This was my first visit to the Bay Area. I landed at San Francisco Airport and stayed in Redwood City, but the city I remember the most from that trip is San Francisco.

Before this trip, I knew San Francisco mostly because of the TV show Full House. It was popular when I was a child in Bolivia, so the city already had some place in my imagination. At that time I was not very aware of the Bay Area startup scene. I studied computer science, and I knew companies like Google and Facebook because of programming competitions, but I did not really understand how important the area was for software and startups.

Being there in person changed that. It was one thing to know the names of the companies, and another thing to be close to the places where many of those ideas were built.

San Francisco

The first place I visited in San Francisco was Pier 39. It was busy, colorful, and full of people walking near the water. I bought some t-shirts there, and it felt like a good first stop for the trip.

From Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf, I could see Alcatraz Island in the distance. Even from far away, it was impressive.

Near the wharf, I also saw the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, a World War II-era Liberty ship. I did not expect to find that kind of history in the middle of a tourist area, so it was a nice surprise.

Fisherman’s Wharf had a lot of movement that day. People were taking pictures, walking between shops, and waiting for tours. It was a good place to start seeing the city as a visitor.

As part of a tour package, I took a ferry around the bay. The views from the water were some of the best memories of the day.

Here is a picture of me on the ferry. I hope you notice my UNICAP t-shirt :)

This was a view of Alcatraz from the ferry. The package did not include a visit to the island, but I hope to visit it in the future.

The package also included a ride on a hop-on hop-off bus. That helped me see more of San Francisco in a short time.

During the sightseeing ride, I saw different parts of the city and passed near offices from tech companies. For me, that was special. Before the trip, those companies felt like names from the internet, news, or programming contests. Seeing that world from the street made the Bay Area feel more real.

The bus also took us around the Golden Gate Bridge. It is one of those places that you feel you already know because it appears in many photos and movies, but seeing it in person was still exciting.

We also passed near the Palace of Fine Arts. People on the tour said it was a place worth visiting. I did not spend much time there during this trip, but I kept it in my mind for another visit.

I visited other places in the Bay Area too, including the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, but San Francisco was the place I enjoyed the most during this short visit. It was my first time seeing the city, the bay, the bridge, and part of the startup scene around it.

Looking back, this trip was eye-opening. It helped me connect my background in software and programming competitions with a real place, not only names of companies on a screen.