The US of A: San Fransisco

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Arriving in the Hood

Departing on Sunday evening from Taiwan and arriving on Sunday evening at San Fransisco. Because of the time difference my Sunday was a long one. From the airport at San Fransisco I took a train to the location of my hostel. Walking through the neighbourhood made me soon realize this was one that makes you walk a pace faster. It is what you see in movies. People hanging around looking not so nice and the atmosphere was not very pretty. But well, I just walked and eventually reached the hostel, which is really good by the way. Very clean, nice people (the travellers as well as the staff), good breakfast with delicious bagels and everything very clean. Eventually I became to be a sort of thankful to stay in this neighbourhood because it shows me how life for some people can be as well. Much harder, unsafe and perhaps hostile and tough. I wouldn’t have seen this if I had just stayed in a much safer neighbourhood. The next day I met a Taiwanese guy during breakfast. He arrived coincidentally with the same flight last night and we decided to discover the city together. We walked to Fisherman’s wharf where it was crowded with people all enjoying the sun and the sea. It was nice to stroll around and enjoy. After that we walked to the Palace of Fine Art. Although maybe 110 years old, I found it impressive. The Greek style and the beautiful green around it. Very well done I would say. From there we went walking through two of the upper class neighbourhoods Pacific Heights and Fillmore and continued to Japantown where we had nice Japanese food. My Taiwanese friend had multiple phones for a reason I can’t tell you. Is it wrong to have multiple girlfriends at the same time? Okay, I didn’t pose that question. 😱

Charging myself with new energy

On my second day went for a walk to Union Square where you can find all the fancy boutiques and continued to China Town. It was crowded with Chinese people all buying their vegetables and fruit. From there I walked to North Beach which is more an upper class area and went to Telegraph Hill. It is a small hill where you can have an overview over the city and the ocean. I visited the St. Peter and Paul church at on Washington Square at the Italian quarter that captured my imagination. It is beautiful especially inside. So much atmosphere and so nicely decorated. The Italians have taste. After my long stroll I went back to the hostel and suddenly noticed I was still suffering from a jetlag. The same night when I fell asleep and it must have been a coma, because the next day it felt like I have been sleeping for a week. But I was charged with new energy for a new day of exploring San Fransisco.

The spirit of Al Capone still there?

The third day I started my walk towards the Golden Gate Park. It is really a nice park and you can leave all your worries behind and just let your feet carry you around the park. There is a Japanese tea garden, museums and some parts are just if you are walking through the forest. You can’t imagine you are in a city. The park is huge and it took me three hours to just walk through it and see as much as possible. Eventually I ended up at the end at Ocean Beach. It is a nice beach with dunes and walking on it reminded me of the beach at home in Den Haag and made me a bit nostalgic. From the beach I took a bus towards the Golden Gate bridge. At the beginning of the bridge I left the bus and started my walk on the bridge. The top of the two pillars of the bridge were covered by clouds which created a special scene. While walking I enjoyed the view of the ocean below me and the view of the skyline of San Fransisco. When I got to the other side of the bridge I started my walk towards a small town called Sausalito. It is a nice town almost Mediterranian, with it’s houses and sailing boats lying around the docks. After spending more than an hour around Saualito I took the ferry back to San Fransisco. We passed the former prison island of Alcatrez where people like Al Capone and other heavy criminals were being held in prison. It was a special moment because when we came near a dark cloud came in and covered the sun. After we passed it the sun went shining again. Pure magic. Like if the darkness of the prisoners was still hanging above the island.

The warm blood of Latino's

On my fourth day I went walking around the area South of Market (SOMA) with it’s artistic vibe. From there I went to Mission district. It is an area where a lot of Latino’s live. A nice place to walk around and already get a small taste of the culture of the next part of my trip. (You will hear the stories…). It was quite hot when I was walking around in that area. Maybe it is the warmth of the blood of the Latino’s that was warming up the streets.

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Photos

The Golden Gate bridge
See the clouds in the background almost swallowing the bridge.

If I were a soldier.....
The icecream was delicious. A good reason to sign up. What are you waiting for?