Braving Public Transportation .... and more

Yesterday was another tiring day, as our legs aren’t catching up with our ambitions. The muni buses were our friends yesterday as we needed them for virtually all of our traveling. First, we traveled to Golden Gate Park, which is very massive so we only saw a small spot. But in the small spot, we took a peek at botanical gardens (really just a peek), went to the Japanese tea garden, the California Academy of Sciences, and the de Young Museum. The Japanese tea garden was of course beautiful and peaceful (as we went right when it opened – free until 10 am!) Across the way, the California Academy of Sciences and the de Young Museum were separated by a massive courtyard filled with sculptures, fountains, many small trees/plants, and what looked like a large Roman-style amphitheater.

We arrived at the Academy just in time for all of the tour buses and elementary school field trips to come in the same exact time, but we managed. There we spent a good bit of time, as it was very huge with much to do. We got to see some penguins and other African wildlife, a maze-like aquarium with many types of fish, reptiles, and other sea animals. The coolest and most unique about the Academy was the encased rainforest that held indigenous plants/trees, birds, frogs, and butterflies. The butterflies were very cool to see – they came right by our heads. Also in the Academy was the largest planetarium in the world, which was more like an Imax. We saw their most recent production “Fragile Planet”, which Brian was interested in and I fell asleep (big surprise). Moving on to de Young, there were some very interesting sculptures and paintings, including a huge section on American/Colonial art, which of course Brian was fascinated by (yeah right). There was a great view on top of the museum, spanning all areas of San Francisco.

Before heading back on the bus, we stopped for some Thai noodles in a small restaurant in the neighborhood outside of the park. It was our first attempt at Thai, so I think we picked some good (safe) things. We traveled back to Haight, where we stopped in the Hippie district of Haight-Ashbury. Our trip wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t see the hippie lifestyle still living and breathing, including an offer of a certain drug outside the former residence of the Grateful Dead (very ironic). Of course, we are good kids and refrained from their offer and went into some interesting hippie stores, including the recommended outrageous Piedmont boutique, which contained some psychedelic and very flashy clothing. After getting my crepe which I so desperately wanted, we searched for a bus back to the ocean shore area so we could see the beach.

The beach was nice-looking, but absolutely freezing with the wind reaching record speeds (I swear!) It was still nice to see, even if we couldn’t make it to the sunset (we would have to have stayed there for more than an hour). We traveled back downtown and decided to check out another area, Castro, which is a predominantly gay area – filled with rainbow banners. We walked a little bit, catching some quesadillas at La Tortilla, but that was enough for Brian (haha). It did seem like a very nice and friendly area though.

That is about all, besides the trip home and a stop for some wine. Oh and by the way, Go Pens!