USA Day 17. Golden Gate Park

So today I hopped on a bus (after running around trying to find a timetable and get the exact change since drivers don't give change on buses here) and headed over to Golden Gate Park.

I was planning to walk there like I have everywhere else but it was 4.5miles from where I was staying and judging from what I read it would be 4 miles uphill… and then the park itself is huge, so all in all I couldn't be bothered. And the bus was only $2 each way!

So after walking up a weird path (think i just picked a bad entrance to the park) I found myself at the conservatory of flowers! I didn't pay to go in but I did get to wander around the gardens which had a big enough selection of flowers to keep me happy!

 These were possible my favourite!

 The flower gardens were lovely and it was here I decided to have my lunch (an idea lots of other people seemed to have as well!

 My picnic spot!

 Just a picture of my and the conservatory!

 I wandered around for maybe an hour or so to get my bearings before attempting to actually find what I wanted, as the park is really big and the roads and paths don't make much sense and definitely don't resemble the map! First up was Shakespeare Garden

It was actually pretty tiny but I loved it nevertheless!

 Oh and wandering around I often stumbled across these signs!?

 I wandered all around the park and despite the weather looking really gloomy it was pleasantly warm!

 Japanese Gardens

 I thought I'd rest my weary feet for a few minutes here and no more than 5 minutes later I get approached for a survey - I've done 5 surveys since I got to America!?

 This was my last view of the park before I jumped back on the bus to downtown. A homeless man attempted to have a conversation with me the entire ride back to central so the bus journey was fun. Once I got back into Downtown the sun had well and truly come out so I opted to sit in Union Square and read in the sunshine

 It's a really popular spot to laze about as it's beautifully landscaped and in the very middle of Downtown

I did pop into Macy's (a department store) to browse the cosmetics hall and long story short a make up artist ended up doing my make up. Since I wasn't going anywhere and it was going to be washed off in about an hour I figured I should at least take a photo!

Anyway that's it for today tomorrow, can't believe my time in San Francisco is nearly up!

(& I'll be up to date posting these soon (hopefully)

USA Day 15. Telegraph Hill

Today was all about climbing Telegraph hill! It was another 'blah' day, not cold but not particularly wonderful either, which I figured might actually come in handy if it was as much of a climb as some people in the hostel told me!

First up though was an obligatory stop at the Ferry Building! aside from actually being the main ferry port it also houses a host of local stalls selling a wide selection of homemade goods. 

 lots of infused oils you could sample with brochette (a rosemary and lime one was really good!)

 They had a massive selection of mushrooms at this stand - most of which definitely looked poisonous!

 And they sold honeycomb fresh from local hives. And I think more interesting they also sell pollen (in the background) which I didn't know it was possible to even buy

 And after meandering around the stalls I set out along the front again to track down a pier that I'd seen a photo of the day before 

 The view over to the Bay Bridge 

 As I turned to head east towards the tower I stumbled across this mini slice of tranquility in the middle of the city! It was the perfect place to just sit and read for a little bit (you can also see the tower in the distance!)

By this point the weather had most definitely picked up and it was now pretty warm, which was good and bad since I had hundreds of steps to climb!

 The Filbert and Greenwich Steps are pretty unique as on the way up they're just lined with gardens, and little patios and weirdly, private houses are dotted along the way up to!

 I took the Greenwich steps up and among the many surprises that await was this little beehive! I've never actually seen a proper beehive before (they're not something you see every day after all)

 There was also this shrine on the way up 

 endless steps

 But I finally made it to the top of the hill and views were pretty beautiful. I was tempted to go up the tower but apparently they view isn't that much better, you have to pay and the queue was ridiculously long. So I opted to have my lunch at the base of the tower instead of going up!

 Looking out to the Golden Gate Bridge (I'm saving my trip there until my final day0

 From the other side of the tower you get great views out over downtown!

 Thought I'd throw in a 'selfie' here!

 Then it was back down the filbert steps - which were equally beautiful but completely different. Greenwich felt like a local garden/allotment whereas Filbert felt more like a woodland!

 Beautiful views on the way down too

 And this was the final section of steps - my least favourite as it swayed!

 Once I reached the bottom I pottered over to Levi's Plaza where I grabbed a drink and enjoyed the water feature that takes up a huge chunk of the Plaza itself!

Then I took my standard route back to the hostel of walking down the front before cutting through the financial district and Market St! That's all for today!