What a full day we've had! Our plane left Austin at 7.15am, and it was a 3 1/2 hour flight. I had only about 4 hours of sleep the night before so I was really hoping to catch up on the plane. I had all my gadgets ready: the pillow, the eye cover, soft music...it didn't work this time. I just couldn't doze off. Maybe I was just too excited.
We arrived safely, all our bags arrived too - which is not always the case. Then took the BART train into the town, and arrived at our hostel at around 11. The rooms were not ready yet, so we stored the luggage into a room, and took only day packs with us onto town. I first visited the Farmers Market down at the Embarcado, tasted some yummy local fruits and deserts. From there I headed toward the Coit tower to try to see the wild parrots again. When I was here 6 months ago we saw a flock of maybe 100+ parrots, but my camera battery died and I wasn't able to take good pictures. And of course me, bird-lady, wanted to see them again. But this time I wasn't that lucky, and the parrots didn't lend anywhere in the area, just circled around.
I met so many nice people today. At least 4-5 people on different buses offered some advice when they saw I had a map in my lap. I don't think I looked like I needed help. :) (maybe I just think too much of my travel capabilities) There are so many people with maps here on the street; you can't walk more than couple of minutes, actually more like 20 seconds, without seeing some tourist with a map. So, if I met 5 good Samaritans today, there must hundreds of them in San Fransisco assisting all these tourists.
In a bus on the way to the Coit tower, I got talking with an older man, who, when he found out I am getting off at the Washington Sq. asked me if I was going to visit the St. Peter and Paul church, and explained it's worth while visiting because it has very pretty stone statues, that are so detailed that they look like they are made out of wood. I was going to stop in there anyway, so I paid a special attention to the statues, and they were really pretty. The church itself is one of the nicest once I've seen, the main altar is all made of stone...I'll post some pictures later.
After the unsuccessful parrot chase I started to feel very tired, so I called the hostel to see if our room was ready. It was, so on the way here I stopped to get lunch at the former Crape House, now Honey Honey. Got some bottled water and snacks on the way, and went to check in. It was nice to take a shower and lay in bad after all that walking, although I wasn't able to fall asleep for a long time. I was awaken and hour later when the rest of my group notified me they are coming back from their tour.
I then got ready and went to evening Mass at the Old St. Mary's Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in S.F, located in the Chinatown. I met a group, actually 3 groups from Atlanta, GA, who are also on their way to WYD. They had a 12 hour layover, so even though I complained about our layover of 38 hours, it is still better to be able to spend the night, and have room to rest.
When I came back to the room the group was back, and after we chatted for a bit and rested we went to dinner. Since none of us really felt like walking, we again went to the Crape House, which by the way is just 1 block away, and I had the amazing nutela, banana, walnuts crapes. We ended the evening with a little stroll around the Union Square, and I am all wiped out. I am sure I'll sleep well tonight. Tomorrow I am meeting with a friend and then onto our loooong flight.
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