San Francisco

It was nice to wake up in a bed rather than on a sleep pad, and to know that I didn't have to pack up a tent...and to get a hot shower! Chris made us a great breakfast and then we had to decide what to do with the rest of the day.

With Yosemite now behind us, the next two days would be spent in and around San Francisco. Meg was keen to take us to the Mission District in the city to see an alley where all the garage doors /walls were painted with murals and so we set off.

As we drove through the city it was interesting to see the wide variety of architecture, and to think that many of these houses, that would have been poorer districts 100 years ago are now valued in the millions. San Francisco is one of the most expensive places in the USA to live and so it is not surprise that it is in the midst of a housing crisis. It is also a very busy city, lots of traffic.

At the start of my trip, Chris had told me about the epidemic of car crime in the city, apparently it is so bad that the police don't even investigate car crimes anymore. When we got to the mission district we saw an example fo this right away. Parked on the street just a few spaces behind where we parked was a newish rental car, but it was missing its front and rear bumpers and lights. There was a notice on it saying the police were aware of it. Chris reckoned that it had been targeted because it was a rental. It would sit there until the insurance company sent someone to collect it...if there was anything left to collect.

The alley was amazing, with a very wide variety of artistic styles, but all vibrantly colourful, many of them represented something or someone that the artist loved, like an old movie star. Most however, were political statements, or rather human statements of racism, oppression, social inequality, and the triumph of people working together in community unbowed and unbeaten by the hardships they have faced. It was quite moving.

It was time for lunch, and I was happy to leave that to the foodies. On the way to find a restaurant we spotted some of the new driverless taxis driving around, apparently just a few days earlier the licence had been granted to allow them to operate in the city. I think they were not yet picking up passengers but were simply driving around so that people could get used to them being there. We all agreed that the idea of being in a driverless taxi was not appealing, it was interesting that some young people (late teens) who asked us if we knew what they were, when we told them they were driverless taxis, their immediate reaction was, cool! I guess there might be a generational divide on that one. It was another reminder of the incredible pace of change, the world that I grew up in has long gone and i can't help but wonder what's ahead of us. The rise of AI will change our world in ways that we cannot yet imagine, and not necessarily for the better.

We settled on a Peruvian restaurant for lunch, another first for me. Meg was, as always, great and she spoke to the waiter about my food allergy. He came back and told us that there was no sesame in the food. Unfortunately for him, a few minutes later Meg noticed two dishes on the menu that included sesame in the ingredients. She called him back over for a word. I felt sorry for him.

I have to say that the food was outstanding, delicious, beautifully presented. I am sure it was very expensive, I don't know as, once more, Meg and Chris insisted on paying the bill.

We headed back to Meg and Chris' as today we would be saying goodbye to Laura who was flying home this evening. Goodbye is the hardest part of these trips - I will never forget the sense of loss saying goodby to Mirjam in Santiago bus station. Although I have only known Laura for a week, I have become very fond of her, she is smart and kind, funny, generous with her time and knowledge. I've learned a lot from her this past week. I hope that today will not be a final goodbye, and that we will keep in touch, she strikes me as someone worth taking the time to get to know.

Meg took Laura to the airport and when she got back, Chris made us a nice dinner and we spent the evening in the snug watching a movie, it was nice not to do very much. Tomorrow, we would be going across the Golden Gate bridge like proper tourists.Read more