From Banff to the Bay

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San Fransisco Bay that is. Prior to coming here I spent 3 days in Calgary and I must say that it is a relatively dull, unimpressive place. Considering it's size (smaller than Perth) it has an unusually high number of street bums and really dodgy people wandering about. But there is one reason - a good reason - to go to Calgary. It's so you can go to Banff!

And what a pretty place Banff is. Pretty bloody cold! Long a mecca for Australian travellers who haven't seen snow before, it is inside a national park beleive it or not and is in a valley wedged between a gap in the Canadian Rockies. When you come out here, you are getting closer to wild Canada. Not too close, but close enough. When you see Bear-proof rubbish bins all over the shop and the Parks & Wildlife Service trying to round up a stray Moose as a daily matter of course, then you know you are starting to get out into the sticks.

Note to self: next time I come here, bring proper snow gear and sunnies.

But now it's time for the warmer climes and my last stop in North America. A Canadian guy told me last week that "San Fransisco was the best city in North America" or words to that effect. Naturally I was curious, especially as it was my past pre-determined stop in North America.

To compare any similarities between 'Frisco and NYC, you would be clutching at straws. The similarities go as far as the people speaking the same language, driving the same crappy American cars on the wrong side of the road, and McDonalds restaurants everywhere. There the similarities end. 'Frisco is the city that the lefties have been firmly in control of for the past few years. You won't see any "Support our troops" bumper stickers here.

The old-skool streetcars still ply the Hyde/Powell Avenue route all the way down to Fisherman's Wharf. They arent like normal trams; they are 'cable cars' that have some sort of connection to a mechanism under the road that pulls them up the steep hills. The same steep hills that you see in some of the Dirty Harry movies whenever he is chasing the gangstas in his '66 Ford Galaxie. Chinatown is quite interesting, but the so-called "little Italy" sector is an absolute joke - frikkin Spearwood is more of a little Italy than this place. Speaking of gangstas, there are lots of them in this part of the city, and lots of homeless people. I don't know why Hostel owners have a passion for setting up shop in dodgy parts of town, but I wish they would stop doing it.

Saturday afternoon in the Bay area is time to head down to the scenic Marina district, which is near the Golden Gate Bridge and a large waterfront park which stretches for literally miles. It took me 2 hours each way to walk from downtown to the GG bridge just to give an idea of it's size. The are is full of sun seekers and folks keen to enjoy the last useable days of sunshine they have left. Although it is quite odd to see Eucalyptus trees lining some of the roads in the area. I had to do a double take to remind myself I wasn't in King's Park.

All in all, it's a pretty cool city and quite vibrant. Every city has it's rotten apples, some more so than others but this one has more going for it than most.

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Photos

The 'hood.
I don't know what that mountain is called. Don't even ask.

River
Yes, the river is frozen (partially).