Day One. Officially!

 

It’s day one! We have officially started our trip after what it seems to be a long wait and much preparation. We were delighted to be staying close to the Golden Gate bridge and this is our first full group picture.

We made pancakes for breakfast at the hostel and had a great time talking to other guests about our trip. Many seemed to find what we are doing interesting and always eager to offer their help in any way; we feel greatly encouraged. We were also able to learn from their experience and were able to get advice from their travels.

After our breakfast and brief meeting, we drove to SFO Hertz to finish the last part of our rental paperwork. As we might have mentioned previously, Hertz had very generously sponsored our trip by offering us discounted rental. We deeply appreciate all the staff who have gone above and beyond to work with us in making this happen.

When we left SFO with the paperwork behind us, we headed to the San Francisco City Hall. It is a beautiful and historical building, yet easily accessible from our disabled parking to anywhere in the building.

Parking in San Francisco is known to be difficult, even with our disability placard. There was little information as to where we can park with the different coloured top meters. We tried multiple parking spots on the street and finally settled in the Union parking garage due to our uncertainty of the rules.

We walked from the Union Square to Chinatown and enjoyed great cityscapes on the way. However, the hill was very steep and we had difficulty going up. When we reached the district, we quickly spotted many shops and restaurants on the main street were not accessible due to steps or narrow entrances. The atmosphere there was fascinating and we found an accessible Chinese restaurant called Washington Café for dinner.

 

Of course, we dropped by the bridge again for a night shot!

 

Good night! 😉