The Great Walking Experiment has survived the weekend! I took tons of picture for these walks, but I narrowed them down for you. Still, this post is a bit picture heavy.

Day 3 - April 4, 2008

I really have been wanting to try walking to some places that I have never been to in the city. I will be moving away from San Francisco in about two months, so I want to get as many of the sights in as I can. Isn’t it weird that I have lived here for almost three years and there are so many things I have never seen or done? So today I headed to Alamo Square to see the Painted Ladies. It took me about an hour of actual walking time and the total walk was 3 miles. You can check out the route on Gmaps. I spent a lot of time taking pictures in Alamo Square, so I was gone for much longer than an hour.

On my way to Alamo Square, I past through some neighborhoods and noticed one house still decorated for Easter.

And on the way back home there was a beautiful mural on the side of the African American Arts and Cultural Center. I also noticed a mortuary. It is really odd to see one around here. There is only one cemetery in San Francisco and that is the military one located in the Presidio.

Overall, this was a pretty pleasant walk. Alamo Square is beautiful and offers a great view of downtown as well.

Day 4 - April 5, 2008

Saturday’s walk had a purpose to it. My friend Erin and I wanted to eat breakfast at Dottie’s True Blue Cafe. We heard it was excellent. I will say that it was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had. Know that there is a LONG wait on a Saturday morning (and probably most mornings) but it is worth it.

This walk was very lesiurely and included shopping in Union Square and the Farmers Market at the Ferry Plaza. The total route was 3.5 miles and took a few hours, given all of our stops! You can see the route we took on Gmaps.

Besides a wonderful breakfast, the walk was also great. We traveled through some of the more touristy areas, so the sidewalks were pretty crowded. I always enjoy a walk through the Farmers Market and the Ferry Plaza. And on busy days like this, you might get lucky and hear some great street entertainment!

Day 5 - April 6, 2008

This was more of an iconic walk. Erin joined me again as we walked our way through the Japanese Tea Gardens and then through Golden Gate Park to grab some lunch. The total walk was about 2.6 miles according to Gmaps. Once again, this was a slow going walk, so I am not even going to try and estimate the time!

When walking through places like this, I realize that I am really going to miss San Francisco.

Welcome to the first two days of The Great Walking Experiment! As I mentioned in my Goal Setting for April post, I am trying out a 30-day walking experiment as originally discussed by Steph over at Back in Skinny Jeans. The goal is to walk 30 minutes a day for 30 days and see what comes of it! Although I am not sure how many walks I will post, I figured I can give you my first two days to see what this experiment entails.

Day 1 - April 2, 2008

On April 2, 2008, the first day of TGWE, I walked about 42 minutes and a total of 2.7 miles. I have plotted my route on Gmaps Pedometer, if you want to see more details on this specific route.

I want to begin by telling you that I live in a bad neighborhood. It is called the Tenderloin, or more affectionately, the ‘Loin. No matter what you call it, it is not the place you want to wonder into at night. There are shootings and muggings and stabbings, drugs and prostitution. During the day time this is kept at a minimum, but is still apparent. Now that I have painted that lovely picture of my neighborhood, I also want to tell you that there are beautiful neighborhoods all around me. For the Day 1 walk, I chose to head to Nob Hill and Russian Hill. Not the most beautiful neighborhood in San Francisco, but much better than the ‘Loin. The greatest thing about this area are the views. You can see Alcatraz and Coit Tower. On top of it, the “Crookedest Street in the World” is found in the area. I stopped my walk about a block short of the Crooked Street, as I knew I would not be able to take the stairs up and down Crooked Street after tackling all the hills from the ‘Loin to Nob and Russian Hill.

The highlight of my day was actually seeing a father and son playing some badminton on the sidewalk. I always take joy in seeing family members having fun with each other.

Overall, this was a great sweaty and heart-pounding walk. The massive hills that I had to climb left my buns, thighs and calves sore the next day. The views from the tops of those hills were also worth the walk. The only con: having to deal with ignorant men’s catcalls and remarks while in the ‘Loin. Once I got out of the ‘Loin such rudeness was non-existent.

Day 2 - April 3, 2008

Today I decided to treat myself to some Blue Bottle Coffee in Hayes Valley. This walk was a bit longer at 2.78 miles and 50 minutes, mainly because I slowed down at more points to take pictures and I had the coffee stop. There seems to always be a line whenever I go to Blue Bottle Coffee. I have also tracked this walk on Gmaps Pedometer, in case you were interested.

I started my walk in an almost opposite direction so that I could get s few hills in and make sure I had at least 2.5 miles in my walk. That meant walking through the ‘Loin, but more specifically the Little Saigon area of the ‘Loin. This is not as bad as the area right by my house. Then I wandered over to Jefferson Square, which is a little park in the area. I walked through it park a bit, but there was a lot of broken glass, so I hopped out of there and on to get my coffee.

Finally arrive at Blue Bottle Coffee, I ordered my Cafe au Lait and heading back past Citizen Cake and the Performing Arts Parking Garage, back up the hill and over to my starting point. It was a beautiful morning!