Technology sure helps!

 The more I travel is the more I regret how long it took for the internet to have been developed and digital cameras as well😡.

Golden Gate bridge in background 

For had I been able to start blogging decades ago, I would remember so much more! 

It really hit me when I visited San Francisco recently, as I have been there twice before, yet recalled so little! 

My first visit was decades ago when I was on a trip by car from Toronto to Panama.

I remember visiting Golden Gate bridge but not much else.

Views from Golden Gate bridge on an overcast day.

It was really overcast today.

 Alcatraz island from the bridge

The only thing I remember from the second visit is having dinner in Chinatown😡.

It looks so different now.

The gate at the entrance was donated by Taiwan.

But the food there is still wonderful. It is said it's the be the largest Chinatown outside of China itself!

In a Buddhist temple in Chinatown 

 California was not in our plans decades ago back when we were escaping from Toronto, due to their terrible weather.

Unfortunately we visited las Vegas, were overwhelmed by the glitter and casinos and ended up losing our shirt, so had to go to California to work for 6 weeks to shore up our savings. 

 The place has naturally changed so much since then, for better and worse. 

Example, it is now the 7th worse place to drive (of a hundred cities polled). We saw the evidence on the way back from the Golden Gate bridge, as traffic was barely moving after we entered the tunnel, due to an accident.

On the good side, it is next to London in terms of billionaires and already has 5 companies offering self driving cars/taxies.

Nope, it's not a ghost driving😁

I remember going to Fisherman's Wharf and seeing lots of sea lions. Now all I see is lots of people, restaurants and entertainment areas.

It cleared up, so got a better view of Alcatraz Island from Fisherman's wharf.

Amazingly, I don't ever recall hearing of Golden Gate Park, considering it's to date, the best park I have ever visited!

The amphitheatre 

This conservatory was built in 1879.

The Dahlias were breathtaking

  

A small man-made waterfall

The park even has an amphitheatre where they have free live shows from Fridays to Sundays, a science museum and free shuttle running every 15 minutes.

We took the shuttle twice and whereas the first driver was blah, we were fortunate to get the happy shuttle back.

   The unforgettable Sheila.

It was driven by one of the happiest, friendliest, nicest persons I have ever had the opportunity to meet. She calls and waved to everyone, stopped to invite walkers into her shuttle and would even leave the beaten track to drop you wherever you wish!

She is the greatest asset to the park has by far.

If you know a more valuable tool for getting to know a place than the hop on hop off buses, please tell me.

Best value for money in every city!

Some pics from the top tier of the bus. 

Jimmy Hendrix lived there. It is said to have a mural of Bob Marley and Janis Joplin downstairs.

San Francisco opera house

Asian museum of Modern art.

Posing by the Golden Gate bridge.

The tour guides tend to be very knowledgeable and you get to see places you wouldn't normally have the time to visit otherwise.