Coit Tower and Telegraph Hill: The best view in San Francisco
In San Francisco, make sure to take this walk up and down Telegraph Hill to see Coit Tower, its Depression-era murals, and the best view in San Francisco!
Search Results for: San Francisco
USS Pampanito and SS Jeremiah O’Brien: WWII maritime history in San Francisco
After learning about how “Rosie the Riveter” constructed Liberty Ships in the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, across the bay from San Francisco, it seemed to me that the obvious next step was to tour an actual Liberty Ship. (See my post on the Rosie the Riveter Museum here.) I ended up seeing not only a…
A walk along the Embarcadero, San Francisco, being a tourist
Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory, views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz: these are typical tourist destinations in San Francisco. Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you click on one and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This will not affect your price. Those of us who…
A weekend trip from San Francisco into the Sierra
Here’s an idea for a weekend trip from San Francisco that my daughter and I enjoyed very much. We really skimmed the surface of each place where we stopped; you could easily make it a week-long trip. Nevertheless, it felt like a real San Francisco getaway road-trip: the freedom to travel where we wanted, stopping…
How to choose a destination: Tips to consider before travel
Sometimes it’s hard to choose a travel destination. Say you have only two weeks’ vacation, and you want to get the most out of it. Here’s some advice.
Favorite ghost towns in California
There are lots of Gold Rush ghost towns, but some are more “real” than others. Read here about my four favorite ghost towns in California.
Sustainable travel tips: Part 2 – Land or sea
Sustainable travel tips: reducing your carbon footprint when traveling. Part 1 was about air travel; this part covers travel by land or sea.
25 Practical Tips for Women Traveling Alone
Truly practical advice for women traveling alone. Tips for sleeping, eating, socializing and lots more travel advice for solo female travel!
North Beach neighborhood guide: A local’s favorite things to do
North Beach in a sentence: strange history, charm and some of the best Italian food in San Francisco. The following article is a guest post by Kara Harms of Whimsy Soul. Disclosure: This North Beach neighborhood guide contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small…
Visiting Hoover Dam with a “Dam” Tour Guide
“My name is Arcelia and I’ll be your dam tour guide.” This was our introduction to visiting Hoover Dam. Arcelia milked the joke as much as she could – “this dam wall,” “these dam generators,” and so on – but somehow, it worked, earning a chuckle from the visitors every time. Her cheerful approach impressed…
Musee Mecanique and its Penny Arcade Machines
Space Invaders! Memories flooded back as I spotted the game. Pac-Man! Centipede! My visit to the Musée Mécanique and its collection of antique and vintage penny arcade machines struck a chord with me. Anyone who grew up in the 70s will remember these games, fondly or otherwise. I only played occasionally, quitting when I lost…
The Rosie the Riveter Museum: Fascinating WWII home front history
When I heard about a museum dedicated to Rosie the Riveter, I had to see it. Who was Rosie the Riveter? The name “Rosie the Riveter,” according to Wikipedia, was first used in a 1942 hit song, praising an assembly line worker helping in the war effort. The popular image of Rosie the Riveter stems…
Asia Travel | India | Travel
Impressions of Mumbai from my first time in India
When I told people I was going to Mumbai, the most common comments I heard were in the form of warnings: “It’s unbearably crowded and noisy,” and “Be careful what you eat; you don’t want to get Delhi belly!” Yes, Mumbai is crowded and noisy, but I wouldn’t say it’s unbearably so. As a matter…
Traces of El Paso’s History
When you think of Texas, you probably think of cattle ranching and oil companies, 10-gallon hats and cowboy boots. You would be right to some extent, but Texas history extends far beyond that. According to Wikipedia, the font of all knowledge, people have lived in Texas for over 10,000 years. El Paso is a good place…
Asia Travel | British Isles | Central and Eastern Europe | Europe travel | Nordics | North America travel | Southern Europe | Travel | Travel Advice | Western Europe
Trip of a Lifetime: Bloggers Pick their Must-See Destinations
For this collaborative post, I asked fellow travel bloggers about their idea of a trip of a lifetime: If a person who’s never traveled far from home asked you to name the one place they should visit on their one-and-only trip ever, what would you say? I got so many different answers! I’ll start with the…
Spending Christmas Away from Home
It occurred to me recently that, although I don’t even celebrate Christmas, I almost always end up spending the holiday at home. Of course, the term “home” has shifted meaning with each move. I asked several fellow bloggers recently to write a short piece about a place to spend the holiday, besides home. Here’s what they sent:…
Europe travel | Nordics | Sweden | Travel
10 Things I like about Sweden
Things I like about Sweden, written on my first trip there, but they still apply!
