Back to San Francisco!

The bus ride back from Lake Tahoe was an interesting experience, as many interesting people were on board. It really got me thinking about the lower class of people in the United States. I passed through Sacramento (the capital of California) and checked in at another Hostelling International for the night. This time though, I was in a room of 24 people. They were probably all like-minded tourists after a hard day, and it took a little bit of time falling asleep amongst the snoring symphony that was occurring. The next morning at the hostel, I met a person who had been living in various Hostelling Internationals around the country for the past 10 years, and also a group of South Koreans on a trip to America. This hostel was very reliable and housed a friendly atmosphere, with many groups from around the world (like a Scottish high school band and an English theatre group).

I left very early to make the most of the one day I had left to see the rest of San Francisco. SF is renowned for an incredibly efficient public transport system, making it very easy to travel from A to B. I took the very cheap BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from SF to Berkeley, which was located inland across the San Francisco Bay. This train took me through an underwater railway system to the city of Berkeley, famous of course for the University of California, Berkeley. UCB is University of California's first campus and UC's highest ranked campus overall. Its reputation and prestige urged me to take a walk around the entire institution that morning. The buildings, monuments and gardens were all beautiful. The people I saw on campus looked and seemed very scholarly, and from who I saw, I could attest to the fact that hippie culture was quite prevalent. Both the campus and the city were very nice indeed.


Train and bus hopping never felt so good, as I efficiently found myself back in Fisherman's Wharf. I then took a one hour Golden Gate Bay Cruise which looped us under the Golden Gate Bridge, and around Alcatraz Island. The on-board narrative that was given through headphones was very informative. Alcatraz Island was the place that the US army established as a fort to guard the bay until it became a military prison, home to many world famous inmates such as Al Capone ("Scarface") and the Anglin Brothers.


After another scrumptious seafood lunch, I walked through the city until I reached Lombard Street. This street is famous for being the crookedest street in the world. Seeing cars drive down was entertaining (we actually drove down it too, on Sunday night). Cars go down at a max speed of 8 km/h! San Francisco was built on steep hills (extreme cases are pretty much 45 degrees), so the roads were way steeper than the hilly roads of Auckland.


I continued walking until I reached Japantown, which was not as culturally intense as Chinatown, but still consisted of many unique shops from Japan. There were also many Korean shops and restaurants that I could see, to the extent that it could almost be called a mini-Koreatown as well.


I reached the neighbourhood of Pacific Heights, where many fine Victorian houses lined the streets. Many films such as "Mrs Doubtfire" (a classic!) are known to have been filmed in this district. In fact, Robin Williams is known to have a house here, along with many other celebrities. The view at Alamo Square is very famous, as old-style Victorian houses are juxtaposed against the backdrop of downtown SF's modern-style skyline. These houses are known as Postcard Row, for obvious reasons. I just couldn't resist passing this place without taking a photograph of its marvellous panorama.


I keeped walking south, and stepped foot on Haight Street. This Haight community is home to an eclectic mix of individuals, and the most liberal and radical members of American society. The intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets is the famous "Summer of Love". Shops were all very colourful and deviant to the norm, and the whole place irradiated a sense of creativity and diversity.


I walked further, exiting the hippie community only to enter Castro, the world-famous gay and lesbian community. Interesting motifs were rainbow flags that marked the streets, and posters that advertised gay male revues. The southernmost point I reached was the intersection of Castro Street and 18th Street, which is the self-proclaimed "Gayest Four Corners of the World". In Castro, tight guy jeans and guys holding hands were not uncommon.



With so much to see in so little time, I fast-walked back north to reach Golden Gate Park late in the afternoon. This park got me excited as it is the largest man-made park in the world, but I was too late to gain entrance into some major gardens such as the Japanese Tea Garden or the Strybing Arboretum.



After catching the sunset at Ocean Beach (west coast of SF), I bussed to Chinatown for dinner, and checked out some interesting Chinese shops. Cool decorations, crazily expensive ornaments, and even weapons were all on display. I then went on to Union Square for a quick glance around, which is the city's largest shopping area. Hotels, restaurants, theatres, galleries were concentrated in this area (including a whole range of high-class clothes shops and the largest Macy's in the US).


I woke up early the next morning to reach Oakland airport in order to catch a flight which would take me to Los Angeles in time to meet up with some other friends. Carrying my backpack as carry-on and another medium-sized bag as check-in, it was a simple flight on Southwest airlines (it has the cheapest fares). It was a relaxing flight down. Sitting down on the comfy seats was rewarding, considering that I had fast-walked an aggregate of about 7 hours yesterday. In hindsight I realized, that I had needed to see everything that SF is famous for in order to be satisfied. With the same feeling of accomplishment came the epiphany that I am without a doubt, a greedy tourist.