San Francisco and the amazing world of Tonya!

We met our friend Tonya on a G Adventures tour in Costa Rica a few years ago and have kept in touch. We were lucky enough that our trip was bringing us close enough to visit and we embraced the opportunity. Tonya inspires me to bring more fun into our lives. She is a breath of fresh air and it was fantastic to see her, meet her lovely fella, Rich, and their "pals"' Dudley and Master Po (two adorable pugs).



We initially spent a day driving around San Franciso after hiring a car at Oakland airport on arrival. We got a great tip that if you drive into the city via the Bay Bridge, then out of the city on the Golden Gate Bridge then you don't have to pay the toll for the Golden Gate. We therefore managed to squeeze in lunch in China Town, a drive down the famous, steep and wiggly Lombard street and still have time to enjoy the spectacular vista of the Golden Gate Bridge pre sunset from a few different vantage points. It really is such an iconic sight.

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Now, Tonya has a bit of a thing about Halloween and fancy dress. She had no less than 188 trick or treaters this year (which isn't even her record of 231 last year!) and is known to have numerous costume changes throughout an evening. I had mentioned to her on a number of occasions that one year we would have to bring Thomas for Halloween and that we were sorry we were missing it by just a couple of weeks. However, Tonya surprised us with a little taste of Halloween, much to our delight , and had left up some decorations for us along with new ones ready for Thanksgiving! It's so unusual for us to see, not having it so big in the UK. We were thrilled and Thomas loved it. Especially the costume demo...

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Tonya introduced us to her wonderful local Taqueria for our first dinner, an experience we thoroughly enjoyed given that we don't really have these in the UK.

On Wednesday Tonya drove us into the centre of San Francisco where we walked around Pier 39 and Fishermans Wharf. It was nice to visit there mid-November when it was relatively tourist free and enjoy a peaceful stroll along the seafront where you can get great views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.

On our embracing fun theme, we took Thomas to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch. He was fascinated by the elephants and tigers but I have a sneaking suspicion that the overgrown children enjoyed it slightly more...

I love the architecture of San Francisco and its steep sided hills but I fear that it is not as edgy and bohemian as it was when I fell in love with it on my last visit when I was 18 (clearly just 6 Years ago "ahem!"). We did still like it though and enjoyed an afternoon stroll in Golden Gate Park before heading back to Oakland for dinner out at a fantastic Buffalo Bill's burger bar with our hosts.

We have really enjoyed our stay here and will be sad to say goodbye to Tonya, Rich, Master Po and Dudley (who has taken rather a shine to Thomas and Thomas to him). Come and visit the UK soon!