Trip to SF - Part 1

Believe me, it has a lot of nostalgia involved for Kannadiga especially as most 90's kids would have first seen a glimpse of America in the movie America America and it was always on the bucket list to see these places first.

Do watch the video before you jump into the article I am happy that I visited most of the places in the video :)

Off to SFO.

SFO

It has a lot of places to uncover and a single visit won't suffice to cover those.

So, for the first time when we went there, we visited 3 places:

  1. Twin peaks
  2. Lombard Street
  3. Pier 39

We visited these places in mid-march 2022.

Twin Peaks

View of the city and ocean from twin peaks IMG_3747.JPG

We started from our home in Cupertino in the car around 2.45 afternoon and reached Twin peaks at 4.00 PM.

At the time we visited it was windy but it was clear.

This place certainly has a lot of visitors so if you come over by car be ready for wait times to park your car.

Twin peaks offer an astounding view of the city where you can see prominent buildings like the TransAmerica pyramid, and Salesforce tower and a view of the ocean where we can see the majestic golden gate bridge and the famous Alcatraz island.

We just visited here for a mere 15 mins which I believe won't justify the time we spent seeing views from all angles. I will be definitely revisiting this place.

This place is a must to visit and is free.

Twin Peaks wasn't called that by the Spanish settlers. They named it Los Pechos de la Chola or The Breasts of the Indian Woman.

No one knows now what the Indians called it, but according to Ohlone legend, there was once only one mountain, consisting of a man and a woman. Because they wouldn't stop their constant arguing, the Great Spirit separated them, and they became two mountains.

What are those towers? The tall, red, three-pronged tower on a nearby hill (between Twin Peaks and Mount Sutro) is the Sutro Tower, a commercial radio and TV tower serving San Francisco and beyond.

The smaller steel towers near the Twin Peaks parking lot are city-owned, radio towers used for police and fire department transmissions.

Twin Peaks also hosts a large reservoir holding 300 million gallons, installed on the peaks after the 1906 quake as a water supply for fighting fires.

Lombard street

From top IMG_3773.JPG

From bottom IMG_1337.JPG

Lombard Street is an east-west street in San Francisco, California that is famous for a steep, one-block section with eight hairpin turns

Known as the world's most crooked street.

This popular attraction comes to life in the spring, summer, and early fall when its flowers are in full bloom. They add a pop of color and make this crooked street even more beautiful. But we were a bit early to visit on the march and we missed this.

This place is also a must to visit and next time when I visit I would like to see flowers blooming and I want to see Pat Montandon's residence.

Pier 39

IMG_3780.JPG

San Francisco's Pier 39 is essentially a two-story, outdoor shopping mall, with gorgeous views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, and its own colony of sea lions.