Back from Sunny California

Just got back to Toronto Friday evening and it feels great to be back in Canada. Loving the weather here compared to the stifling heat in Los Angeles, bleh! Out of all the cities I visited, I loved San Francisco the most: beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, so picturesque, and so much to see and do. I took so many pictures; I kind of went buckwild with my 2 cameras and took around 20 rolls of film. Yikes. Too much to write about my trip, but I'll just list the memorable highlights (and lowlights :P)

San Francisco (Aug. 27 - Sept. 2)
- standing at the front of the cable car riding up to Fisherman's Wharf
- walking down the crooked part of Lombard Street
- climbing up and down Telegraph Hill twice
- seeing all the wind turbines on the way to Yosemite National Park
- trying various ethnic cuisines with Rupert and Esther
- ferry tour to Golden Gate bridge and around Alcatraz island
- eating clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl
- shopping in Haight Ashbury
- hanging out with Rupert and Esther the my last night: gallery opening, exploring Chinatown alleyways, and Italian dinner in North Beach
- the Mexican souvenir shop owners wondering if I was married
- all the homeless/drunk/crazy people on the streets

San Diego & Orange County (Sept. 3 - Sept. 6)
- 4 hours of sleep the night before catching my 6:30am flight to San Diego, then almost falling asleep at the San Diego Zoo
- exploring Balboa Park and the Musuem of Photographic Arts
- walking across the border to Tijuana and shopping with Julia in the arts and crafts market
- a Mexican store owner wondering whether I wanted a wallet, or a purse, or a watch, or a husband, or a boyfriend
- eating a band-aid in my pizza and drinking a Kahlua mix to sanitize my mouth
- sleeping on the "haunted" sofa bed
- kite flying and taking a trolley tour around SD with Jason
- dinner at Cheesecake Factory with Jason in Orange County
- all the homeless/drunk/crazy people on the streets

Los Angeles (Sept. 7 - 9)
- pulling into the ghetto Greyhound station and feaking out that it was actually my stop
- leaving my wallet on the Greyhound and having it stolen by one of the 4 people left in the bus behind me
- driving along Sunset Blvd and Mullholland Drive with Daniel and getting lost about 5 times
- spending the whole day at the Getty Center
- seeing Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive
- learning some Italian from Marco
- the slummy/run-down/ghetto streets in between all the sights to see
- the hot, smoggy, sticky weather... yucky

Santa Monica (Sept. 9 - 10)
- seeing all the colourful, clean streets after being in LA
- the super clean hostel that was a 2-minute walk from the beach
- visiting the beach for the first time on the trip and watching the sunset
- walking along Third Street Promenade and watching the street performers at night
- waking up at 6am my last morning to watch the sunrise from the beach