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Published: January 29th 2024
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On Friday, my second trip to the Golden Gate Bridge was struck by a crisis neither of us foresaw, the only selfie stick we had broke. You never really know a crisis until you're in a crisis!! Our trip to the Fine Arts museum now hung in the balance, now dependent on the traditional method of taking selfies; the threat of happy memories blemished by photos with heads chopped off due to short arms and poor camera work was now real.
If you take nothing from any of these blogs and there is a strong possibility you won't!!, promise me one thing, at least once in your life go to watch Cirque Du Soleil. This is not Crusty the Clown type characters with endless handkerchiefs in their pockets! These are athletes whom practice 10 -12 hours a day. The average salary for a Cirque Du Soleil athlete is $180,000 and they deserve it. We went to watch the Kooza show and it is spectacular!!. I am a football fan, and when you watch one of these shows, you will find yourself asking how can a professional footballer who falls over in a gush of wind get so much when one
of these athletes get so little to run on the outside of a metal wheel at 15 metres (at least) in the air. The musical ensemble supporting it was Hans Zimmeresque. This is a quality production. DO NOT MISS IT WHEN ITS IN YOUR TOWN. One piece of advise, if the performance is in their own tents, don't be fooled by the ticketing tent layout, it makes it look like the cheaper seats are far away from the stage when in fact they aren't. We were about 12 rows back and the view was amazing.
On Saturday one could say conscious bias kicked in when we determined the only place to get a selfie stick was in Chinatown. This is mainly a street bustling with people. Hardware stores selling stuff you don't need, traders selling fruit and veg you've never seen before, food vendors with hungry patrons queuing out the door. We stopped off in a very small eatery and got four buns with pulled pork for $5, I am still in shock that somewhere in San Francisco it's possible to get a meal for $5. I am slowly getting over the regret of not knowing this place existed
before I landed. They tasted very good and if you see them, why not try them.
Our Selfie Stick mission failed however the trauma of this was quickly forgotten upon sight of the Colt Tower, we decided to make an unscheduled visit. Our enthusiasm was quickly quenched by the murderous hills on it's path. This was made harder by the twenty degree Celsius heat and the fact that I was Paddy ill-prepared dressed in my shirt, thick sweater and heavy winter jacket. Eventually we made it to the Tower; only to be told that the lift was out of order. Like the great explorers of Shackleton and Scott we traversed the 13 floors totaling 236 steps. Exhausted; we eventually reached the top but the view made it all the worthwhile. The Wharf has it's own version of the London Eye however at $18, compared to the Colt Tower at $10, the Colt is better value and with the hilly walk you can drop a few pounds en-route.
The Disney Family museum was our final tour destination. It contains a lot of history on the Disney family and the company itself. Unfortunately fatigue and information overload kicked in and
most of the time was spent wondering aimlessly looking at images, reading the odd piece of information. I believe I only retained 1% of the information I read, but it was nice to go visit, chill and enjoy cartoons, there are worse things in life to be doing. It is worth a visit but perhaps allow yourself more time and go early.
We made our way back towards Union Square on one of the traditional Cable Cars, a must do when in San Francisco. However, it's late departure put a kibosh on our plans to visit a Japanese restaurant we identified, to sample one of the countries Ramen dishes. As we made the walk towards it, it became apparent that we wouldn't make it before closing time and so headed towards our Hotel on Mason Street, which is just off the intersection with O'Farrell street. As we made our way up O'Farrell street we found ourselves in a shady part of the city. Groups of homeless people sitting on the ground, some smoking, some chatting, but I never felt they were a threat to us. I was told to be careful where we were staying however, on the Fishermans
Wharf there is also a big homeless and drug problem and it's a lot quieter at night and so I actually felt safer where I was staying. Biker gangs come in various forms; however I wasn't expecting a biker gang consisting of a fifty year old man as high as kite racing his mobility scooter at five miles an hour against another younger man also as high as a kite on his electric scooter, am sure the Hells Angels will be shaking in their boots at the thought of encountering such ruffians!!
Close to our hotel we found a Japanese restaurant and I ordered the Chicken Ramen. My lack of chop stick skills was a source of entertainment for my better half who could have finished a three course meal by the time I was half way down on mine. With nothing but noodles left, and closing time drawing near, we had to abandon the remainder of my meal, as otherwise I would still be there.
Sunday, our final day, we headed back towards Chinatown, this time for little Italy. Our destination Tony's Pizza Napoletana, a restaurant we stumbled upon by chance the day before. We devoured the
house Pizza Margherita, which made the restaurant famous. Dessert was vanilla ice-cream with Espresso, which was just ice-cream floating in espresso, something sacrilegious for a tea drinker like me.
The BART rail service offers a quick service to the airport and sadly this was our next destination. We received a gentle reminder of how lucky we are and of the poverty within the city at the sight of an elderly man, probably early 60's, carting his belongs onto the train, a dirty pink duvet covered them, with a mirror and vacuum cleaner on top that kept falling off. He nodded off with exhaustion as the vacuum and mirror continued to fall. Eventually, wearily he plodded off the train, I hope he made his destination too!!.
Goodbye
Goodbye is always hard, and as I waved good bye to San Francisco I won't forget the adventures, fun and memories it gave me, for which I'll be forever grateful!! I do think it's worth a visit, it has so much to offer and the people are friendly. Many cities I visit, I leave envious of the transport links and exciting experiences and do think I could really live here. San
Francisco has all these things but it's not somewhere I want to live. The sight of people in a permanent state of zombieness, businesses in the city centre shut due to crime, the anxious wonder are you about to walk a street that isn't safe. Yes all cities have these issues but this city has it very bad. The numbers are too high to fix easily. For these people the American dream comes in the form of a temporary high or perhaps it's a concept that doesn't exist for all!!
will I visit again, never say never!! It would be a shame to see this city with so much to offer succumb to crime and drugs denying so many the opportunity to visit it due to fear. If you do go to San Francisco and I hope you do, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.
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