On our way to San Francisco, we stopped in Gilroy, with the potential to stop at the famed Garlic Festival which happens yearly. However, Gilroy was a nuthouse, cars and people everywhere, and parking was far from the fairground (You had to ride a shuttle!) and Timber was unwelcome, so we decided it wasn't worth it. However, being the Garlic Capital of the World, Gilroy has several garlic gift shops, and so we visited one. It was our very own private Garlic festival!
Inside, we saw wonders of the garlic growing universe, novelties such as garlic ice cream (in either Vanilla or Chocolate), pasta sauces, condiments, candies, and just plain garlic. We sampled stuff, and bought garlic ice cream and a garlic peanut butter cup. The garlic ice cream wasn't bad, it tasted like regular ice cream with a garlic-ky aftertaste, but you could taste more garlic in the Vanilla over the Chocolate. The peanut butter cup, which apparently is a best seller at the Garlic Festival, was a bit strange. None of us particularly liked it. From now on let's keep garlic out of the perfect pairing of chocolate and peanut butter!
 |
| After our trip to the Garlic Shoppe, Harvey smelled like garlic for quite some time, as well as we all had the taste of garlic in our mouths! |
After we had gotten settled in our campground, we took the shuttle into the city for dinner. We ate in North Beach which is the little Italy of the city.
 |
| Trans-America Pyramid |
 |
| The lights in North Beach (Little Italy) reminded us of the lights of Mount Carmel (coincidentally this weekend) |
 |
| The lights on the Bay Bridge make up the biggest led light display in the world. |
The old cable cars still run in the city!
One of the hallmarks of the city are its hills and famed streets. Lombard Street, in particular which is known as the "Crookedest Street"
 |
| Looking up |
 |
| From the top |
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park protects some of the historic sites in the Port of San Francisco. You can also see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz from the Park. However, it was so foggy on our day in the city, we could barely see the Golden Gate Bridge.
 |
| Alcatraz or the Rock |
 |
| Coit Tower on Historic Telagraph Hill |
 |
| A view into the Bay - Looks Tropical! |
 |
| Selfie |
Walking around the City, on our way to Union Square to find the Boudin Bakery to get Sourdough, we stumbled back into Little Italy! We stopped in a pasticceria! Being in Little Italy made me miss Italy. Despite not leaving this country, some of the shopkeepers spoke Italian and hearing the language is something I have really missed!
 |
| My limonata and my cannoli. Limonata is Italian lemon soda, and it was my favorite beverage in Italy! |
On our walk to Union Square, we had to walk through a tunnel.
 |
Family Tunnel Selfie
(Would not recommend, holds up traffic and people smile politely or look at you strangely.)
|
After walking to Union Square to look for a Boudin Bakery, (We had wanted sourdough starter) but we couldn't find any sold, and walking back to our shuttle stop in Chinatown, we walked through the gates!
 |
| We posed with one of the dragons guarding the gate |
 |
| Chinatown was decorated paper lanterns and traditional Chinese architectural styles |
Ciao,
Amy
Amy, From your smiles, it looks like everyone enjoyed Little Italy and Chinatown. A little excitement after all the beautiful trees and forests. Crooked Street is a fun ride. Don!t think your family would want to live on it. After eating garlic ice cream, I am happy to see you found some good Italian pastry. Love Beach Grandma
ReplyDelete