Thursday, June 2, 2011

SF Day 3: Japanese Tea Gardens, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Danger Walk

^Das me outside the SF Japanese Tea Gardens.

We managed to get a hold of a car today, which was super nice since both my mentor's and my feet were blown. I was all too excited to visit the Japanese Tea Gardens. I had my obligatory cup of tea (it was delicious), and then totally started geeking out (in a very zen manner) all over the gardens. As a souvenir I bought myself and a friend a pair of those Japanese toe socks, which I plan on wearing on a regular basis.

^There were ponds with Koi fish everywhere. They were very pretty and serene. I liked this photo because of the reflection of the sky.
^Zen garden.
^My yummy tea! Best part of the day hands down.
^The view from the tea house.
^Decorative bridge that everyone enjoyed trying to climb.
^View of one of the ponds and the pagoda.
^One of the waterfalls.
^A fountain I was very fond of outside the giftshop.

Next we drove over to the West Coast to take a gander at the ocean/beach where we took our nature danger walk. We decided that the beach was not hardcore enough and instead went and found some cliffs that used to be old bathhouses (the ruins of which were pretty spectacular) and found a cave to go prowling through. It was really pretty. Wildflowers were blooming everywhere (I might have stolen one or two) and the sun was just coming out. We climbed to the top of a high cliff and from there we could see everything. On the left we had the beach and ocean filled with rocks and caves and to the right we could see the Golden Gate Bridge and the city in the background.

^Old bath house ruins.
^Steve goofing off next to the danger signs.
^Me goofing off next to the danger signs. There was another with a picture of a guy falling off the cliff, that was my personal favorite.
^View from inside the cave.

^The view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
^Very picturesque.

We then went over to the Golden Gate Bridge and decided to walk it because driving would cost $6. It was a gorgeous view but got very windy very quickly. I enjoyed it, but felt that it was a sort of tourist must-see, got some pictures, and headed out. There were also some really ballsy stand-up paddle boarders surfing on the waves under the bridge, we decided that they had to be from an action movie and we named them Ben Afflick and Will Smith.
^Mandatory Golden Gate Bridge photos.
The day ended just as sweetly with a delicious and completely vegetarian meal at Golden Era (which I highly recommend) and some shopping at Anthropologie and Nordstrom.

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