I recently returned from a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia in time for my second grand baby’s arrival (which will be happening any day), the ‘return’ which is intended to wrap up a year (more accurately 13 months) full of travelling. I say ‘intended’ as the more I expand and experience outside my comfort sphere of language and culture, the more curious and interested I become in continuing in my travels.
My year of travels started in San Francisco, having visited the city for only one disastrous night many years ago, flown through (not recommended due to fog and always it seems, flight delays), driven by (well on the I-5), flown over numerous times. I was joined by my husband who was attending a conference, however, I was free to explore the city unencumbered by appointments and I had a blast! My very favourite day consisted of a city tour (Painted Ladies Tour Company) in a Vintage VW Bus named Poppy with a group of other tourists, stopping in Haight Ashbury, where I made a quick run to a consignment store and found ‘the best’ pair of ‘vintage’ clogs (only to find that once reading glasses were applied in the Hotel, ‘TOMS’ emblazoned on the soles). My daughters got a good chuckle as this is a classic “mom” joke, buying the wrong thing when not wearing my glasses.
My “take aways” from San Francisco were that it is a lot like Vancouver in terms of physical beauty (minus the mountains), has gorgeous Victorian architecture which my daughter Delaney would love, makes it easy for people ‘of a certain age’ to cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge (think electric bikes), is a super easy city to visit with a fabulous LRT from the airport to downtown and the people are great! I would love to return for an extended weekend visit.