Tellink Traveller SIM: a review
Disclosure: The following is a sponsored post in that I received a free SIM card with credit from Tellink in return for reviewing it. All opinions are, as always, my own. Those of us who travel frequently, and especially those of us who travel for work or who blog about travel, often struggle with telephone…
Vote … as a Non-Citizen? Really?
On my return from a short vacation with my family, I was surprised to find a letter from the Department of Elections of the City of San Francisco waiting for me, offering me the opportunity to vote in the Democratic primary. Before I moved to the Netherlands back in 1997, I lived in San Francisco, so San…
7 Reasons NOT to Renounce
When I was considering renouncing US citizenship, and then, once I had decided to do so, I heard several arguments for why I shouldn’t renounce. Reason not to renounce #1 But what if something happens where you are—an invasion or a natural disaster or something? The US would come and get you out! Answer #1:…
Seoul Tower Without a Date
Seoul Tower, perched on Namsan Mountain above Seoul, is visible everywhere, looking like some sort of 70’s version of the future. Built back in the 70’s for radio and television, it was and still is a communication tower. However, it’s also a destination for tourists and locals: a thing to do on a free weekend afternoon….
Asia Travel | Japan | Travel
A day trip to Hiroshima
I had mixed feelings about visiting Hiroshima and initially decided not to. I know a lot about the atomic bomb attacks on Japan. Back in the early 90s, I attended a three-week intensive workshop for teachers about nuclear issues. I learned about the science of the various kinds of nuclear weapons, the mathematics of radiation…
Choosing Accommodations: Consider Out of Town
How do you choose your accommodations when you travel? You probably take several things into consideration: cost, quality of the hotel, and location probably top the list. If you’re like me, you try to balance the three. I want the best quality possible within the amount I can spend. Often, though, I find that a…
Watersports in Marina del Rey, California
If you’ve read my blog at all, you know I tend to go for the more off-the-beaten-path, lesser-known destinations when I travel. Even when I go to a relatively popular place, like, for example, Romania, I seek out sights that the tourists don’t visit, like the painted churches of Moldavia. Or, visiting South Korea, I…
Solo travel so far
My trip to the Caribbean last month was my first solo trip. When I talk about solo travel, I’m not talking about when I fly somewhere to lead a workshop and then have a day free to explore whatever city I find myself in. I’m not talking about when I go somewhere to visit friends…
Two pearls of the California mission system: Carmel Mission and Mission Dolores
We often forget that California history goes further back than the “49-ers,” the gold prospectors who hurried to California once gold was discovered in 1848. Carmel Mission and Mission Delores in Northern California are two pearls of the California mission system that arrived long before the Gold Rush. Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If…
Haight-Ashbury walking tour: A nostalgic trip
Back in the 1990’s, I lived in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, the birthplace of the hippie movement and the epicenter of the Summer of Love. When my daughter was born in 1992, I decided not to go back to work right away. Paying for childcare would have cost much of my take-home pay, so it…
The stress of airline pricing
A few days ago, I managed to book an extremely low airfare to go visit my daughter in San Francisco. I found out about the fare by using Skyscanner, where you can input your destination and the dates you want to travel and receive updates whenever the fare goes up or down. So while I…
Arromanches 360 circular cinema: A review
My oh-so-laconic son, on exiting Arromanches 360, remarked, “Even I found this one moving.” Take my word for it: that was high praise indeed, coming from my perpetually-unimpressed teenager. Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you click on one and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This will not affect your…
The Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy: A review
In the same week that I visited the excellent In Flanders Field Museum in Ypres, Belgium, I also saw the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy in Bayeux, France. The two museums are quite comparable: the first is about World War I in the Ypres Salient; the second looks at the D-Day invasion of…
In Flanders Fields Museum: A review
An effective museum doesn’t just display items drily in glass cases; an effective museum gives those items meaning to the people viewing them. It entertains, but it also makes visitors think. It gives the items an emotional weight. The In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres, Belgium, is one of the most effective museums I’ve ever…
Do you miss it? About homesickness
People place their home where their parents are.