A ridiculously early flight out of JFK airport and a 3 hour time-change meant that the whole Easter Sunday afternoon was free for us to explore San Francisco.

Opting for a chilled afternoon in the Golden Gate Park we embarked on a very thorough public transport tour of the city. A lot of San Francisco’s buses are electric and they stop everywhere, so this is not the quickest way to get from point A to B or, in our case, North Beach to Golden Gate Park.

While checking in to the quirky San Remo Hotel the check-in clerk warned us about entering the park from the Haight entrance. It was perfectly safe but her advice was, “People might try to sell you drugs so don’t let your first impression stop you from going further into the park, it’s really beautiful”. She was absolutely right – about the beauty, not the dealers. There were a lot of dodgy characters but no-one tried to sell us drugs.

We spent ages wandering around Golden Gate Park. With the major roads running through it, it feels more like a collection of parks than one big one.

After another very long bus-ride back to the hotel we went in search of the legendary San Franciscan cuisine in North Beach. The Stinking Rose was a major highlight for me. The restaurant specialises in garlic. Our seafood platter was amazing; crab legs, prawns and mussels with the best range of garlic butter I’ve ever tasted. I fell in food-love and I fell hard.

On our second day we decided to test the strength of our relationship by hiring a tandem bicycle. It is the ultimate lesson in trust, balance, negotiation, relinquishing control and starting every journey on the right foot. After a few entertaining false starts we eventually got the hang of it.

Our route took us along the beach-front and up to the foot of the Golden Gate bridge. Cycling over the bay was both awe-inspiring and petrifying as the wind pushed us around on this giant chunk of dangling steel.

The road to Sausalito was a very welcome downhill slope and scenic ride. Our day out on the bay ended with a sunset ferry ride back to the city. The view was spectacular as we passed The Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

Returning to North Beach, we took our rubber legs and numb bums in search of dinner. We found a pretty authentic Irish pub and sat down to explore what the American spin would be. My Irish Stew didn’t live up to the genuine article but the pub was very authentic with odd decorations and a group of musicians singing in the corner.