Saturday, July 14, 2018

California: San Francisco & Redwoods

On the way back from China and Taiwan, we had a layover in San Francisco, so we stretched it out a few days. We had never visited before, but now finally understand why people love it.


We stayed two days in Fisherman’s Wharf, which was a great location. Every morning we walked over to Boudin—a quite well-known bakery, famous for their sourdough—for breakfast. They did not disappoint! Along with eating the delicious sourdough, it is fun to watch it made through the window. At one point we saw them shape a giant crocodile out of dough, and later we came back and saw it all golden brown and baked.

The first day we took the cable car down to Union Square. It felt like a scene from a movie as we hung off the side of the cable car and rolled up and down the steep streets. At Union Square, we stopped in a few stores, most notably, the Apple Store! I walked out with a new phone :) After shopping, we had an early dinner at Sears Fine Foods. I had heard about this restaurant before in all my reading of food-related things, and I thought it sounded so cool and old-timey—but didn’t realize there was one still around. I was so excited to find one at Union Square! Just like I had expected, it was old-fashioned and so cute. The food was absolutely delicious. After dinner, they gave each of us a token to play their antique slot machine. None of us won, but it was fun to pull the crank and cross our fingers! We rode the cable car back in the direction we had come from, and hopped off at Lombard Street, one of the curviest streets in San Francisco. It’s amusing to watch the cars twist and turn painfully slow down the steep street. From there, we were exhausted, and headed back to the hotel for the night. That was definitely my favorite day.


Our second day in California was the Fourth of July. We started out by going to see the sea lions at Pier 39, which we didn’t realize go south for the summer. We only saw two, and were a little disappointed. We then walked back to Fisherman’s Wharf to visit The Musée Mécanique. This was very entertaining! Elena and I knew what it was from Princess Diaries, and had fun playing all of the games from the movie. Surprise, surprise, the wrestling arm was much harder than I had expected…I lost. From among the tons of antique arcade games, we tried out some pinball, racing games, and a photo booth. We left grinning. That afternoon we eagerly went to see The Incredibles 2, which was so good! Later that night, we headed out to watch fireworks from the beach near Fisherman’s Wharf. It was a great fireworks show, and so much fun with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.


The next morning, we set out for the Redwoods. On the way, we did the last thing on our San Francisco bucket list: The Golden Gate Bridge. We drove across it, and on the other side, stopped to snap a few photos. A good way to start the day! We chose the scenic—and very curvy—route up the coast of California to get to the Redwoods. We expected it to be a 5 hour trip, but 5 hours turned into 12. Sure, we stopped for lunch, dinner, and to drive through a 2,400 year old Redwood, but still, we were not pleased with that timing!


Thursday we woke up early and headed out for the grove. It was amazing to be surrounded by so many ginormous, ancient trees. They were around when Jesus walked the earth! After walking the trail for awhile, we stepped into the bushes to go on an adventure. We walked up a river, climbing over rocks, under branches, and through bushes to reach a particularly tall tree. Incredible. Later, heading back, we were thankful that the highway route was actually only 5 hours. A few hours after arriving, in the wee hours of the morning, we said goodbye to San Francisco and jetted off to Washington, D.C.!


-Maddie



Sunday, July 1, 2018

Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven

Different than the red, square temples we were accustomed to in Taipei, the Temple of Heaven is round with blue and green detail.   The layout of the buildings throughout the grounds symbolize the relationship between earth and heaven. The emperors came here to participate in ceremonies and prayer. Animal were sacrificed to the heavens on an alter within the circular temple. The grounds are a lovely place to spend an afternoon enjoying the shade.