San Francisco - Back in civilization 😜

If you're going to San Francisco... I already knew the city from my first trip to the USA in 2013. The Cable Cars, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the coastal feeling are definitely worth a visit. But Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Las Vegas simply appealed to me more. I felt like there were more wow moments in those cities. However, I decided to come back because the Intrepid tour would start here on Sunday. So, I thought about what I hadn't seen in San Francisco yet, or what I still wanted to see, and also what purchases I wanted to make before the long bus journey - you never know what shopping opportunities you'll have in these national parks.
As soon as I arrived, the SF experience began: a crazy number of homeless people on the streets, people yelling, looking like drug addicts - for me, as a suburban child, it's like Zurich times 100. The smell of urine and marijuana in the air (it's legal here). A condom and a syringe on the street and lots of dirt. It's just not the summer-sun-tourist experience like in LA or Vegas. But yes, as a Swiss person, I'm surely spoiled in this regard.
I felt very uncomfortable walking past the camping, lying people. Sometimes I had to turn a corner and almost stumbled over someone lying like they were dead in an entrance, you could only see their legs sticking out... Many people were in a very pitiful state, marked by drugs and other problems. And there are so many of them! Truly shocking. Although I was told that they are harmless, they shout or just lie there. But being surrounded by 20 homeless people alone is not pleasant.

Still, I didn't just want to sit in my room, so I took a boat tour to Alcatraz, explored the city on foot, went to a laundromat again, and also went for a massage because everything hurt after the hours of walking.

In San Francisco, my 'staying-with-strangers' experience also began, as I had booked a youth hostel with a 4-bed female room here for the sake of saving money, and afterwards, I would also be in a double room with a stranger on the tour - sort of acclimatizing. It's not that I always want to stay overnight alone, but the thought of strangers in the same room is not so pleasant for me, especially since I would leave my suitcase unattended for two days, although it is secured with a lock. I already know what it's like to stay overnight with strangers in a hostel and I'm okay with it, but how would it be to be completely on my own? I hoped for the best, I always carry valuables with me anyway. And you have to step out of your comfort zone sometimes 😜 (right, Tami?).
But it turned out to be a really good experience, free breakfast (bagel, toast), even a private bathroom with a shower in the room.
But the hostel was also a lucky find, I was told that not all youth hostels are so well equipped.
I then booked another youth hostel in Ottawa, otherwise, I'm always alone except on the tour. A true adventure. But you have to decide what feels better for you or what is more important: save money and choose a shared room or spend more money and stay alone. And for me, it felt right this way. I just wanted to try out the hostel experience so that I can judge later if it's something for me or not.
On the first night, there were two German Au Pairs in the room with me and one bed was empty, on the second night, there were a Texan, an Australian, and a New Yorker. In the evening, I sat at the hostel's cheap bar and met interesting people from Germany, France (mais oui... I was glad to have my school French again. 'Voilà madame Tardi. Elle est téléphoniste'), and Austria (@ Naddel: Ha sooo, I have to think of you, it was like when we used to play the shepherdess-spinner 😁😁 Jo mei... des is supa. Der Nanometa...😁😁😁 And the Germans were not spared from my rolling 'r'. Das Rrrrrreich! Heieiei, always the WWII stereotypes... 😜)

The welcome meeting with the travel group took place in a nearby hotel on Sunday evening. I was so excited! This tour will last until August 23rd and will take me to the following places:
- Sonoma
- Yosemite National Park
- Sequoia National Park
- Eastern Sierra
- Death Valley
- Las Vegas
- Zion National Park
- Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch
- Monument Valley
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Los Angeles
-->see also http://www.intrepidtravel.com/us/united-states/usa-national-parks-explorer-103321

But more about that in the next diary entry. Just this much: We are 5 people, 3 of us are Swiss 😊