After a brilliant first week in Los Angeles we depart for San Francisco early Saturday morning. Miraculously, we manage to leave by around 9am and settle into the Dodge for the 8 hour drive ahead. Our first stop is the Malibu Farm Pier Café for a late breakfast. This is where the infamous phrase trash on the pier was born as Melissa’s violent burp caught the attention of a scruffy fisherman. I found it humorously ironic that a man whose pants were halfway down his rather large bottom would be disgruntled by us. We then realized almost everyone in the outdoor area was looking at us sideways as our conversation was somewhat unfitting for the picturesque café.
Trash on the pier went on to become somewhat a reality TV show amongst ourselves from that point on. The term trash on the pier was coined by Christy Arundel©
The drive to San Francisco went quicker and more pleasantly than I had anticipated. Trash on the pier managed to get from A to B with minimal issues until the final stop for gas. As we pulled into a gas station about 40 minutes shy of San Fran we encountered a special man who would just not give up on wanting to be a part of our lives. He poked his head and shoulders into the car and insisted on shaking everyone’s hand and proceeded to talk rubbish for what felt like hours. When we explained that we needed to get our rental car back to the airport on time he became upset and refused to leave. When we finally thought we had gotten rid of him, he came back again and again and again. Fellow humans at the servo chose to glance at us sympathetically but no one really cared enough to tell him to move along. As a result of this we put a quick $50 in the car and headed off without a full tank of gas costing us a $35 fine when it came to returning the rental car. Not happy.
After returning the rental car, a sneaky shuttle driver tries to charge us $70 each to get into the city. We sigh at this preposterous offer and continue to look for another shuttle. Sneaky ends up approaching us again and says we can pay $10 each so we enter his van thinking THAT’S MORE LIKE IT! I then see on the sign inside that the adult fare is only $12 anyway. Seriously.
It takes about 20 minutes to get from San Francisco airport into Ellis Street where we are staying. We notice that our area has an overwhelming abundance of homeless people and drug addicts. One man is chewing his arm off, another throws himself at a moving vehicle. The volume of undesirables is so vast it’s as if we are in a low-budget zombie film. It’s also dark and cold. I immediately feel anxious. We check into the hostel and the blasé receptionist takes about an hour to figure out how much everyone needs to pay (the freedom here with Marijuana is not always a good thing when it comes to sharp service) she then shows us a map and aggressively blacks out an area next to our hostel, she looks deep into our eyes and says we should never turn right when leaving the hostel. I decide I am not in the mood to go out and take a sleeping pill and call it a day.
In the morning everyone’s spirits seem higher as it’s a sunny day and we leave the hostel for a big day of exploring. We soon see that San Francisco is beautiful and full of the most adorable houses we have ever seen. We go over the Golden gate bridge and tour the iconic spots learning a little about the history of the city. We then have Fish’n‘chips at The Cod Mother For $10. This meal was huge and delicious. We then head to the pier For the Alcatraz tour all feeling ridiculously full.
Alcatraz was mind-blowing. It really did feel like we were on set of the Shawshank redemption. The audio tour was all very ShawShankésque too, as the prisoners escape was almost identical to Tim Robbins. After some snaps, we head back to the ferry and return to the hostel for some beers where a spontaneous game of ‘never have I ever’ begins. I wasn’t thrilled by the game at first thinking I knew everything about my friends. Let’s just say I was very wrong.
The next morning we venture out to do the final few things we had in mind for San Francisco. We visit the iconic painted ladies which were a bit disappointing as two of them were undergoing renovations and were therefore covered. In the early afternoon we eat delicious cheesecake at Macy’s before heading to the airport for our Vegas flight. All in all we made the most of our short time in Sanfran. I would recommend a little longer than a weekend there if you have the time!
Eats & sleeps
Malibu Farm Pier Café
Although this café is not in San Francisco I have to write about it. I got eggs and pancakes and shared with Kayla. I can’t tell you how psyched I am when someone wants to share with me so I can experience both sweet and savory in the one sitting. The eggs were cooked to perfection and presented how they would be back home with actual greenery (this never happens in America). The pancakes were delicious with strawberries and cream galore. The prices were reasonable and the coffee was good, not to mention this setting is the most beautiful place you could eat breakfast and have a rude conversation.
The Cheesecake Factory at Macys
Top quality service! by far the best I received in San Francisco. Great food and prices. Cheesecake to die for. Lovely setting.
The Cod mother
$10 for a seriously ridiculous amount of fish’n‘chips. I would have happily gone halvesies this with someone and still been too full. This café also had a cute local aroma about it and very authentic staff & service.
Hostelling international San Francisco
I would give this hostel 4 stars if its location wasn’t in the worst street in town. The building was bursting with creative décor providing a young-in-a-good-way atmosphere, $2 slices of pizza, $1 scrambled eggs and a nice bar with affordable beers, you cant go wrong.
apple abroad 