USA - SAN FRANCISCO
Ola amigos, welcome to the USA Flashback blog posts - ill try my best and get these up every few weeks, the best of the best of our honeymoon - my first time experiencing "America" or "U.S.A" as we often hear. We kick it all off in SFO, the city I most looked forward to - the wife was keen, but I just wanted to cry
Being of Melbourne origin, I have always felt a little connection to San Francisco - it's no secret that the Golden Gate plays a big part in a lot of pop culture, a true icon for the USA. I honestly wanted to lay on the bridge, close my eyes and just smile...I kind of did that.. Not sure why!
Traveling is a luxury, I wish we all could travel more often and experience life in many ways. Coming face to face with decisions in unknown territories. We are a lucky generation that see travel as an inspiration to allow us to push and gain knowledge in our every day lives.
Heading to the USA the day after our wedding was something we both agreed on - our first time in the states, alone and together. I was excited to finally visit, to finally come so close to a country that we hear about almost every day from music to movies, tv series to books - a ficitional location that at times is almost a dream.
I'll try and break it all up into parts to allow you to read through the best bits, the worst bits and maybe the cringe moments that the wife will probably tell me to delete... in the end, I never did well in English classes so please don't hesitate to correct my grammar or nonsense :)
SAN FRANCISCO!
Where did we stay? I found a cute little AIRBNB nearby Twin Peaks, never have I driven on the other side of the road but after a few minutes and plenty of angry locals honking their horns - I got used to it, and boy do I miss driving on the left-hand side. You could easily walk up to Christmas Tree Point / Twin Peaks (best view in town) and actually, see the sunrise over the bay
What did you eat? Few of our favourite places had to be the following // Tacolicious, Regazza & The Mill
Best Coffee? PLEASE avoid Starbucks unless you want to die a slow painful death - go check THE MILL (Divisadero St)
Where did we hang out? Divisadero St by far our favourite location at night for food, culture and atmosphere - seconds away from the Painted Ladies if you head along early or at lunch.
How long do I need in SFO? more than a week for sure, not only is there a lot to do within the city - but a lot surrounding, only a few hours away you can find yourself at Point Reyes / Big Sur / Yosemite / San Jose / Oakland and heaps more. But the inner suburban region is a thrill, I could not get enough of the Golden Gate Bridge - no matter what angle, no matter what time of the day. I had to see it, I had to be there.
What gear did you have on you? Alongside me was the wife, and alongside us was our trust Canon 1Dx MKII - now pre wedding, when I was planning our Honeymoon I had stocked up on film and was hoping to take on the US on our first visit with a no nonsense / more relaxed approach - But I just could not no to bringing the beast with us and we did. Now its not your best option for street photography, but it is great for everything below (check gallery) I did bring the Rolleiflex, Polaroid and our iPhones which in fact I did use alot of and edit with VSCO (M5 suits the inner city of SFO...try it)
Canon 1DX MKII / Canon 50mm 1.2 / Canon 24-70mm 2.8 / Canon 70-200mm 2.8 / Rolleiflex
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As mentioned in previous blog posts and instagram posts, i really would like to bring a vlog and youtube channel to my efforts - Im hoping to inspire more and help motivate you all to get out and be creating new work.
What would you like to me to talk more about? got any tips! send me a message :)
till next time - adios
Shout out to my amazing wife for being awesome and allowing me to cry on the Golden Gate Bridge more than once!
