers!! Crafty!
Then we got some liquid nitrogen ice cream.. A first for us!! And let me just say it was DIVINE!!!
Cor's food pictures are always blurry bc he will never stop long enough to let me snap a pic!
Custom corsets! Lots of famous actresses have worn this shop's designs!
The clerk offered to put me in one.. As I'm shoving ice cream in my mouth... No thanks!
Old iconic jazz building thats now condemned with famous jazz artists in the windows
View of city hall
Welcome to the Castro!
Harvey Milk
A center for battered and struggling women. This mural was painted by several female artists
The fanciest high school I've ever seen!
Loved these Victorians!!
And the tour ended at a super fancy hotel (name forgotten!) that has an old 'fainting room' for women who used to wear corsets.. They'd have to take breaks and let the corsets out.. All the blood would rush to their heads and they would faint!! Anything for beauty, even then! (Silly!)
Such an amazing day!! So informative and we would NEVER have learned all of that without this tour! Highly recommend!
After the tour we were EXHAUSTED.. Sweet Cor swung me by Boudin's for some sourdough bread to bring my mom.. In rush hour... Again- you're the best babe!
We headed back and hit the sack super early!!! Such a diverse, memorable, and fun week!!!
I will make another post about our mini adventure home!!!
Thanks SF- it was real =]
XO
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