TuesdayPillow

I would gladly live in the downtown area – everything is so old, you might think you’ve stepped inside a time machine. The food choices here are varied and ALL delicious. There are touristy shops of course and tours around the city that are pretty lame, but ignore all that and soak in the history. There is one good ghost tour that manages to not be lame – take the midnight one. Also, drive over the bridge of lions and find beaches, the lighthouse, health food stores, yoga studios, etc. There is also a health food store on the mainland about a five-seven minute drive from downtown (if you’re into that sorta thing, which I obviously am).

One could walk around all day and want to get up the next day and do it again. Go to the Pirate Haus hostel if you’re looking for a place to stay – it’s cheap and the owner, Conrad is a trip. They will treat you right, it’s clean, and you never know who will be cooking what in the kitchen for everyone to share. Pancake breakfasts are good incentive to stay, too ;)

If you go, do go to the tavern that sings sea chantys on Thursdays. You’ll know the tavern when you walk by – it looks like a tavern and even the drinks are served in tavern-style mugs and you often see people dressed in period style clothing there, too.

I visited San Fran and the surrounding area when I was 13 and 14, and I’ll tell you I have still wanted to move to the area even after a decade plus of visiting. I loved the people, the vibe, the food, and the geography and architecture. There is something about the west that calls me and San Fran is a big part of it.

My experience with London was not all that positive – besides the fact that it is one of the MOST expensive places to visit and live in the world, there is really nothing to see that you can’t look at on a postcard or in a travel book. Having grown up in Boston, I realized that cities like Dublin and London are a lot like Boston, but a bit dirtier and oftimes more expensive.

Paying to go to the loo was no fun, and even staying in a hostel and making my own food cost me more money than it should have. I would definitely like to have gone outside the city and visit the countryside; I’m sure I would have appreciated that much more.

If you do go to London and find it is doing nothing for you, take a boatride on the Thames to Greenwich – that was the best part of my trip. I visited twice. The downtown is nice – good shops and cafes, and the Observatory and Prime Meridien are all there for you to visit. If you do go to stand on the Prime Merdien, DO take a picture of the Honest Sausage for me. You’ll know what it is when you get there.