Day One - San Francisco

Day one – 12^th May – San Francisco

Today I moved from the USAhostel round the corner to the Adante Hotel. It was literally down Post Street, turn right, down the hill and then up on Geary St. The Adante is a funny little place with a dinky Chinese man on the checkin. His English is dubious but his smile is polite and he gave me a ticket to put my overly heavy bag into the luggage room. I’ll finally be meeting people tonight after three days mooching around the city. I thought I’d be more nervous, this is a huge trip and I’m on my own but I’m not really. The sun is so bright and that makes me happy.

San Francisco is a funny city. With the steep hills and plush green squares, there’s something Mediterranean about the way its set up: like one of the coastal ports along the south of France or Corsica. You could call it beautiful – it’s bright sun right now but the Pacific brings a cool breeze ashore to swirl through the buildings. However, there’s also a seedy underbelly to the place: hundreds of homeless trawling for any small favour the unsuspecting tourist will give them. Some of them are very funny – there’s a guy that’s made a drum kit out of variously sized bins and bottles (he’s really very good!) and there are singers/other street performers. On the docks by Pier 39 there’s a guy in a faux leather jacket, jeans and shirt, his hair is long and dark brown and he’s wearing those sporty sunglasses that shimmer iridescently in the light. He holds a sign: not going to lie, I need a beer. We actually chipped into his fund. Yet some are incredibly rude – yelling and swearing at you when you pass by without giving them anything. A gap-toothed creature with ochre skin and scraggly, prematurely grey hair followed one girl I met in the hostel, calling her all sorts of horrible names because she walked on by without sparing him a glance. If you gave a dollar for every time you were stopped though, you’d lose as much as you do on a casino table in Vegas.

Saying that, I think San Fran could be my perfect city and if I could ever think to afford American health insurance I’d love to live there for a couple of years. It’s not too hot but it’s bright and for early May it’s exactly how we Brits want our summers to be. Furthermore, the ocean is right there, volcanic coastline transforming the landscape so that it recalls the BIVs. An eerie mist lingers over the natural harbour, making the Golden Gate and Bay bridges transform in ghostly apparitions at each end. The Rock sits in the middle, a dismal fortification in the middle of the riptide waters. Even when the wind is missing you can see the churning currents tugging at the surface.

Having met a fellow Brit on my first day at the hostel (we bonded whilst waiting for the kettle to boil as we were the only two determined enough to tap toes for our tea), I’d spent the first day replacing the jeans I ripped whilst fence hoping in Carolina and the doing the touristy walk of the Piers. Leigh, Greg and I hopped onto a Street Car and clung desperately to the bars as we were propelled up the hills and ended up by the Ghirodelli factory.

Here are some tips:

1.       When riding the street car – take the red one (NOT the yellow) and it takes you on the more scenic route whilst also dropping you off right on the pier. If you take the yellow you end up on a shorter, less pretty tour and you still have to walk at the end to actually make it to the end. ALSO you want the red ticket not the yellow (it’s about $5 and so worth it).

2.       There are loads of hostels but USA was really great and well-worth the slightly more expensive price because you’re not in the Tenderloin and you’re really close to Union Square. Plus paid $40 less than for one night in adante over the three days I was there. There are cheaper ones but be careful they’re not in the slightly terrifying Tenderloin.

3.       No matter what people say – the Tenderloin IS scary, particularly if you’re a single traveller. You can walk from one end of the street to the other and go from lovely and populated and wealthy to poor, unclean and uncomfortable. Make sure you know where you should try to avoid – there are some good websites for this so google it before you leave.

And here are some places to see!

Lombard Street – it may not actually be the wiggliest road in America but it’s a pretty close second. The real crookedest road is in . This one however is very pretty deep greens and flowers and the prettiest houses. There was one I was just in love with – a gorgeous Carolina blue.

Pier 39 – it’s a hubbub of touristy things but you can find some great clam chowder in sourdough breadbowls (NOM!). There are seals and sea lions to see there too as long as you don’t mind the overwhelming smell of fish.

Johnny Rocket Diner – if you use the jukebox you might be in luck! The waiters/waitresses here dance and sing for you and the food isn’t bad either.

Alcatraz – It costs about $28 to go across including the ferry and all the tours once you’re on the island. Either book in advance or turn up for the 9.10am – you need to be there AT LEAST 30minutes before departure to complete security etc so realistically arrive around 820/30am if you haven’t a ticket in order to buy one. I was obsessed with the prison even before I arrived – it’s so strange and sinister and isolated. If you arrive in the morning you can do the garden tour (they tell you about all the plant life and the birds because it’s a national park remember not just a cold historical prison). I spent about three hours there wondering around and I’d definitely recommend the audio tour. The audio itself is the real voices of prisoners and guards that used to work/live on the island. Also on Fridays they have a special guest author – when I was there it was Ernie, a SF lawyer whose dad had worked on the island as a guard and was actually one of the eight hostages involved in the shooting. You can see the isolation cells, the D-Block high-security cells, of course you can walked down ‘seedy C-D street’. It was fascinating how they named the blocks to make it more like a home. There are also a number of really great views of the city from The Rock, as well as the Golden Gate Bridge.

Obviously The Golden Gate Bridge is a must see too and actually I loved the fact that it was so misty and grey when we went – the distance seemed exacerbated by the fog. It’s free too and it’s fun to walk out along the bridge to take a shot or two of the rest of the harbour.

There’s also a Segway Tour that I desperately wanted to do but t was fully booked by the time I called up. It’s $70 but you can go up and down the hills and see all the sights from the odd little machines. Admittedly having clung to the rail on the outside of a streetcar I was slightly nervous about trying the things but when in Rome.

Coit Tower is apparently incredible – you can pay $7 and climb to the top for a spectacular view – it comes highly recommended from John (to be introduced).

The Ghirodelli Factory does give out free chocolate but I’d recommend the Wattle Creek Winery’s Wine-tasting Bar in the lower square. When you walk up the stairs there’s a funny fellow who raps and plays the guitar for you, making up songs about what you’re wearing. Give him a dollar and he’ll keep going for a while about how you’re a ‘sweet (blond) angel’. The wine-tasting starts at $10 for the Central Menu and $15 for the Sonoma Menu. If I remember rightly we actually preferred the drier, less expensive menu but the experience with Leigh was great!!

Anyway, that was San Fran – I’ve now met up with the crew and after a delayed beginning (our CEO was late due to trailer issues) we went out to a diner (Louis?) which was great fun. The group is mostly guys and mostly single traveller Brits. There’s Jon and Paul who are Aussies (John is teaching at a summer camp near NY afterwards and Paul is about to retire). Janice, my Canadian room-mate who has family in Wales. There’s Hugh and Angela, a married couple from London and then there’s Tom, Adam, Liam, Jordan and Robert. At first I thought Tom/Adam were travelling together because they seemed to know each other and they’re both skipping out at NOLA but they’re not. Jordan’s a gap-kid, came from Fiji and he’s 18 which is sometime tricky. Liam’s a techno and ‘gardening’ I suppose, changing jobs and travelling in between. I’ll let you know more as I do.

All in all – EXCITED. But then when am I not?

Je serai poète et toi poésie, 
SCRIBBLER