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Published: March 23rd 2009
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Me and the Golden Gate Bridge“True love is when you feel whole when you love yourself. Life is nothing without love.” Written on the sidewalk in San Francisco (see the picture in the blog).
I had heard so much about San Francisco prior to arriving so my expectations were quite high. I am glad to say that I was not disappointed. It is a beautiful city. In fact, I think it may even be too beautiful and too perfect if that makes any sense. It almost seems unreal. All the homes are painted in beautiful pastel colours, all the streets have trees and all walking paths by the water are full of cyclists and joggers. Even the Golden Gate Bridge looks beautiful from all angles (as the 100 pictures that I took of it can prove). I found myself walking the streets today thinking “I could easily live here” but then I quickly thought, “But there is no need for me here.” So I won’t be staying … but it was a beautiful experience.
When I arrived in San Francisco 5 days ago (March 18th), I quickly checked into the hostel and started walking the streets. I ventured down to Fisherman’s Warf, Pier 39
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I love this message and eventually made it to Pier 33 were I bought my ticket to see Alcatraz the next day. It was in this line that I met Rafael from Brazil. We were talking in the line and when it came time to buy the tickets, the woman said we needed identification to purchase the ticket and he didn’t have it. I bought him a ticket under my name (he paid me for the ticket of course) and then we parted and said “cya tomorrow”. I spent the evening reading about English grammar and watched the sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge (the view from the hostel is awesome).
The next day I got up early and went for a walk up Hyde street (one of the steepest hills), and down Lombard street (the most crooked street). I walked a little more until it was time to head to the pier for the 12:10 ferry to Alcatraz. I met up with Rafael and we took the ferry together but went our separate ways on Alcatraz. Alcatraz was cool. It was very interesting to see and hear about the stories. I saw the cell where one of the inmates dug through the
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Hyde Street wall with the spoon for the great Escape. I spent a total of 3 hours on the island. Afterwards, I walked along the bay to watch the swimmers and just relax and listen to the waves. In the evening, I watched the movie “Before Sunset” and then studied some more English grammar.
Friday March 2oth was the day of my interview. By now, you are wondering why I am studying English grammar all the time. I have made the decision to teach English and I had an interview for the CELTA course today. The interview went fine and I am scheduled to start the month long course on April 14th in Calgary. My brother has graciously invited me to stay with him while I take the course.
After the interview (around 1:30pm), I went out for a nice long 3 hour walk. I walked from the hostel to the Golden Gate Bridge and across. It was awesome views and a beautiful sunny day. In fact, I got a little too much sun. It was also great listening to the wind and waves and watching the wind surfers. On the way home, I picked up some groceries and headed
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Lombard Street - Crookedest street in world back to the hostel just in time to see another beautiful sunset.
On Saturday, Rafael and I went to the Golden Gate Park. We started out walking in the Japanese Tea Garden. I love Japanese gardens. We then stopped for tea where we simply sat and talked. He mentioned at one point how he was missing “his girl” and I mentioned that I was missing someone very special as well. We discovered how similar our situations were and then we couldn’t stop talking. It was so great sharing stories and pictures with someone who can understand a little of what I am going through. In the evening, I relaxed by going through all my pictures from my trip and reliving a lot of those early memories.
Today is Sunday March 22 and is my last day here in San Francisco. I started the day by hoping on a bus and going to the Mission district to see the Latino community and enjoy the murals on the walls. I then walked over to Castro so I could enjoy what San Francisco is known for … being the gay capital of the world. I stopped in a bar called Harvey’s
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Alcatraz on the corner of 18th and Castro (which is supposed to be the gayest corner on earth) and had a piece of chocolate cake. After the cake, I hopped on a street car and headed downtown to enjoy the Yerba Buena Gardens (the Martin Luther Memorial fountain), Union Square and I finished the visit off with a Cable car ride along Powell, down Hyde to the beach. I actually was able to stand on the outside of the car. At one point, the cable car got stuck turning a corner and we had to get out and push. It actually cost five dollars to ride the cable car, but it was worth it … I would say it was even priceless. I plan to spend the evening studying more English grammar. One of my first tasks will be to revisit all these blog entries and make corrections!
My next stop … a rustic hostel on the ocean in Point Reyes for a couple nights, then it is the long drive to Seattle, Washington.
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