Going to San Francisco

We didn't wear flowers in our hair, but Mrs. Waas at least wore cherry earrings when we arrived in “San Fran.” (Travelwiki warns never to say “Frisco.”)

The era of flower children is regrettably over – even in San Francisco. But the city has maintained its open-minded, liberal, and incredibly relaxed vibes. If “relaxed” now makes you think of marijuana, you're only partly correct. You tend to smell grass in the wealthier neighborhoods; the drug prevalent in San Francisco is Fentanyl, which Mr. Sleeve usually applies to older gentlemen and ladies' backs. Following the legalization of marijuana, drug cartels sought new markets and found their way into the quickly addictive Fentanyl, which – sadly – transforms its users into miserable people that resemble zombies, bent over and crouched down, who populate certain neighborhoods in San Francisco more than in other North American cities we've seen, where (thankfully) no restrictive policies drive them away. These bitter consequences of capitalism and foolish drug policy (the problem isn't marijuana legalization here) can, however, quickly (at least spatially) be left behind if one turns left twice and right once, and then ends up in a completely different San Francisco...

San Francisco then offers beautiful house facades that are neither completely Spanish/Mexican nor entirely American – often adorned with wooden facades, front porches, columns, and decorations. With a million dollars, one quickly becomes a homeowner and can explore this beautiful city at their leisure, where one sometimes feels the need to wear sunglasses due to the predominance of sand colors, terracotta, old pink, bronze, and beige (which dangerously approaches sand color). One also often encounters whitewashed Spanish/Mexican facades, which we should encounter even more in Santa Barbara. Overall, the city has a sun-kissed color filter.

While wandering through the streets of San Francisco, one inevitably gets hungry: the many inclines and slopes that suggest the ocean behind every mountain ridge (which often proves to be the case) lead to a significant calorie expenditure. During hikes through San Francisco, one encounters not only beautiful parks and (in this season) artistic Halloween decorations but also numerous restaurants and diners that invite you to quickly forget the calorie deficit. The restaurants and diners offer not just American mundane cuisine but a wide range of options from vegan burgers to Indian/Nepalese to falafel and kebabs. One can also make the mistake of tasting fine Californian wines at a wine bar. Above all, there is a small but fantastic Japan Town that pleasantly surprised us both, the most beautiful China Town we encountered on our travels, and a Little Italy that makes the New York version look outdated. Ramen, tofu, and pizza were on our menu, and the trip through San Francisco felt like a small world tour, where we could visit condensed versions of Italy, China, and Japan, with Mrs. Waas indulging her matcha passion with matcha cake, fantastic matcha ice cream, and matcha beer (yes!).

Then if one goes into Lori’s Diner, the world tour instantly becomes a time travel back to the late 50s, where between red upholstered furniture in classic diner style with a jukebox, 50s music, and even a Ford Edsel in the middle of the room, waitresses wearing classic paper hats expect to serve traditional American delights (only partly delicious). The older confused lady who came in wearing only one sock during our visit just to quickly use the restroom had a distant look on her face, as if she had time-traveled back to her childhood.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Waas had a completely different experience: while we were having fries and beer, she was explained the rules of football while watching a 49ers game in a sports bar.

Classic tourist attractions include Pier 39 (a lot of unnecessary hustle and bustle, but really a few blissfully relaxed sea lions at the piers), Alcatraz (indeed a progressive prison in its time), the Golden Gate Bridge (truly impressive in color against the blue sky), and Lombard Street with its narrow bends between flowerbeds. For us, it was a delight to explore the filming locations of one of our favorite movies (“What’s Up, Doc?”).

An additional highlight was again the old-fashioned cable cars, which would undoubtedly not be approved by any TÜV in Germany due to safety concerns. Next to them, the stylish streetcars from the 1940s faded into insignificance. In contrast to these vintage models were the modern unmanned taxis that were debuting their trial operations in San Francisco, where one repeatedly sees ferry passengers but no driver.

We also paid a visit to the Yoda Fountain, while the Starfleet Academy in the park we were in still needs to be built. And we were at a beautiful beach where people wore more or less, and from which one had another lovely view of the Golden Gate Bridge, if you weren’t sprawled out with closed eyes, feeling the sun on your face and the wind in your ears.

And so our hearts were heavy as we left this wonderful city without having emptied it of all its delights, without having seen all its corners, and knowing that the people in this city might soon have a fascistic president. If that should come to pass, California should really break away from the Union and become independent, for San Francisco is too good for Trump, and it doesn’t need to become great - it already is.