Hostels – Slow Shutter Speed

Are you tired of San Francisco? We weren’t tired of San Francisco, just tired of 2 1/2 days shooting the city’s beauty with our cameras.

The morning before we left, we visited the Aquarium Of The Bay on Pier 39. To our credit, we did not walk the pier and shop. We went directly to the aquarium, had coffee (And I had a Krispy Kreme custard filled donut! It had been a long time since I ate one.) and left town. I snapped some pictures while going over the Golden Gate, and we stopped at the viewing site on the other side of the Golden Gate.

I really enjoyed the trip. I had never visited San Francisco as a photographer and found the experience so different than being a tourist. We didn’t get to the zoo. Linda wants to go back, but I’m not quite ready for the wind and fog just yet. Maybe next month. You can never get tired of photographing San Francisco!

In this post, I’m going to show you the backyard of the hostel, the Aquarium and we’ll say good-bye to the Golden Gate.

This road was along side of our hostel.

This is the view we had from the back.

Another shoreline view.

Jelly fish at the aquarium.

Another look at these translucent creatures.

Getting up close and personal with a fish through the glass.

Another fish and star fish.

A fishy reflection.

One of the two tunnels.

Sea plants are beautiful.

Outside on the pier. The birds would share their bounty. I’m not sure if this is a mom and baby or they are just nice to each other.

Driving across the Golden Gate.

Another view of the Golden Gate.

Looking away from the Golden Gate.

A ship coming through the bay.

Good-bye Golden Gate.

It wasn’t a 5-star rated lodging experience, but staying at the hostel was a unique one. Linda had reserved a private room with bunk beds that had a shared bathroom. If you are, or know someone who is, over 70 years, a private bathroom during the night is a must. But, I wasn’t going to have that convenience.

We were lucky to be placed in the ADA kitchen that had only two private rooms, a shared living area, kitchen and bathroom. We shared this abode with a family from England: a mom, dad and their three young boys. The boys were amazingly well behaved and fun. For two days and nights we shared our space, keeping aware of the other’s needs.

What I was surprised at was the communal kitchen. Visitors had cubby space to store their dry food and refrigerator space for perishables. The kitchen was stocked with stove, pots, pans, plates, forks, etc. You could cook full meals there. We had the same in our ADA kitchen. Each morning, we took our hard-boiled eggs down to the kitchen and grabbed a bagel, butter and homemade jam. What a treat. Linda had peanut butter. Even though we brought enough for two dinners, we ate in the hostel cafe one night, and the food was delicious.

While we had a private bedroom, others shared rooms dorm style and lounged in the communal living room. Each night a family type movie played in the small hostel theater. This is definitely the inexpensive way to stay in San Francisco. Our room was $100. per night and fees went down from there for other types of rooms. All the visitors, a good many from outside the U.S., we great to speak with. They were singles, seniors and families with small children.

To be honest, I’m not sure I’d do the hostel thing again. Not because it wasn’t a 5-star experience, but I do like having a private bathroom.

In today’s post I’m sharing my experience at the Legion of Honor Museum (which was closed but you can see the outside, the Holocaust Memorial, the Sutro Baths and the view from Twin Peaks.