Coit Tower: o que há por perto, como chegar e quando ir · 2026

ALAnastassya LebedevaNastyaLebedeva · 28 de out. de 2012Ler

Letter from September 4th Sender: Anastasia Lebedeva, San Francisco, California Recipient: Yulya Keda, Kazakhstan Hi! Honestly, I thought I'd write sooner, but I didn't have the time – we spent 3 unforgettable days in San Francisco! Now I understand why Anya wanted to come back here so much! The city is just indescribably beautiful! That's how I put it))) Its whole charm is that it's very different from other American cities! I don't even know where to start! I have an idea! Let me write about why this city is so wonderful instead! 10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO 1) The best way to get to know any city is just to walk wherever you want, ON FOOT! There are no huge highways in San Fran, so you can walk and enjoy the views as much as you like! Of course, the city is built on hills – so the roads take on unimaginable angles! 2) It really is very beautiful! I took tons of photos! The coolest thing is that the city is beautiful in its diversity! Palace of Fine Arts (especially in the evening when it gets dark, the view is stunning), City Hall, Painted Ladies, Japantown, Chinatown, Union Square (a cool square), Haight-Ashbury (a very positive neighborhood)), Coit Tower, Pacific Heights.... 3) You can spend the whole day walking around Fisherman’s Wharf: the embankment, the deep blue ocean, Alcatraz Island, the sound of the waves, seagulls circling over the water – probably one of the most beautiful places in the city! 4) Cable Cars! OMG! After waiting in a huuuuge line, we managed to ride the famous little trams! We specifically took the side seats so we could stand while riding, take photos of people along the way, and enjoy the views!!! An amazing feeling! 5) The city is full of surprises! We spent half the day on the embankment, and by the time we rented bikes, it was already 5 o'clock. Our goal was to cross the Golden Gate Bridge! Anya had talked our ears off (yours too))) about how much she likes this bridge and how many photos she took last year! So to say I was anticipating it is an understatement! But imagine our surprise when we reached the bridge, or rather, the place where it was supposed to be, and discovered that THE BRIDGE WAS GONE!! We were standing in the middle of nowhere (as Americans say), and there was FOG all around, so thick that it was impossible to see the Golden Gate Bridge! After wandering around a bit, we decided to go through with our plan anyway! We rode across the bridge (yes, we found it by touch))), our hair was wet from the fog, it was windy, but we felt great! White haze all around! Anyway, after reaching the other end, we stopped and started sharing our impressions. And when the sun came out and the red outlines of the bridge supports became visible, we took pictures, and, tired but happy, continued our journey. On the way back, we bought t-shirts - I biked the Golden Gate Bridge! The day was a success! 6) Golden Gate Bridge! No words! It's the symbol of the city! 7) It has its own atmosphere here! Probably because of the architecture! Or maybe because of the weather! Fog is a very common occurrence, but it's so cool here in the fall! 8) Golden Gate Park. Everything is so beautiful, green, tons of flowers! Tons of photos! 9) Every time you can find something new: cozy cafes, museums (we managed to see a bit of Dali and Picasso), bookstores, parks, people! 10) You want to come back here again and again! p.s. The flight to New York is soon – we'll be there tomorrow, and on the 8th we fly home! So we'll be back soon! p.p.s. I like your VK status)))))))

MMarinaMarina_Nagibina · 15 de ago. de 2011Ler

Before coming to America, I planned to see as much as possible because I was sure I might not return. So, I made a plan to travel to the West Coast after finishing work. Two weeks before the season ended, I bought a plane ticket to San Francisco. When talking to my parents on Skype, they asked: 'Where will you live? When is your return ticket?' I had neither. I noticed I always did everything at the last minute. But eventually, I found a place in SF. Before my last day of work, we had a party, and I didn't sleep all night (actually, I hadn't slept properly all August). Plus, I only had one night to pack before my trip. When I got back from work, I realized I could barely speak. I asked to be woken up at 1 AM so I could pack, because my acquaintances (an uncle and aunt) were supposed to arrive at 8:30 AM to take some of my things and drive me to the airport. I had too many things and didn't want to travel with a huge suitcase. I left the extra stuff behind because I had a return flight to Russia from Washington anyway. As usual, they didn't wake me up. I woke up at 6 AM and started packing in a rush... I barely made it. Once on the plane, I tried to gather my strength—alone again, heading who knows where. Many people told me there were many good people in SF, but after getting off the train, I wandered around looking for my hostel. The first person I met was a homeless man; he asked me for directions to an address written on a piece of paper, and I said I didn't know. He called me a bitch and tried to hit me. I was in culture shock. I stood there for a moment and then walked on. After checking into the hostel, I didn't even want to go out. It was already evening anyway. I spent one night in the hostel with two Polish girls; they were cool. They showed me a guidebook with sights everyone should see. The next morning, I decided to walk to Chinatown, then go see the bridge. After walking halfway through Chinatown, I decided to ride the cable car, went down, walked around a bit, then took it to the very end to be closer to the bridge. Since I love walking and sightseeing, I decided to walk to the bridge from there and check out the Marina district. The road was really long, but I had enough energy to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. On the other side, I met some guys from Israel who helped me get back. From there, I saw the Japanese district, City Hall, and everything on the way back to the hostel. The next day, I went to Russian Hill, then Coit Tower, then the Fisherman's Wharf. Back at the hostel, I met a guy who had a bus tour of San Francisco, and he invited me to join him. It was so lucky that I got on the bus for free because no one checked tickets in the evening. I saw SF at night, ended up in the Fisherman's Wharf again, and it was quite far to walk from there. I was passing by souvenir shops and met a 19-year-old Spanish guy (even though I was 18, there was a big difference in our maturity). I asked him to take me to see the Golden Gate Bridge at night, and I got lucky with that too!) The next day, I planned to visit Golden Gate Park. I decided to take a bus but got off on the other side of the city where the beach is. I walked through the entire park, and it was after the park that I realized I was starting to fall in love with this city. It's very beautiful, especially near the botanical garden. After the park, I walked to some gardens in the city center, and it was evening again. I didn't really go out in the evenings because I was tired. The next day, looking at the map, I realized I had seen everything I wanted. The fourth day felt extra, but I had planned to see the southern part of the city and the design center, so I walked there. On the way, a guy approached me and offered to help me see the city, but I said I had already seen everything. I asked him to drive me across the Bay Bridge to Oakland (I wanted to see what kind of city it was and why many Americans say it's one of the most dangerous cities in America)

