Quite simply because it is a magical city and the six weeks I spent here in the summer of 2009 were the best ones in my life! Where else would you find roads resembling small hills with a beautiful bay on one side and majestic mountains on the other, trees (giant sequoias) higher than the skyscrapers in the business district and of course the most famous gay parade in the world?

For me personally it was a coming of age trip. I was 18 and travelling alone for the first time, to a country miles away from home (India). It was an eye-opening experience. Some memories that will forever remain etched in my mind :

Hiking Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

A weekend in the beautiful Yosemite national park was the highlight of my trip. A three hour journey by road from the Centre of San Francisco with four others and all of us from different countries! The night sky was magnificent, covered with millions of stars. The Milky Way could also be seen clearly. The hike to the top of Half Dome though long (10 hours) and arduous, was definitely worth the effort. The view from the top was spectacular to say the least! I hope I get the chance to go to Yosemite again.

Hitchhiking at Lombard Street

Lombard Street is the most crooked street in the world. In my opinion, it is also one of the prettiest with lovely flowers and shrubs all around. After walking up the zigzag Lombard Street, my friends and I wanted to experience riding down the street in a car. So, being young and perhaps foolish, we decided to hitch a ride. Surprisingly, a guy in a red BMW stopped for us. He turned out to be Brazilian and let’s just say that talking to him was quite an experience for us!

Gay Parade

San Francisco is famous for its Gay Pride Parade. Having never seen anything even remotely similar before, I decided to take a look. It was certainly very unique and colourful. The atmosphere was charged with excitement. I was quite shocked when a reveller handed me a thong-I still have it as a keepsake!

Cycling around San Francisco and Marin County

Brilliant weather, nice cycling paths and wonderful countryside were the perfect ingredients for an amazing cycling trip I did with three friends. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and cycled past beautiful Californian houses, parks and streams. Finally, when we caught a ferry back at Tiburon, we realized that we had cycled for more than six hours with only small breaks in between. We felt that was quite an achievement since we had not cycled since we were 13! Apart from these, there are numerous other wonderful memories. I made some very good friends with whom I still keep in touch.

If a time-travel machine were ever invented, I’d certainly use it to go back to the summer of 2009 in San Francisco.

Story written by Apurvaa Subramaniam

**This short Travel Story was submitted as part of the Holiday Travel Writing Competition. All short-listed entries such as this one are published in our online Travel Guide**