Tags
adventure, Camping, challenges, Emotion, friends, Happiness, Holidays, Home, memories, Otis Redding, San Francisco, travel, Weather, World Cup, Yosemite
In a rush from the victory of the Dutch soccer team, I look outside and see a sightseeing bus pass by marked with SAN FRANCISCO on the side. I’m in a bar with two Spanish friends, who are all but happy about their soccer team, but it doesn’t affect my happiness. Though it was a bit early to watch the Dutch – Australian game in a bar (9 am local time), we decided to watch the spanish match there at a more decent hour of 12 pm.
My Spanish friend welcomed me in his house in a great area in San Francisco. Though I get tired as hell from the hilly landscape, the people are nice and welcoming. I did have kind of a culture shock. I never realised that there is such a big difference between Europe and America. But I’ll get back to you about that topic some other time. One thing that I found remarkable was that san franciscans are really tolerable. I heard about the gay and hippy communities, but I was still pleasantly surprised to see that they don’t just market themselves that way, but that it’s the true face of San Francisco.
The cute, colorful, 3 stories high buildings in and around Haight street, known for the Summer of love in 1967, look like they came straight from a movie set. The residents walk in a slow pace chatting with friends or random strangers. The hobos on the street corners call you beautiful and tell you they just fell in love, No harm’s done, No fuss. I see short people, tall people, young hipsters, old hippies, happy gays, stylish entrepreneurs, but everybody is still unique. No trend or item that everyone is wearing. No matter what, you can be and do as you please and nobody comments you on that.
New experiences and meeting new people is on top of most travellers list. I met some people in Castro, the gay area, where we bonded over vodka and whiskey, which is like philosophical speech water for me. But there was more on the schedule. Meeting other friends in a bar downtown. Little did I know it was a country music bar. Cowboy boots and Stetsons were the uniform. Though I tried to keep up with the line dancing, I mostly danced out of line. The atmosphere was great though and, of course, the people nice.
So after my hellish departure from Amsterdam, my short stay in Yosemite with my friends, touring around in a camper, San Francisco was like a warm luxurious bath. Especially when I finally embraced my suitcases after 4 shabby looking days. No more Walmart clothing! Tonight I’ll have my flight to Toronto and then my Canada adventure will start. I’ll keep you posted!
Dit-oui 