9th July Group 4

Group 4

Alison Kwok 3T (17)

Nichole Cheung 3T (9)

Chelsea Wong 3S (32)

Sharon Ng 3A (25)

9th July, 2016

Today we went for an excursion to San Francisco. We left early in the morning and got onto the bus. When we arrived at San Francisco a city sightseeing tour bus took us for a 3 hour ride around San Francisco. We enjoyed the sights and the historical events in San Francisco. Some historical events included the huge earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906. The tour guide was really funny and nice. He showed and introduced us to many places in San Francisco, for example the army bases near Angel Hill. He elaborated on this spot, stating that the army bases were built because San Francisco was afraid that the south was going to invade them. He also introduced vehicles in San Francisco, for example the 'Road Zipper', which governed many roads in San Francisco during chaos. We also learnt that the first official language in San Francisco was actually Spanish, and that amazed many of us as we didn't realize that. We went pass the Palace of Fine Arts, where weddings were held. It looked magnificent on the outside. Our tour guide also introduced the Golden Gate Bridge, telling us about its history and the history about its surroundings. The Golden Gate Bridge was really foggy, and it was a bit hard to take a clear photo of the bridge. We also proceeded to tour other places, for example the Walt Disney Art Museum, which was exhibiting 'The Art of Pinocchio' and the Beach nearby.

The nearby beach

The weather got much sunnier throughout the day and we came across a small forest where explosive trees grew. The tour guide told us that the trees were explosive when in contact with fire, and he told us that San Francisco was lucky enough that there hasn't been a fire yet in that area. We found this fact really interesting and entertaining, as we have never heard about explosive trees before. We then headed to Golden Gate Park. The tour guide told us that the Golden Gate Park was actually an artificial park, which was entirely man-made. The area was once nothing but sand and entire section of San Francisco was a desert. It was also known as 'The Land of the Flies', consisting of nothing but sand and insects. City improved due to the Golden Gate Park, which was developed thanks to john Mackeren, who retired at 96. The tour guide told us he hated statues, and hid every statue in the park. All the statues were hidden until the 1940s, and we all saw the displays of different statues. 

Reflections:

We all really enjoyed the trip to San Francisco and its attractions, which mainly included the Golden Gate Bridge and the Golden Gate Park. We all enjoyed the foggy atmosphere and the strong gushes of wind that blew throughout the trip. It was really exciting and fun experience. We also learnt more about the historical events of San Francisco, about the history of the Golden Gate Park, about how it developed and how it enhanced the economy of San Francisco.

We really enjoyed listening to the tour guide talk about the olden days in San Francisco, about the traditional Victorian houses verses the modern 'Victorian' houses, telling us how the houses in San Francisco improved and changed throughout the years. He also mentioned a bit about the weather in San Francisco, stating that there were at least 11 kinds of weather, and we experienced different kinds of weather today, including the huge cloud of fog, the blasts of wind and the warm sunshine. Nevertheless, we found the whole tour exciting, and we had a chance to learn about the history of San Francisco, and about its development through houses, for example the Victorian houses which were developed and some were renewed. We really learnt a lot about San Francisco throughout today's talk. After visiting San Francisco today, we felt so relaxed while visiting different places as we could sit on the tourist bus to look at the view of San Francisco instead of walking for about 3 hours. We all took the time to appreciate the beauty of San Francisco as it is hard to see these kinds of scenery in Hong Kong. We were also surprised that the weather was able to vary from hot to cold in such a short period of time there. At the very end, we also spent 2 hours for shopping and walking through the beautiful and unique Pier 39, enjoying the view along the way. We bought a lot of stuff for our family and friends. Today is such an unforgettable day! 

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