San Francisco – California | Part I

San Francisco was our destination this time and as Diego’s parents, Ari and Lourdes, would be visiting us here in Canada for that day, we arranged a family trip this time.
The day after our arrival, Sunday, we were able to have the whole family together and that’s when we tried to gather the largest number of important outings (since the rest of the days we wouldn’t have Diego to accompany us due to a conference).

Needless to say, the city is beautiful. We love the vibe and although Diego was busy 90% of the time we were there, we, “the tourists”, managed to see much of the great sights of the city.

We had some negative points on this trip as well and one of them was our choice of accommodations. Well, since there was such a conference in the city and because San Francisco was known to be expensive in terms of hotels, we didn’t get anything within our price range and in the regions we wanted to stay in. We chose to rent an apartment through the Airbnb site and although we read reviews and online service were great, the result of the experience was not very good and so we will think well before doing something similar again (I’m sure we were unlucky and that in the majority, these types of rent work well… but at last). In short, the place was used and relatively dirty (including beds and towels) when we arrived and were only semi-solve the next day… with family and child(s) this does not work well…

In post part 2 I tell the other case that went wrong… OK?!

Anyway, let’s go to the pictures and good stuff – part I – shall we?

Our alcatraz tour was planned kind of last minute. They say that it is best to buy several weeks in advance, because the tours sell out fast, but fortunately we were lucky to still find tickets a few weeks in advance.
The boat ride lasted about 15 to 20 minutes and soon we were on the island. The prison is relatively small and you can hear the audio tour that comes along with the ticket and find out about the past of the prison, say in passing, is well cared for and has every beautiful view to San Francisco (even from inside some cells).
You can take an electric train to climb up to the main part of the penitentiary or climb on foot (ramps), admiring the visuals more calmly. We recommend taking a stroller for small children (they will hardly want to climb everything on foot…).

Next post comes with a few more trocentas photos and more interesting places of San Francisco, including Lombard Street and the Golden Gate Bridge! Wait…. 🙂