San Fran Day 7 - Obama, In-N-Out, and the Way Home

Quick stop at In-N-Out!

So our trip has finally come to an end and it's time to go home. After packing up all of our luggage, Ricki and I left the hotel and went to grab lunch at In-N-Out! I hadn't had one of their burgers in such a long time...I'd missed them! After our lunch we poked around some tourist shops and actually found some decently cute clothing! Ricki found an infinity scarf with a rustic-style american flag on it in order to properly represent her love for 'murica ;) 

San Fran Day 6 - Obama, Boat Cruise, and Ghirardelli Square

  

For our last full day in San Francisco, we decided to go on a boat cruise. We had a 2 hour "Bridge 2 Bridge" boat cruise with the Red & White Fleet where we sailed from Pier 43 1/2, under the Golden Gate Bridge, around Alcatraz, past Treasure Island, under the Bay Bridge, and then back to the pier. While in line for the cruise, we saw Obama flying over the bay in Marine One! 

San Fran Day 5 - Bread Animals, Alcatraz, and Meeting a Felon

 After breakfast at the hotel, we went to the Boudin Bakery to pick up our lunch that we planned to eat on Alcatraz Island! The Bakery is known for it's incredible sourdough bread, many that they shape into cool designs, and many a time, animals! There was a six-foot long alligator made entirely out of sourdough!  

San Fran Day 4 - Palace of Fine Arts, Crissy Field, and Ricki's New Car

The Palace of Fine Arts!

This day was one of my favourite days of the entire trip. We started the day off by heading to the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco. It was absolutely breathtaking. The buildings look like they were transported from Greece or Rome. The attention to detail is amazing and the enormous size of the structures makes it that much more overwhelming. We walked around and took some incredible photographs, before sitting by the pond and watching the herons catch fish! 

San Fran Day 3 - Lombard St., Macarons, and The Best French Food Ever!

In front of the famous switchbacks and then the view from the top!

Riding the streetcar!

After our disastrous lunch, we decided to go to Union Square, and our spirits were lifted once we rode our first streetcar! We checked out the square and then decided to head over for Ricki's first H&M experience! We picked up some cute clothes, and then decided to get some much needed food! In H&M we both picked up some more summer appropriate outfits, because even though we had been told that San Francisco was going to be rainy and cold in February, it was in the 70's the whole time! So we were severely overheated in our bulky Canada-proof outfits.

San Fran Day 2 (Part 2) - Chinatown

The Main Entrance into Chinatown

After our awesome lunch we decided to head towards Chinatown. We had a direct bus from our hotel that only took 10 minutes. Bussing there was a cultural experience in itself because in all of 10 minutes we passed through/picked up passengers from the Fishing Wharf, Russian Hill, Little Italy, and then finally Chinatown. Seeing Chinatown was like entering another world. Every sign was in Mandarin or Cantonese, and there were people EVERYWHERE. It was so interesting to see that as well as being a tourist area, it also seemed to be a place the locals actually did their shopping and other errands. There were endless gift shops, laundromats, hair salons, restaurants, grocery shops, markets, and home decor shops.

So it's our first official day in San Francisco! After our incredibly rough night we had our complimentary breakfast from the hotel, and then we went down to the Fisherman's Wharf. We sat by the water, took in the view, and then decided to grab some lunch in the area. We ended up going to The Codmother, where I had the fish, shrimp, and chips! It was amazing. It was all deep-fried in front of us and was incredibly quick service. 

San Fran Day 1 - Going Home and The Flight From Hell

Ricki & I on the Greyhound

So it's time for Spring Break 2015! On February 7th we left Kelowna in the morning to head back to my house in Washington before our flight to San Francisco. Our bus trip went smoothly, and we got home all in one piece. For the rest of the day we toured around my hometown and I got to show Ricki some of the most memorable places from where I grew up. We went down by the bay and got some coffees to keep us awake after our long journey. The next morning was also fairly uneventful! We got up around 5am to make it to the airport and after our 30 min flight to Seattle, that is when all hell broke loose...

