San Francisco, day 2

(this was Tuesday the 12th)
This day was super-busy, but isn't that the best?

We started off with a bit of shopping on Union Square, which was a lot of fun but not much to write about.

For lunch, my mom and I shared an eggplant wrap at Alexandria's Cafe, a very little place right near our hotel (beside the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Market). This wrap was ENOURMOUS but very delicious. If I recall correctly, it was eggplant, various vegetables, a tahini sauce, and tabbouleh. Mm! It didn't look so pretty, hence the lack of pictures, but dang did it ever taste great.

We then took a bus down to Fisherman's Wharf... the ultimate tourist trap. This was OK with me, actually, since I was expecting an actual wharf with dead fish all over the place. Instead, it was just a bunch of touristy shops and restaurants and attractions.

After a bit of walking around, we were getting a bit hungry, so our snack was some of the delicious fruit we spotted at a stand.

Mmm, that was one delicious meal. I am definitely a big fan of fresh fruit.



Before leaving for San Francisco, we asked all sorts of people who had been what we should make sure to do there. Everyone mentioned Alcatraz- and, funny enough, we didn''t end up going there! Here's picture of the island:


While walking around Fisherman's Wharf, I made sure that we made a stop at the Wax Museum. Being the compulsive researcher that I am, I'd looked up the museum before we left, and after finding out that Andy Warhol was in an exhibit, I decided that we had NO CHOICE but to go.

Hey there Andy! :D
(as a side note, his 80th birthday would have been August 6th, if he hadn't died back in 1987)

My very favorite part of Fisherman's Wharf, though, was a homeless man with a brilliant sense of humour. He was sitting behind a garbage can with a large fake bush held in front of him:
As unsuspecting passerby walked along, he would reach out with the bush and shout, effectively scaring them to bits. It was hilarious, and people were lined up along the streets just to watch him frighten the oblivious.

This guy was pretty cool too: (a one man band!)

Originally, we decided that we would rent bikes and cycle from the Wharf across the Golden Gate Bridge, then take the ferry across. My mom and I scrapped that plan when we decided that we were too lazy to get the bikes. Instead, we walked.

Yes, that is right, we walked from Fisherman's Wharf, across the Golden Gate, and to Sausalito. We took a 3-hour walk over a 30-minute bike... because we were too lazy! Haha

It was really a lovely walk, though, albeit a bit cold.

Yay, Sausalito!
Unfortunately, the last bus to San Francisco left Sausalito at 7:00... and we got there at 7:15. We warmed up in a little Italian restaurant as we waited for a taxi (ick, I'm not a big fan of taxis).

By this time, it was almost 8, and we were DANG HUNGRY. We went to Axum Cafe for Dinner, a lovely little Ethiopian place.

My mom and I split the Vegetarian Platter for Two... So good!

Center: Alicha (mixed vegetables in spices), to the left: salad, clockwise from there: Hamli (spinach and jalapeno peppers in onions, garlic, and spices), Kintishara (mushrooms and tomatoes in onion, garlic, and spices), Tumtumo (lentils in onion, garlic... and spices), Alicha Ater (Chickpeas in onions and spices)

SO GOOD, or at least it was the perfect way to satisfy our growling tummies.

Fifteen minutes later:
(unfortunately, the injera bread wasn't made out of teff- what gives?)

After that, we returned to our hotel by bus, I went for a run in the fitness room, and we went to bed. I must say, falling asleep was not hard at all!