San Francisco I Contiki I Part 2

My room mate and I were up early the next morning again to squeeze in some tourist sites. We had the morning free until a bike ride over the San Francisco bridge and didn't waste anytime in bed so got up and headed deeper into the city. If you chose not to do this (not many did, think they were exhausted) you could enjoy pride or the other city attractions all day.

I have never been to the London ones but it felt amazing to be part of such a movement and such a pinnacle time for America.
Cycling across the Golden Gate bridge was pretty epic , I'm glad again I did the bike ride, it was a great opportunity to get up close to such a iconic figures. One thing going by yourself it stops you from copping out and giving up, it pushes you to keep going. There were a many of times as I sweated and panted up a hill I could have given up and walked but not wanting to be the only one to give up I kept going. I am so glad I ended up going by myself on this trip, I pushed myself to do so much out of my comfort zone and now I have so many more memories for it. RUM FINALE

MOVIE MOMENTS

As I mentioned, I am quite the movie geek so we made our way to none other than Ms Doubtfires House. With the recent passing of Robin Williams it was touching to see the visitors who had come by and written heartfelt messages. People actually live in the house so there wasn't a tour or anything but it was cool to see the movie set for real 

We also stopped by Lombard street  a steep, winding street decorated with flowers looking over the city. I didnt actually expect traffic to be going up and down it was crazy! Walking to the top it was a great stop for views I would recommend wondering past whilst exploring the city. I am a sucker for a good Instagram worthy picture and throughout this trip I wasn't let down, the view from the top of Lombard Street stretching over the city skyline. We returned to the hotel before our bike tour via a tram, another traditional Californian experience going up and down the incredibly iconic steep hills. This reminds me of one of our first nights in San Francisco where the taxi took us up and down the hills of San Francisco with us girls screaming our heads off like we were on a roller coaster. I just hoped that wasn't where the bike tour would take it as I was sure I wouldn't make it.

The rest of the morning before the bike tour was spent enjoying pride parade. The atmosphere was electric and we joined in with a colourful feather bower and bopping along at the side lines of the carnival. Our hotel was in prime position where the carnival ended so it was pretty manic on the streets. It was quite emotional watching the people in the parade celebrating not only themselves and the occasion but also their loved ones. Companies such as Apple also joined in with their employees marching; you couldn't help but feel inspired and proud to be part of this incredible moment.

THE CITY

I didn't have any expectations of San Francisco, my knowledge was pretty bare but It has so much packed in there; sites, architecture, history, I definitely would go back there is more to see. I personally loved the street art and the contrast of the tall city buildings with the village-esque bays. One thing however I was shocked by when exploring the streets was the poverty. Lined up along the sidelines was a lot of homeless people and being brutally honest, the streets smelt pretty bad of urine and other unpleasant toiletry habbits... I felt safe enough but it was pretty excessive. Apparently San Francisco it is one of the worst cities for this and sadly it was noticeable.

I LIKE TO RIDE MY BICYCLE

The afternoon was to conquer the Golden Gate Bridge by bike. After a concerning taxi ride where we took on a wild goose race by a rogue taxi man (take Ubers wherever you go, they are so cheap and safer!) we made it to the bike shop. Now, I haven't been on a bike in years but what happened to you never forget? I won't lie, fear ran through me as we tried to get up the 'tester' hill, which lets face it, was hardly big in the grand scale of SF. Add wind into the mix, petrified and panting I wondered what the hell I got myself into.

Setting off in a group we made our way through the parks and past some of scenic SF one by one behind each other; 'it's alright, I got this' I thought through the pain.

We made it to the famous and iconic Golden Gate Bridge that marks San Franciscos skyline in just about one piece. Opened in 1937 it spans 4,200 feet as the entrance to SF bay from the pacific ocean. Apparently eleven men died during its construction and is internationally known as Orange despite its golden title and is touched up on a regular basis (who knew!?).

The bridge was so windy and there is a lot of cycling traffic, cars go a through a toll in the middle and  people up and down the other side,  so you only see one side when on bike or foot. I definitely fell into the side of the bridge at one point and my gears gave in but it was pretty damn cool. I am not the smoothest of cyclists i think I have discovered but finishing it without any serious wounds and marking it with a photo opportunity was pretty epic. Yes I did it!

I made it back over the bridge and made my way back to the bike shop so I could explore more of the city with my friend whilst others carried on to Socelito, a very beautiful place so we were told.

That night four of us went for a nice civialised meal and met up with some of the other group in San Francisco's oldest rum bar. I'm a big fan of rum and I can confirm, they do the best cocktails as well as some of the strongest, oldest rum to really liven things up. Set in a dungeon / pirate ship basement I loved this stop to end the time in good old San Fran,