I'm in San Francisco. Though I spent the whole first day with my friend traveling throughout the city, stopping at Haight/Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, and driving along the coast and didn't get much time to do the exploring that I'd wanted. It was very helpful to have my friend with me and especially her car to get us around to destinations of our choice. The transportation system in San Francisco is easy and there are various ways of getting around such as: MUNI, Bart, and bus to name a few. I recommend taking the Bart especially if traveling from outside the city. I took the Bart because I was coming from San Mateo and it dropped me off right in the heart of the city.

Golden Gate Park was beautiful! This is where we saw the Rose Garden and the Japanese Tea Garden. We had to pay to get into the Japanese Tea Garden, which I didn't quite agree with, however, it was $4 well spent. I felt like I stepped into a whole other world of green and natural wonders. Absolutely gorgeous! Because it was foggy and drizzling the weather put a damper on the experience, nonetheless, the flowers and landscaped grounds were still magnificent.

We stopped for lunch in Haight Ashbury at a Thai restaurant. The food was quick and tasty. There are a lot of Thai and ethnic restaurants to eat at on the block. There are various eateries, "hippie" clothing shops, spiritual stores, tattoo and piercing parlors, and funky graffitti designs that line the streets and buildings. Haight Ashbury is very unique and I would compare it to South Street in Philadelphia.

The day ended, quite fast too with a trip to the San Francisco Giants Stadium. Our original intent was to see a baseball game, well that didn't work out. There were so many people waiting in line for tickets and not two seats within the same section of the stadium! We pushed those plans aside and moved ahead to Union Square where luckily, a band was playing. Great music, great friends, great weather! What really caught my attention was the hearts at the four corners of Union Square. I was absolutely mesmerized by the different art inside each of them. The one heart, featured as the main picture for my blog, was of course my favorite. It is the everlasting image that sums up the whole of my trip and allows me to quote one of my favorite singers- "I left my heart in San Francisco."- Frank Sinatra