It’s almost a requirement for first-time visitors in San Francisco to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. We decided to make a whole day trip of it by walking from our rental apartment near Union Square all the way up to the bridge.

Once we had crossed the bridge and had nothing else to do, we kept on walking until we reached downtown Sausalito. Let me tell you: that is a lot of walking! I believe the whole trip took us around 5 hours with a few breaks here and there. Needless to say, my lack of exercising in the last few years made the next few days a little difficult for me, as I had to deal with the aftermath of straining my legs for hours. We avoided any method of transportation until the moment we left Sausalito when we took the ferry back to San Francisco Ferry Building. It was all worth it though! The scenery was absolutely delightful and I am sure we would not have been able to enjoy it as much had we taken any buses.

I can never start a day without a good breakfast. Organic food is not really always readily available at grocery stores in Montreal. You have to go to markets which often require a little bit of travelling if you don’t have a car. I was really amazed by the amount of organic products offered in SF, and love the idea of Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. I wished we had something similar over here! On our first day in the city, we walked to Trader Joe’s and stocked up on food so we could have a healthy, filling breakfast every morning. As much as I love eating breakfast and brunch at restaurants, I also love starting off my day at my own pace and not have to be rushed by servers or customers waiting in line.

Beach near Golden Gate Bridge

Bridgeway in Sausalito

I think my favourite part of the day was when we were strolling along Bridgeway in Sausalito. The particular area where we sat down was devoid of people despite the sunny afternoon, it was so quiet and pretty. We sat down on the rocks to rest and talk, it was absolutely lovely, though we only stayed a short amount of time.

Houses nestled in hills in Sausalito

So many pretty dwellings in Sausalito, a lot of them nestled in the hills like this, at least near Bridgeway. I feel like this would be a wonderful place to reside, it’s so quaint and calm.

R: Rock sculpture by Bill Dan

Sculptor and performance artist Bill Dan was making some of his famous balancing rocks sculptures near the Ferry Terminal in Sausalito. He meticulously places rock atop each other and finds the right balance point to have them stand up right like this. He uses no glue or anything like that — impressive!

Tags: boyfriend, personal photos, san francisco, travel