Talbot's South American Journey
For the hostel website, click here. To email Talbot: talbot_wallace@hotmail.com
1 - San Francisco
August
9, 2003
Buenos Dias,
Hello from lovely (cough, cough) Lima, Peru. I arrived here last night and am going up to the Andes tomorrow night to the trekking capital of Preu, Huarez. No one comes to Peru to see Lima for good reason- it's big, loud and smelly with horrible pollution. But I digress and let me fill you in on the previous week. Let me make any necessary appologies upfront. Much of the reason I decided to send a general e-mail is bc I am still a little behind in the times as are many of my friends and family. So I hope that I don´t bore you too much with my ramblings. I hope that this can be a good discraction for many of you from the everyday life. And if not then feel free to throw it into the trash can as any good spam belongs. My spelling and english is not that great-I was a social studies major, and please feel free to e-mail me back. The internet can be a lifeline to the States and anything normal that I miss. Thanks for your patience.
We start our our tale from beautiful and clean Portland, Oregon. The flight from Portland to Oakland went without a hitch. One sidenote though, it was the first time I have been on Southwest Airlines and I though it was a riot. The flight attendant made fun of the regular verbatum speach of the exits and seatbelts and blah, blah, blah. . . The BART (Bay Area Reapid Transit) was a little confusing and Amanda got on the wrong one. Man I love Max!!! (PDX's version light rail). I met up with Nancy, Jeff Thorne's better half. Jeff and Nancy moved down to the bay area about a year ago and I worked with Jeff at Magnolia Hi Fi for almost 2 years. Yes, just like last time I saw him, I got suckered into helping them move from El Sorrento into the city. Actually I really did not care and it really worked well for everyone. Jeff and Nancy (despite the awkward timing) showed me great hospitality. They insisted that I cancel my hostel reservations at Fort Mason and stay at there new abode in SF proper. After a fairly brutal day of moving their life, they were nice enough to take me out to dinner at El Torrendo- a cool mex place! Needless to say Monday I was pretty darn sore. We finished the last of the truck and I headed into the city. I've been to SF before, but never hopped on a cable car. SF was the first and the last city in the world to have them. The system was built back in the 1800´s with a steam engine pulling a system of cables underneath the steep hills. Other cities like London and LA copied it but eventually took them out. Took a local's advice and skipped the grueling 1 hour wait and got immediately picked up at the next stop. Rode in the cable car at a thrilling 8 miles an hour. Had the driver drop me off at the top of Lombard street-the world's windiest. I spent the rest of the day walking all around Fisherman's Warf and the rest of Northern SF. The Warf can be a real tourist trap, especially the dreaded Pier 39! The highliight had to be the view from Coit Tower. The low maybe the horrible stench at the municpal pier but with Alcatraz in my sights. I was bummed to find out that the Alcatraz tour was booked solid thru Sun. Maybe when I return.
I had to get up pretty early on Tues to catch the tour of Height- Ashbury. Met up with a local for a 3 and half hour marathon of counter-cultural tid-bits. Her name was Pam and she came to the Height in '67 (the Summer of Love) and never left. So it was great to get an insider's perspective on what I consider on of the most important social movements in the last century. The Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Allen Ginsburg, and many other icons of the 60's put this plac eon the map. Pam owns a bed and breakfast and does tours on the side bc she likes to keep the history alive. There really isn't much left of the Hippie movement in the neighborhood. Mostly just headshops, funky stores, junkies, and now the Gap. Sometimes I believe I should have been born then, I have always felt some connection with that era. Of course I had to pay homage to 710 Ashbury, the Grateful Dead house. After the tour, Pam took me to Cha Cha Cha's for Sangrea and conversation on the "Death of the Hippie". She also offered me a job if I ever move down to the area, that's nice to know. I grabbed some lunch and an ale, at the local microbrew Magnolia, and ran into a couple that used to live in Harrisonburg and were on the tour. We had a ball disparaging my hometown and kicking back a few brews. I then caught some z's in Golden Gate park. I eventually made it over to Pac Bell- home of the SF Giants. Jeff hooked us up with primo tickets for the Gianst v. the Pirates above home plate. Unfortunately, Bonds did not hit a homer, but that staduim is super fan friendly and probably the most picturesque I have been to. The Giants won the game on a double play! We capped off the night with a beer at the 21st Ammendment and took the Muni (community light rail) back to W Portal and called it a night.
By Wed, I was ready
to sleep in, read and spend some quality time with the Thorne's blonde lab,
Daisy. I did however make a pilgrimage to Northern Lights Bookstore, the "birthplace
of the Beats" and soaked up for two hours their amazing selection of
counterculture and leftist books. I spent the majority there knee-deep in
Zen books and the Poetry room focused on Ginsburg, Burroughs and Keroac. Thurs
was my last day in SF. I finally made my way up to the Presido and a fantastic
view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I got up on the hill to snack on my Cheetoes
and Snapple and low and behold someone was shouting my name. It was Amanda
and George(the relative she had been visiting)! Pretty funny how in a big
city like SF we just happen to run into each other. I don´t believe
in luck as much as fate and it was a really good Goodbye and provided some
much needed closure. After the redevue I went onto the Palace of Fine Arts
and chilled out and admired the Corinithian columns. Nice way to finish my
visit to the city. Jeff and Nancy took me out that night and we had some really
yummy crab crepes that hit the spot. Jeff dropped me off at SF airport around
10pm. I hate to sound like a bad cliche, but I can see why people "leave
their hearts in San Francisco." I did in more than one way. The city
deservably owns up to it´s first rate reputation, and I can see why
it is so expensive to live there.
I am looking foward to my return trip to the city by the Bay!
Happy Trails,
Talbot
