Day 16

Todays lunch was a again tasty hotdog with relish (I don't know what's in there but I like it) and spicy mustard. Hmmmmmm.....(I know the picture don't look tasty, I'm sorry).The Indian Summer with it's lovely weather seems to be over. It was a grey and much cooler day...
Yesterday evening I had my diner at a mexican restaurant. As I enjoyed my Chicken Burito I looked in a sports magazine and found an event calendar. So I found out that there will be a half-marathon next Sunday, which includes running over the Golden Gate Bridge. Wow, that sounds amazing, so I registered online for it. Then I realized that I have only six days left for preparation :-(
So today was day one of my six days trainings plan. I ran the Embarcadero from Fishermans Wharf to the baseball stadium of the San Francisco Giants and back, and it feeled good. So there is hope that I will survive the Sunday :-)

Day 15

Now I'm here for two weeks already. To celebrate this anniversary my hotel neighbor and I decided to have a typical american breakfast. So we went to the Pinecrest Diner, which calls itself the "best breakfast in San Francisco". Well, it wasn't good and it wasn't cheap (2 eggs, 2 pancakes, coffee: 20$).
The rest of the Sunday was typical american style, too. I watched 3 American Football games in a row. What a nice and relaxing Sunday :-)

Day 14

Today was again a perfect day, with beach weather (I hope I can write this many more times) and without school, so my german hotel neighbor and I decided to go for sightseeing again.This time we started where I had ended the last time, at the beautiful Sutro Heights Park, the one with the breathtaking view over the pacific coast beach.
Then we went rather quickly through Golden Gate Park to climb up Twin Peaks. This is the highest point in San Francisco and offers a beautiful overview of the city.
After one hour of mountain climbing we found a nice overview, but we found out that is was the wrong hill :-( Well, we had enough climbing for the day, so we decided to put off Twin Peaks to the next time...
Downhill was not so easy, too.
We chose the F-Line for our way back. It's a kind of a historic streetcar, which starts in Castro-Distrikt, passes Market-Street and Ferry Building and ends on Fisherman's Wharf.
By the way, each quarter of the city show which majority lives in it. For example the street lights in North Beach have a ring in the colors of the italian flag. In Castro district there are many rainbow flags (as the photo shows), this is the gay neighborhood.
Inside the F-Line...
Halloween are very huge topic here, there are many Halloween parties already. Of course you can buy pumpkins everywhere...

Day 13

In todays lunch break I discovered another good coffeeshop, where I had a very good peanut-butter bagel and a Espresso Machiato. Ok, the photo does not really show how delicious this bagel was :-)Todays happening on Union Square was Freedom Friday. The so-called Fon-Community gave away wireless network routers. So far I don't understand the meaning of it, but many people were there.
And since it was Friday evening, I decided to go out. So I chose to see a movie in the "Metreon", which can be also called Sony superstore (it includes a movie theater). You can see, touch and buy every piece of hardware from Sony, quite impressive.
The movie was "Prestige" and I enjoyed it. It's the story of two obsessed magician at the beginning of last century, who are always trying to outperform the other one, at ANY price. Beside good actors and screen design is the story very elaborate and keeps the viewer guessing until the very end.

Day 12

Today after school I went for a walk, together with a german student who lives in the same hotel. We ended up at the Ferry Building again. This time we found the market which I was looking for last Thursday. It's a small but very interesting market, they offer californian fruits, vegetables, wine and even local made olive oil.Just as we went out of the Ferry Building a ferry arrived, probably from Oakland.
For todays dinner I bought the sub of the day from Subway.
And for my evening entertainment I enjoy game 4 of the World Series of Major League Baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals are leading by 2-1 in the best-of-seven-series, but I hope the Detroit Tigers will tie it today..

Day 11

Today there's not much to report, just business as usual. In my "living room" Union Square there is a kind of an art market today. I liked some of the exhibited black/white photos, but I didn't wanted to take a photo of them for my diary... And on my way home I suddenly felt a craving for orange juice, maybe because of the warm and sunny day. So I bought a box of my favorite one (from sunny Florida).

Day 10

Well, after several days of fun it was time for something more serious: laundry day. So I went to a coin laundry two blocks away and tried to find out how it works. 40 minutes later I leaved the laundy, happy and with my wet clothes. But the greater challenge came after it, when I was trying to arrange all the wet clothes in my small hotel room for drying...

Day 9

This morning it was foggy for the first time. San Francisco is well known for it's fog, which is coming in from the ocean.
But when I came out for the lunch break the sun was shining again.

On such a nice and sunny afternoon I went straight into my "living room", the Union Square. It's a much better place for doing the homework, reading a book or just watching the city life around.

