Thursday tour of San Francisco

After five awesome days with Belo, we explored the city of San Francisco today in order to become familiar with the cultural and historical background of the city and the sights of the city itself. The day started, like always, very early but there was one great thing about the morning – the breakfast. A big variety of options was offered by the Hilton Hotel, which we all, exchange students and Belo staff, deeply enjoyed. Everybody went on the bus with a stuffed belly and for the first time everybody brought jackets. San Francisco, traditionally, has a chillier and foggy climate compared to LA. 
Our first stop was Pier 39, which is well known for its sea lions. Pictures were taken in a fast rhythm and we, exchange students, enjoyed getting used to the "unique" sound of the animals. In addition to that, the Pier offered a great view to the historical home of felonies and criminals – Alcatraz Prison. 

After we enjoyed the great view we walked the short way over to the well-known cable cars of San Francisco. The cable car ride was by far one of the greatest things we have done so far. The view we got, plus the feeling of being a part of the cable car was just incredibly awesome. 

We also got a lot of free time today. Everybody explored the city around the Union Square for lunch and had a great time. Then it was time for the bus tour. We went into our bus and were joined by a tour guide. We were all really surprised and excited. We drove up and down the hills in San Francisco, through Chinatown, and other parts of San Fran with cultural background. The tour included stops at City Hall, Land’s End Park, the de Young art museum, and Twin Peaks, which gives incredible panoramic views of San Francisco. 

Our entire group in City Hall

From the observation deck in the de Young museum

Checking out artwork in the de Young museum

The view from Twin Peaks Park

 Our group at Twin Peaks Park

After the tour was done, we stopped in Chinatown again, this time to have dinner. We ate at the Chinatown Restaurant and the food was served as family style. Delicious, crusty, sweet, sour, meat, rice and lots of other specialties were served and enjoyed by us! A fun bus ride home was the last part of this, our sixth day. Now we have some free time and will get ready for bed soon in order to be prepared for a long and exciting day tomorrow. 

-Parsa (Germany), Tammo (Germany), and Eivind (Norway)