ДДмитрийventura · 18 de out. de 2009Ler

18.08.2009 Well, I've reached the final point of my route! It's 7 AM, August 18, 2009, and I'm sitting here drinking coffee in San Francisco! I'll spend the whole day here, and at 11:00 PM I'll head out to Dallas, which is almost a two-day trip! I slept like a log last night, didn't even wake up during the stops—after yesterday's sleepless night. It's quite cold here! I hoped to wait out the morning chill over coffee, but it looks like it won't end anytime soon, so I'm off! Oops, sorry, it's not just 'quite cold' here! It's freezing and there's a huge wind! I endured it, but then I couldn't take it anymore and wrapped myself in the blanket I bought yesterday for sleeping on the bus. I walked around like that for half the day, like an Indian :). First thing, I walked down Montgomery Street, which is considered the Financial District here. I turned left and walked up the streets—holy cow, the incline! I don't think I've ever seen anything like it in cities before. Cars are parked at such an angle that it feels like they're about to roll away. I walked around, went up to Nob Hill—the highest point in San Francisco, looked down, then went online to check the bus schedule to Boston. It looks like I'll be going to see Aunt Inna after all, and that's cool because it should be interesting there. Just then, the Cable Car Museum opened, probably the most famous symbol of San Francisco. It's cool: there's a metal cable running underground that moves, and the tram hooks onto this cable through a slot in the ground and moves itself. The cable is powered by massive engines located at the station. And since the museum is right inside the station building, you can see everything—how it all rotates and is set in motion :). After leaving the museum, I wandered around Chinatown a bit. Chinatown in SF is so huge, and there are so many Chinese people, that you can't tell if SF has a Chinese Chinatown, or if, conversely, Chinatown has a San Francisco district. In their Chinese shops, they sell even ordinary, non-Chinese goods at very low prices. Just for fun, I bought some soy drink and some crunchy sticks. Both turned out to be mediocre in taste. When I was heading back down to Montgomery Street, I saw a crowd of fire trucks, police, and other people. Apparently, there was a fire. Getting closer, I saw a man with terrible burns standing and talking to a policeman. 'Holy cow,' I thought. 'He needs to get to the hospital urgently.' And only then did it hit me that they were filming a movie! Reaching the center, I headed to a park that, judging by the name, should have been an arts center, but the pavilions of this very arts center were closed, and it was just a park around. Strange. An arts center without art. From there, I decided to go to Coit Tower. I miscalculated the size of San Francisco on the map (the city is small) and overshot my stop, but I returned to the right place pretty quickly. I climbed to the top. The view is cool! Of the bay, Alcatraz Island, the city... Awesome! I went down, walked to the coast, and asked about tours to Alcatraz. It turned out they were all sold out. Oh well, I was doubting whether to go or not anyway. I asked a guy about the Golden Gate Bridge, and he said it's 4.5 miles (i.e., more than 7 km) on foot, about an hour and a half walk. I asked about the bus, but he said it would also take about an hour and a half by bus. I decided to walk. I grabbed a bite at Subway for the road and set off. I walked slowly, stopping at cool places. For example, there's a real submarine moored on the shore that fought during World War II and is now open as a museum. For 6 bucks, I went inside—very interesting. Everything inside is untouched, real. On the way to the bridge, I saw a real hippie Volkswagen minibus, and I got to talking with a Rastafarian sticking out of it in an Ethiopian hat. He said he painted it and did everything inside himself, that it's his home, and he and his girlfriend travel around America, earning money by