Lions and Ferrys and Beers OH MY!

The Hostel has a small continental breakfast for the residents; I went down had a couple awesome toasted Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches and talked with some of the other people from Germany, France, England all areas in the world. There was a guy just checking in this morning who was also traveling alone. His name was Lion. We had been talking at breakfast and he seemed like a really cool guy. He was working at a camp in Fort Worth, Texas for the entire summer and decided that after his time at the camp he would check some of the west coast before returning back to Germany. Since we were both alone I suggested we go site seeing together and he agreed. I don’t know if either of us was ready for the extremely long day ahead of us but around 9:30am we set out to see all that San Francisco had to offer and we almost did.

We both knew just about as much about San Francisco as Kanye West knows about manners (by the way I thought his outburst at the VMA’s was hilarious, I saw footage of it and it’s Kanye and I respect the fact that he is him no matter the circumstances) So lion and I just started walking. We asked one gentleman what there was to do in San Fran and he pointed us in the direction of the Ferry Building. It was pretty cool a gentleman nearby gave us a history lesson about the bay bridge and suggested that we check out Sausalito in addition to all that San Francisco would give us. So we took a Ferry out to Sausalito, passing Alcatraz and upon docking were both amazed.

It was heaven on earth. Not where I would want to live now, with it not having the insane nightlife, but an awesome retirement spot. Built almost entirely on a hill the houses were beautiful and it had that quaint atmosphere, an air about it that was comforting and showed me how good life can be. Like most curious travelers, after seeing how breath taking the view was from sea level, we thought that the view from atop this city on the hill would be beyond believable. So we started to climb, it seems like it was almost at a 90 degree angle at times, but we started out strong. We ran into this strange looking fella who was strolling along on his way to where we had come from. We asked how to get to the top of the city and he told us a great story filled with secret staircases and hidden walkways that had Lion and I dying on the inside. We later found out he was a teacher and it would have been a pleasure to be in his class. After getting a drink of water we started on this wild Journey, going up “hidden staircases” sneaking through private villages and finally making it to the peak. Wow a good 45 min walk straight uphill. And let me tell you the view from this peak was….HORRIBLE. It was funny we got way to the top but the day was so foggy you couldn’t see anything. You could imagine though. With the Golden Gate to the right of us and almost able to make it out you could see how beautiful it would have been on a clear day.

Speaking with Lion about a few things it was good to get a Europeans views on the US and how things are. He realized working at the camp how people will segregate themselves. For the most part the kids hung out in groups of just their own race and didn’t integrate much. We had a conversation about racism from different races and the affect that parents have on it. I haven’t experienced much racism in my life and I grew up in a neighborhood with a majority of the people being white. I’m interested in how people in the south will treat me, because I hear things in the south are changing but haven’t as rapidly as in the north. We also talked about how Obama is viewed in Europe and the current economic standing here. One thing that I hope Lion does take back to Germany is Beer Pong, Flip Cup, Kings and other great drinking games. He says “Games no we don’t play games, Drinking is Serious!” although he did enjoy playing when he was in Texas.

So with great conversation, getting some exercise, and a semi-nice view from the peak the hour and a half roundtrip walk wasn’t all bad. It was still early since we left early and we had a good amount of sunshine left and decided to go over to the fisherman’s wharf and see what else we could get into. After another ferry ride we walked the fisherman’s wharf saw street performers and a cool sourdough bakery that turns the dough into cool shapes and animals. We even saw the Crooked Road, one of my Moms suggestions THANKS MOM. This is the most crooked road in the US, I was surprised that the cars could get down the street. I don’t even want to find out how much a house is here but it would be a little annoying having people drive up and down your block ALL the time.

This had been a long day and we wanted to check out the San Francisco nightlife we found our way back to the hostel and took naps. I don’t know about you but a nap is amazing. In pre-k and Kindergarten they were the worst and I refused to take them but naps in college and when I can get them now are just what I need at times to break up a busy day. After our naps we went to Trader Joes to get food to cook for that night. Lion whipped us up some awesome spaghetti and sauce, and we went out with the cool couple Cecile and Wesley from France. San Francisco is known for its jazz, the first jazz club in the US was in San Francisco, so we wanted to find a cool jazz place for some drinks and music. The music was great Lion and I especially like the trumpet player who spoke with us for a while. Cecile and Wesley had an early morning so the left a little early, after the band left lion and I went to a dance club nearby and broke it down. He met some girls from a college in the area and we spent some time with them, talking dancing and just enjoying ourselves. I was getting up early to eventually get to LA so I broke out early and left Lion in good hands. San Francisco is a great city I don’t think I would have done as much as I did if Lion wasn’t there with me, so thanks big guy. Enjoy the rest of your stay in the US and I’ll see you at Oktoberfest.

Quick Notes that didn’t Make the Blog:

I met two Real Live pimps.

San Francisco has a decent metro system, what was interesting about it is that they took many of the other major cities old busses and railway cars and refurbished them into zero emission vehicles. They actually take a big stand against pollution. This one here is from Brooklyn

We saw the Hercules a tub boat that way back in the day went from New Jersey to California and is also one of the oldest and biggest tug boats to date.

I walked over the Prime Meridian

One Mile at a Time.