Golden Gate Park

After visiting the Golden Gate Bridge we headed over to the Golden Gate Park, which we had been told was very beautiful. The hotel reception had said to visit the Japanese Tea Gardens and the Conservatory. I noticed we could purchase a pass for the three gardens and when I looked at the times I thought we had enough time to visit all three.

We went into the Japanese Tea Garden which were quite beautiful with native Japanese plants such as Cherry Blossoms and Bonsai, and koi ponds filled with fish. There was also 2 temples, however they were off limits to the public.

We were both hungry so decided to sit in the cafe and we ordered Green Tea, Mochi and Edamame. The waitress said to watch out for the squirrel which kept trying to jump onto tables and steal food. It eventually was successful in stealing some food.

I had misread the opening times for the other places so we had to quickly walk to the conservatory before it closed. We still had 45 minutes to walk through it but we probably could have spent longer. The conservatory is known for its rare and exotic plants, and it was divided into different sections such as aquatic plants, tropical plants and potted plants. There were many flowers and plants we had seen before but I found the Carnivorous plants the most interesting, especially as I had never seen them before. I also really liked the Dracula Orchid.

We then walked to the Botanical Gardens which were split according to the plants origin. The first area had Australian plants, and then we walked through the various other countries plants. I really liked the Protea section and the succulent section.

It was getting quite late and Scott and I were exhausted after a full day of travel and site seeing. We got an Uber back to the accomodation and stopped by Safeway to buy a salad for dinner and have an early night.Read more