Day 8

Since it was my first Sunday morning I decided to go out for breakfast. It was a real american style breakfast with a litre of coffe and a giant muffin.

I intended to take a couple of photos from the start of the marathon race this morning, but I found out that the start was already at 7am.
And I found out that men were allowed to take part in this marathon. I wouldn't have done that because it sounds not so cool: "...I started at the womens marathon..."

Then I spent the rest of the morning watching football, I had enough walking yesterday.

In the Afternoon felt some hunger and I went out for something to eat. An hour later I ended up with three new t-shirts.

In the ground level of the shopping center there is some kind of a food hall, where lots of different restaurants offer a self-service. I decided to have something japanese.

When the cashier asked for my name I was a bit scared, maybe in rememberance of my beach adventure yesterday:-) But they used it to announce when the meal is ready.

Here is my "Spicy Chicken Platter", very tasty.

And here is an impression from the afternoon in downtown, today it's much cooler than yesterday, the wind is blowing from the sea...

Day 7

Since there is all around the preparation for the marathon tomorrow I decided to walk at least a part of the course today, just as a kind of a workout :-)
The original course of the marathon is shown here:
http://www.nike.com/nikemarathon/
Well, let's go...

Right at the beginning I spotted these nice firefighther truck. Why aren't the german firefighter trucks not that good looking? :-)

Then I went along Fisherman's Wharf, which is a huge tourists trap in San Francisco. There is a bunch of sea lions watching the tourists, which are buying many interesting souvenirs like Alcatraz prisoner shirts etc.

Then I had to take the official photo of the Golden Gate Bridge...

Then I came across this funny sign. Maybe I was too much smiling about the trail to Mexico (the last one), so I took the wrong turn..

After some minutes the way became more and more difficult, it was just a small path along the bluffs. But below was a small but nice beach.
And the fellow hikers were only men, all the time smiling and greeting..and on the beach I saw some nude males...
Luckily then I remembered the teacher who told us, that the north of Baker Beach is a male nude beach...I instantly turned and went back...

Then I dicovered the regular Baker Beach, it's a beautiful but crowded sandy beach. Unfortunately I forgot my swimming shorts.......in Berlin :-(

After many more miles I reached the Sutros Heights Park, which is providing a breathtaking view on the pacific coast (the beach is called ocean beach). So I saw the pacific ocean for the first time in my life.
I walked for six hours without a break, I was really exhausted. In the distance I recognized the tents of the marathon finish. So I walked at least half the distance ( the runners have to run past the finish for a round around Lake Merced and the back to the finish).
I had enough walking for the day, so I took the bus back home (it was my first bus ride in California).

Day 6

Again it was a perfect day in San Francisco. This means I spended my lunch break again at the Union Square, enjoying the sun and reading my book. This time I sat on a very comfortable chair, sponsored by a Laura King Pfaff. Thank you so much Laura!!
I had no lunch today, to compensate this giant "Ultimate Cheese Bacon"-Burger at Jack-In-The-Box which I had yesterday.


At Union Square already started the preparation for the Womens Marathon, since today the runners can pick up their start numbers. If it wouldn't be a Womens Marathon I would think about participating, at least a Half-Marathon, since I miss doing some sports. But maybe it's better not to try it, I'm a bit out of shape :-)


In the afternoon I started another exploration trip, this time I entered the San Francisco Shopping Center (it just opened a couple of weeks ago). With it's eight floors and connected buildings it can keep a shopper busy for many hours. And so I finally came out (after a couple of hours) with a bag in my hand :-)

Day 5

Once again it was the perfect beach weather, so I decided to go for another exploration of the city. This time I visited Mission St., the Ferry Building and back again over Market St.

They advertised a night market at the Ferry Building, but unfortunately it wasn't there. Maybe the season is already over :-(

I read that the tower of the Ferry Building is built after the tower of the old cathedral of Sevilla (the Giralda). Hmm...I was there in May, but I don't remember that it looked this way....

Thats again the Ferry Building, this time from sea side.

On the way I passed the SF Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). It looks interesting with the high towers in the background.

There are many skaters using the skateboard on the descending streets. Thats a smart idea, lets see where I can buy a skateboard..

Another typical street photo..

Day 4

Oooops, it's already day 4, time is passing quick...
Today didn't happen anything important. In the morning and afternoon I went to school as usual. Today at lunch break I had one of these typical american Hotdogs with relish, onions and mustard...very good.


After school I enjoyed the perfect weather and the californian sun on Union Square, which is the only place to sit outside I know so far. But it was very relaxing to sit there in the sun. Unfortunately the high houses around block the sunshine very early.