We’ve been to North beach in San Francisco a number of times, but I always complain about how it’s only restaurants and coffee shops – no other real parts of Italian culture seem to be represented.
Well, that’s changed, and for the better. If you’re an Italianofile like Mark and I, there’s now an Italian bookstore in the heart of North beach, chock-full of Italian language books.
Time flies when you are having fun! After a year in Asia, we fly to the other side of the world. Now we can call our trip a world trip for real! After some fantastic days in Hong Kong and Macau, we fly to San Francisco. The culture shock is huge, the jetlag as well…
HELLO SAN FRANCISCO!
As soon as we arrive, our friend David – who we met in Myanmar – takes us to the Golden Gate bridge. We enjoy the view over the iconic bridge from the best spot you can think of, and David also surprises us with some champagne. We couldn’t wish for a better start. Later on, not only the jetlag but also the champagne kicks in.
During the first days in the States, it’s difficult to adapt. The jetlag is enormous, it’s cold and rainy outside and the people are so different. People talk small talk to us, and we are not used to that at all. Besides that, it’s the first time after a year of travelling that I feel unsafe. Something I never expected to happen in San Francisco. There are so many homeless people, which is shocking to me. Feeling unsafe had something to do with being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I would not recommend people to be in the city centre and the areas close to the city centre of San Francisco late at night.
Before arriving in the States we were thinking of hitchhiking from San Francisco all the way down to San Diego (we like adventure), but after hearing a couple of horror stories, we book the first night bus down to Los Angeles. From Los Angeles, we travel further down by bus, to San Diego. The buses in the States are not that bad at all!
By Roxanne Weijer – Full Story at Once Upon a Journey
California Gay Travel Resources
The Inn on Castro odernist interior in a circa 1890 townhouse, just three houses up from Castro and Market streets.
With eight rooms over three floors with almost all private bathrooms, free wifi and hard wired internet access, flat screen tv, dvd player and our well known organic full breakfast, the Inn on Castro is a great way to stay in the heart of San Francisco’s Castro District.
From poached eggs with fresh hollandaise sauce to smoked salmon and fresh basil omlette, we serve amazing breakfasts every day.
See the Inn on Castro Expanded Listing on Purple Roofs Here
San Francisco Gay Friendly Bed and Breakfasts, Hotels, and Vacation Rentals
If you are visiting San Francisco and feel like a change of scene for a few days, take your cue from the locals who weekend in nearby Half Moon Bay and Pescadero.
Half Moon Bay
It’s a short but spectacular 46-minute drive from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay – through the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Half Moon Bay is everything that you could want from a weekend mini-break – great restaurants, interesting shops, art galleries, wineries, redwood forests, and the stunning Pacific Ocean shoreline.
If you’re into surfing (or just into surfers), then this is where you’ll find the Mavericks’ surf break location – a beacon for boys who like to ride waves.
By Gareth Johnson – Full Story at Gay Star News
Half Moon Bay Gay Travel Resources
Long ago, in another era and career that involved cubicles and quarterly reports, a colleague sat his khaki-clad butt on my linoleum desk and asked me the question that would ultimately lead me straight out the front door.
“What would you do, professionally, if you could do anything?”
The answer came immediately. “I’d write.”
Working beside me day after day, he’d witnessed the frowning and temple rubbing–my career frustration hadn’t escaped him.
At my response, he stood up and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Do it,” he said. “Go find what you love and fill up on it.”
Twenty years later, not a day goes by that I don’t sit down to a blank page and feel grateful for that conversation. Today, I write for a living and have been blessed with bylines in some of the best publications in the world. It never gets old–especially when the subject matter combines three things I love to muse over—people, places, and food.
When the opportunity to pen Unique Eats & Eateries of San Francisco came along, it was impossible to say no. San Francisco is that place, for me, where food and memory are inextricably linked.
By Kimberley Lovato – Full Story at Tango Diva
San Francisco Gay Travel Resources
Photo by Woody Fridae[/caption]
Lynn MacLaren and Sarah Holt-Foreman were spending a September evening at a streetside wine bar in Fremantle, Western Australia. The sun was setting, they had a glass each, it was the weekend.
And then Holt-Foreman pulled a little model elephant out from nowhere, with two rings perched on its tiny trunk.
“As a child I collected elephants,” MacLaren explained to BuzzFeed News. “It was a joke between my brother and I. I was a little bit heavier than he was, and I just owned it, and had this elephant collection.”
The one Holt-Foreman presented was from Bali, where she had also bought the rings some time earlier.
“Do you want to get married?” she asked.
By Lain Sainty – Full Story at Buzzfeed
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Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
The Castillo Inn is a five minute walk from the heart of San Francisco’s gay area, The Castro, at Market and Castro Streets, and just two blocks to major city transportation.
Our guest rooms share a bathroom. Three of our rooms have queen beds, and the fourth has a double bed. Our rooms are clean, quiet and comfortable.
Stays at the Castillo Inn B&B include a continental breakfast each morning, and in the common area, we have a a refrigerator, microwave and a telephone with a voice mail for guest use.
Wireless internet access is also available for your laptop, and we have a fax as well for business travelers to use.
Ask for parking. The Castillo Inn, is a non-smoking establishment.
The next time your travels bring you to San Francisco, come stay with us at Castillo Inn Bed & Breakfast.
See the Castillo Inn Expanded Listing on Purple Roofs Here
Gay Friendly Bed and Breakfasts, Hotels, and Vacation Rentals in San Francisco
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You don’t have to travel halfway around the world to experience the Japanese tradition of celebrating the blooming of the cherry blossoms in springtime. In April, the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival is happening for the 49th year in the heart of San Francisco’s Japantown.
The festival concludes April 16-17, bringing together food booths, live bands, martial arts demonstrations, a pageant, cultural performances and more than a few young people dressed as their favorite anime character. The April 17 Grand Parade starts in City Hall and ends in Japan Center.
The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival attracts about 200,000 people, which makes it the best time of year to visit Japantown, one of only three designated Japanese neighborhoods in the U.S. and which also happens to be the oldest and largest.
Full Story at Queerty
San Francisco Gay Travel Resources
Photo by David Yu]]>
San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener confirmed Thursday that there will be no Pink Party in the city’s gay Castro district the Saturday before the annual LGBT Pride parade.
Following a March 17 meeting with key stakeholders, Wiener told the Bay Area Reporter that there will be no street closures this year. In previous years, the streets were closed for the unofficial party.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence had produced what was known as Pink Saturday for nearly two decades. Last year, however, the Sisters decided to end their oversight of the street party due to escalating violence. A sister and his husband were attacked in 2014, while Stephen Powell, 19, died after being shot toward the end of the party in 2010.
By Cynthia Laird – Full Story at the BAR
San Francisco Gay Travel Resources
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