Entering the city via the Golden Gate Bridge was so exciting 🌁

🌉

San Francisco, former hippie hub, has always been a friendly home for the LGTBQ+ community, which can be seen and felt throughout the city. 🏳️‍🌈

One of our first steps within the city took us to two small but prominent hills called “Twin Peaks” from the top of which we had an amazing view of the entire city.

Considering that it’s the second most densely populated large U.S. city following New York City, the skyline doesn’t feature an awful lot of skyscrapers.

Those are basically the only ones 🏙️

Golden Gate Park

Next we went to the Golden Gate Park, a sprawling oasis that offers a multitude of recreational activities.

The park is famous for its lush greenery and more than 7000 kinds of plants.

The park really has a lot to offer. Music enthusiasts can enjoy outdoor concerts, for families there is a large playground and you can also rent a boat and paddle across Stow Lake or just relax in the sun.

Within the park, there are several iconic landmarks.

Dedicated in 1981, Golden Gate Park received the Chinese Pavilion as a gift from San Francisco’s sister city, Taipei, Taiwan. The Pavilion is located at Stow Lake, which comes complete with an island and waterfall

What a beautiful place! 🌺🪷🌴🌳

Chinatown

Our hotel was located near Chinatown 🐉

Some pretty awesome murals can be seen in this area.

Steep streets – one of the things San Fran is notoriously famous for (there are more than 50 hills

San Fran’s got some really lovely architectural tidbits 🙃

Really unpleasant was the fact that there seems to be an issue with increasing car break-ins. Many signs near  touristy spots would warn you not to leave any valuables in the car. 😔

The famous cable cars (designated as a National Historic Landmark) are the world’s last manually operated ones.

Of course visiting Lombard Street, nicknamed the “Crookedest street in the world” is a must.

Loved the architecture!

The Redwood National and State Parks are a complex of one national park and three state parks, located along the coast of northern California. The Redwood National Park, together with the Jedediah Smith Redwoods, Del Norte Coast Redwoods, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks Parks are not only home to the world’s largest trees but also protect vast prairies, oak woodlands, wild rivers, and 40 miles of rugged coastline. 

Home of the world’s tallest trees, this World Heritage Site and Reserve protects nearly half of the world’s old growth redwoods, including champion specimens more than 370 feet (113 meters) in height—or five stories taller than the Statue of Liberty. 😲

The four parks protect 45 percent of all remaining coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) old-growth forests, totaling at least 38,982 acres (157.75 km2). These trees are the tallest, among the oldest, and one of the most massive tree species on Earth. Even though many redwoods are taller than giant Sequoia trees, they are not really slender either: 😁

It’s not only the size of the giants that is so overwhelming but also the thousand shades of green and the lush, moist, moss-covered trees and ferns make you feel like you’re walking through a jungle….

… or Endor. (As it happens the scenes were actually filmed there 🙂)

Ferndale

Nestled between the California Redwoods and the  Lost Coast, the dairy village of Ferndale is a hidden oasis of small town charm.

Ferndale, populated by about 1300 people, is home to many well-preserved Victorian houses. The magnificent facades easily allow you to step back in time and imagine a world long gone..

Avenue of the giants

The avenue of the giants used to be part of the highway 101 until a freeway bypass was completed in the 60s.

Plenty of loop trails can be found along the avenue, each leading into the magical redwood forest and therefore to giant redwoods.

When I write giant, I really do mean it… 😁

As the climate gets milder, the crops somewhat change (for the better?…)