03 Apr Studying Abroad in San Francisco: Completing my adventure list week 4-5

Written By: Emily Corbett

Hi! These past two weeks I have been busy ticking off things to do on my adventure list and I’d like to share my experiences with you, what I’ve enjoyed and what I haven’t as much. I will also leave a screenshot of our list at the end of this blog if you are in San Francisco looking for something to do or if you are planning to study abroad and may want to have a go at completing it yourself whilst you are here.

First, it might be useful to mention my use of public transport, the way I get to all of these places. For the international students here, transport including the Muni (an equivalent to the metro), buses and some trams are free. All you have to do is tap your student ID when you get on! The Muni is really easy to navigate, but from campus the M train takes you from a stop right outside campus straight to Embarcadero. From Embarcadero it is easy to get to most places, pier 39 is very close as well as the Ferry building which is just outside the station and even Union Square which is about a 20-minute walk from there.

Pier 39 was one of the top destinations on my list before I had even arrived in San Francisco, and I can now say I have been. I was so excited as I got to go on one of the older trams that you associate with San Francisco to get there. After that initial excitement and getting out at the pier 39 stop, we walked around that main street and just took in all the amazing colourful buildings, restaurants and amusements. Admittedly, I skipped the famous clam chowder as I am not a fish fan but instead tried in-n-out for the first time. I got a double-double meal, which I’d highly recommend. Although there wasn’t as much choice as I was expecting in terms of the menu, it was really good and the sauce has to be one of my new favourites, we don’t really have an equivalent to the type of burger in the UK, maybe the closest is a Five Guys but it was definitely cheaper. The meal combo was around $13.

Pier 39 itself was fun, there’s lots of smaller pop-up stools and shops and a good photo opportunity at the end of the pier where you can see the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge in the background. Of course, if you come during the right season, you must try and see the seals who sleep on these wooden platforms all around the pier. There weren’t as many as usual when we visited as the season is nearing its end, but there was still a whole platform of seals either sleeping or arguing noisily with each other. There was also one lone seal who was very cute and having some much-needed rest and relaxation away from the other seals.

The following weekend we made a trip to the Marina District, it is a beautiful neighbourhood in San Francisco and even just to walk around and look at the gorgeously decorated houses would be pleasurable. To get there was again very easy: you take the 28 bus and can get off anywhere after the Golden Gate Bridge. If you get off here, I would recommend having a walk around the Palace of Fine Arts, the architecture is amazing and it was very peaceful to look around the dome. After we had finished exploring some more of the district we made our way towards Lombard Street, another unmissable thing to see when in San Francisco. We walked up the street to get there. In hindsight I would recommend taking a tram up this hill unless you’re looking for a calf and thigh work out! It is very steep; the parked cars seem almost vertical; pictures don’t even capture how steep it is! Lombard Street was worth it though, in the sunshine with all of the pretty flowers lining the wobbly road it was a sight to behold with people driving down in their cars with arms out the windows filming their view.

After our hike up and down Lombard Street, we decided to take a well-earned break and find a place for food. We decided on a Thai Spice Restaurant on Polk Street, it wasn’t busy and had a calm atmosphere, I really like the interior and the lights inside! I had the Green Curry, which was spicy and delicious, I would absolutely recommend it and if you didn’t finish all of your meal the servers were more than happy for us to take the rest away and enjoy later.

Together we then decided we deserved and needed a sweet treat and chose to make our way to The Cheesecake Factory, it is located in Union Square at the top of the Macy’s store. If it’s a warm day and they have space I would try and sit on the balcony, there are some great views of the square. It was a really tough decision deciding which of the many cheesecakes to devour but I ended up with the Tiramisu cheesecake. It was massive! But so good, worth the hundreds of calories! I would actually like to go back to The Cheesecake Factory and try some of their savoury food, they had so many options, but I was just too full after my curry.

Exploring San Francisco over the last month has been so exciting and it’s almost impossible to run out of unique things to do or see. Make sure to have a look at my own adventure list if you are interested. I can’t wait to bring you along for the journey in my next blog installment as I continue to discover new places and lots of food! I hope with these blogs I am able to give you some insight into studying abroad here at SFSU and encourage you to explore if you decide San Francisco is where you’d like to travel to.