We drove into San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, quite a special moment in our travels. There may have been some whooping. Then we headed across the water via the Bay Bridge (every bit as impressive as the other, though not quite as iconic) to spend the day in Berkeley. Fifty years or so on from it’s radical sixties hey-day it’s still a pretty right-on, politically active place. There’s definitely some lasting remnants of the free love spirit too – we haven’s seen so much tie-dye since Camden Market (or Joe Bank’s Manchester wardrobe).
The next day, we successfully negotiated our way into San Francisco proper via some nerve-jangling six lane highways. Our hostel was located in the ‘Tenderloin’, a former red light district which still has a reasonably seedy reputation (though it’s now been re-branded as ‘Little Saigon’).What immediately struck us was the large homeless population in this area, most of whom very clearly had unmet physical or mental health needs. It was a fairly stark and visceral reminder of the vast differences between US and UK social welfare and health policies - c’mon Barack, step up to the challenge!
In San Francisco it’s possible to ‘visit’ several different countries in the space of a few hours. On Saturday, we strolled through Chinatown (America’s first), admiring the architecture and stopping to look at the weird and wonderful array of produce on sale.
We then crossed over into North Beach, the Italian neighbourhood where the Beat writers used to hang out. We visited City Lights bookstore, which first published Allen Ginsberg’s Howl poem. The owner was subsequently tried for distributing this ‘obscene’ material but, ultimately, won a landmark ruling against book banning. We stopped for an expresso in Café Trieste, where Jack Kerouac used to drink and Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay to The Godfather. Fittingly enough, on the table next to us two screenwriters were discussing plot revisions for their latest creation. Only in America.
Our next stop was the Mission, a Latino neighbourhood which is San Francisco’s oldest borough. It’s a heady mix of Mexican and Salvadorean restuarants, thrift stores and hip drinking establishments. We went to a Get Mortified night at one of the local bars, consisting of six consenting adults reading out excerpts of their actual teenage diaries and adolescent musings to a packed room of strangers – cringe inducing and hilarious!
A glamorous thirty-something lady, formerly a 14 year old heavy metal fanatic, confessed to writing five notebooks worth of letters to the lead guitarist of Def Leppard, each beginning “Dear Steve…” and often including the phrase ‘totally psyched’. Then there was the guy who, as a 13 year old geek, had penned over 200 songs under the name of ‘Live Evil’ concerning such topics as ‘getting with’ ugly girls whilst drunk on Bailey’s. Choice! We ended the day drinking old fashioned cocktails in a secret bourbon bar back in ‘Little Saigon’. Who needs a plane ticket, eh?
The following day we went to find out about some of the area’s most infamous inhabitants over on Alcatraz Island. It’s a pretty miserable place, especially in the mist and the pouring rain, which is probably exactly the point. We got to stand in Al Capone’s cell and read some of the official reports on him. Apparently, by the time he got to Alcatraz his mind was so adled by the effects of untreated syphilis that he was only able to partake in chores which did not require mental agility. The views of San Francisco from the island are awesome, which must have only heightened the sense of isolation for the inmates. Grim indeed.
To end on a more positive note, other San Francisco highlights included: walking up the crookedest street in the country, checking out the Haight-Astbury district (the centre of the Flower-Power movement), observing the locals get dressed up for the annual “Bay to Breakers” charity run, having an impromptu local wine tasting session courtesy of our very cool waitress……the list could go on. However, we did tire a little of the wind and rain, and the cost of parking was crippling (we spent $80 in 4 days) so we decided it was time to head further south to warmer and (hopefully) cheaper climes.
Next up….surfin’ USA!
Lots of love
Susie and Phil xxx
