A few weeks ago some of my colleagues asked me, if I wanted to come to San Francisco with them in November. I asked Flo, we both agreed as we could need a little vacay and booked our flights. Two of my colleagues flaked last minute, because they couldn’t leave work, but we still boarded our plane in Long Beach as a group of four on Thursday. We arrived to the famous rainy and windy city after a 45 minute flight and started our first day with a little walk around Union Square.

Our friend who we are here with lived in San Francisco for 4 years, so yesterday we took full advantage of her knowledge of the city and walked around the whole day. She took us to Chinatown, treated us to a little italian snack in North Beach (go there, if you like Italian food) and walked us to Fisherman’s Wharf. We let the boys have some fun in the Museum Mechanic (it’s an oldschool arcade with a ton of things to try and have fun with) and got a crab showder as a little afternoon snack.

Flo and I have been here before, but having someone with you who knows the city and shows you only the best spots, makes you fall in love with it all over again. After walking around in the brightest sunshine for the whole day, we went to the Buena Vista Café, which serves traditional Irish Coffee and is something you shouldn’t miss when you visit San Francisco.

Our way home took us over some really steep Hills (including the Russian Hill), but the view of Fisherman’s Wharf and Alcatraz at nighttime was totally worth it!

I’ll let some of the pictures speak for now and will be back with more tips and nice spots you should definitely visit when you come to San Francisco! Oh and make sure to not forget to wear a flower in your hair!

This is part two of my wish list for things I wanna get done when I live in the US. You can catch up with part one in the previous entry below or continue right here. I also wanna say thanks to everyone who posted their suggestions for things I should do when I live in the US! The one I liked most naturally was the cake shop Tanja suggested. Those cakes look delicious! But for now I have to keep my figure to fit my wedding dress in a few weeks, so let’s continue with the list…

6. I wanna go to a mani-pedi
Yes, for sure we do have cosmetics shops in Germany, where you can get manicures and pedicures. But I love the shops I always see in the gossip mags I read. I so wanna sit in a comfy chair, treat my feet to a bath and get some super glossy red nails. And do not pay a fortune for it!

7. I wanna drink as much Arizona Ice Tea as I like
Do you know the drink Arizona Ice Tea? I do not only adore the cute bottles, but love the taste! In Germany you have to pay over three Euros for a small bottle of it. On our first day in San Francisco in May I nearly were in shock, when I saw that they sell that stuff for a dollar in the US! So, on my first day with my own fridge I will buy a gallon of Arizona Ice Tea!

8. I wanna drive a Chevrolet Silverado
I love big cars! My biggest problem over here is that I can’t park a car into regular parking spots! And: You can’t easily buy cars like the Chevy Silverado here – neither can you afford the gas. Our friend Scott has a Chevy Silverado. Last time we met him, he offered me to drive his car, but I was too scared. Next time I will do it!

9. I wanna sit on the Friends couch
Last time we were in Los Angeles, Flo and me thought about doing a VIP tour at the Warner Brothers Studios. I especially wanted to do this tour, because I am a huge Friends fan and always wanted to sit on the Friends couch to have a picture of myself sitting on it. Last time we didn’t have had time for the tour, I am not sure if we’ll have time in October, but I will show you that picture eventually!

10. I wanna marry in Vegas
When I first met Flo he told me that he’ll never marry a girl. And if he would out of any reason it would be in Vegas. Flo is going to marry me for the second time in August – the first one was a civil ceremony, this year’s one will be a more private one. So even if it took him three yes do fullfill his dream, our next wedding will be in Vegas!

Well, our holiday is coming to an end. We are back in San Francisco and will board our plane back to Germany on Saturday morning. We both are horribly homesick right now. But not homesick for Cologne, where we live. But homesick for Huntington Beach, which even if we don’t live in, already miss horribly.

I told you, that the first day in Huntington was kind of hard for me. I expected it to be different and the reality of being in our future hometown, hit me more than hard. But with the days running by I began to love this city. And began to feel home! I so can imagine my life there. I so can imagine my kids growing up there. And now I am away from that city that took my heart by surprise!

I don’t know how depressed I will feel, when I finally am back in Germany. I hope that the months ahead of us will fly by. We do have the wedding to look forward to and shortly after that we will do our next trip to the city of our hearts! And that being only a few months away keeps me alive right now!

Just for the record: We do not like San Francisco very much. It is kind of nice here, but I could never live in a big city like this. I don’t want to stay here longer than for a few days and I could never imagine my kids to grow up in a city like this! Luckily Flo feels the same. Not only about San Francisco, but also about Huntington Beach!