the one thing my fiancé was looking forward to the most during our cali trip was our visit to alcatraz. and while i didn’t want to miss this must-visit when in san fran, i wasn’t exactly dying with excitement either. but boy, was i wrong to dread this little outing. we took out the first boat of the day (book tickets well in advance, they sell out weeks beforehand) and skipped the ‘obligatory’ welcome speech by the guide on the island. instead, we sneaked into the prison building as one of the first visitors of the day, and got to experience it in all of its eerily empty creepiness.

this is the place to really take the tourist route and listen to the audio guide – i literally got chills from some of the stories. and do ask the park rangers for more information or cool anecdotes, if you’re lucky, you’ll get a private tour of some of the closed-off areas. that’s how we were invited to take a look at the underground tunnel and the area where they shot ‘the rock’ – pretty awesome indeed. oh, and one last thing – if you needed more convincing – the fauna and flora over there are breathtakingly beautiful.

photos by stephanie duval 

finding an affordable hotel in san francisco that still satisfied my appetite for quirky or cool design proved to be quite the challenge for our californian trip this year. one hotel that kept popping up in my research was the good hotel. and frankly, once i learned it had a photobooth installed in its lobby, i was pretty much sold.

after our experiences at the hollywood roosevelt and ace hotel, this was definitely a lot more back-to-basics. the bathroom was disappointing, to be honest – not dirty but not exactly enticing either. the room was nicer, with some cool elements, but it was quite noisy (i positively hate not being able to sleep when tired). i read beforehand that the neighborhood was sketchy, and those reviews were right – it definitely seemed like the most dodgy part of the city, especially at night.

that didn’t exactly stop us from exploring san francisco, as we always took out the car as opposed to walk everywhere. really, those people who compare san fran to new york must be in the best shape ever. i couldn’t deal climbing all those hills, and everything is A LOT further apart than in manhattan – that’s for sure.

photos by stephanie duval