Packing: TSA 3-1-1 Rule

As I mentioned in my previous post, for this trip to San Francisco, I'm not going to be checking any luggage. This means that all of my non-powder beauty products will have to fit into one small, plastic bag. I've never travelled without checking at least one piece of luggage before, so I had to research what exactly the rules are regarding liquids and carry-ons. Below is an explanation of how the rules work, but first, I've listed out all of the products that I'll be bringing along: 

What I'm Packing For San Francisco!

Woohoo! It's Spring Break...sort of? My university is having it's 'Reading Week' (read: Spring Break) wayyyyy early this year, which is not impressing many people on my campus. There's snow on the ground and the temperatures are still pretty low...I mean, I live in Canada, so what was I expecting, right? However, my friend Ricki and I have decided to make the most of the situation, and go to San Francisco for the week!

I've decided that for this trip I'm going to try and pack everything solely into my carry on suitcase...

...this because I seriously dislike checking my luggage. You run the risk of losing your belongings, having them arrive late, getting rifled through, or being broken in transit. Not to mention the endless wait at the luggage carousal! 

Cancún Part Eight! (Heading Home)

So it's finally the day to head home. We stayed out the entire night night and caught the sunrise on the beach. After an action-packed week, it was kind of a relief to be heading back to our own beds. After a rather hectic spree of last minute packing, we hopped aboard the bus and rode back to the airport.

Sunrise on the beach.

Cancún Part Seven! (Last Night Out)

Our last night was bittersweet. We got all dolled up, took a group photo and then went to dinner at our favourite Mexican restaurant. The food was amazing, and the mariachi band was hilarious. I got them to play endless Santana songs :) After dinner we got ready for our last night out. We went to our favourite club, The City, and had an incredible time seeing MAKJ perform!

The entire group's last night out.

On the same day that we went to Chichen-Itza, we also went to a cenote (taken from the Mayan word for well). Cenotes are deep natural pits that are usually open to the sky. They are formed from collapsed caves. The pool is incredibly deep, and the surrounding walls have places where you can leap from! The walls were covered with vines, as well as some that hung from the top of the cave. There was also a waterfall near the back.

 Ik Kil Cenote

Cancún Part Six! (Chichen Itza)

One of the most historically interesting parts of my trip to Mexico was our visit to Chichen-Itza. This archeological site was part of a pre-Columbian city built by the Mayans. On the ground there are a series of awe-inspiring pyramids and 'The Great Ball Court" (amongst other ancient structures). "The Great Ball Court" is what the ball court in the movie The Road to El Dorado was modeled after (click here to see what I'm talking about).

Pyramid in Chichen-Itza.

Cancún Part Five! (Beach Day and Foam Party)

During my vacation, we spent most of our days on the beach, and on one of the days, we actually attending a foam party! The foam melted so quickly from the heat of the sun that it instantly turned into a sticky mess. There was so much foam on the beach that it created a quicksand pit, where it was nearly impossible to move around! As you can imagine, much hilarity ensued...

Group photo on the beach.

Cancún Part Four! (Catamaran)

 One of the excursions that we were lucky enough to go on was a trip on a Catamaran! We all hopped aboard a boat, and sailed out towards Isla Mujeres. There was music, dancing, and snorkeling!

A friend and I on the boat.

Cancún Part Three! (Club Night At Palazzo)

So over the next few days we went to more and more clubs. The music and atmospheres were so different and interesting. These photos are from a club called Palazzo. Although it was a little bit smokey, the decor and layout were really fun. It was very vampy and victorian.

Palazzo

One of the clubs that we kept coming back to was called The City. It is the largest club in Latin America, and can hold over SIX THOUSAND people. It was incredible.

The City

Cancún Part Two! (Pool Time & Animal Friends)

So today we continued to explore the hotel, and hit up the pool! 

Pool time!