Because I'm still here

We left Tokyo at 4pm on Wednesday and arrived in San José at 9am on Wednesday, so effectively before we left! We have gained some hours of life. Zipair was incredible for a budget airline, don't hesitate to use them. On this occasion what seemed too good to be true was actually true, Tokyo to California for less than $250.
We had got used to comprehensive and efficient rail travel in Japan and assumed that it would be easy to jump on an Amtrak to San Louis Obispo; the shock of the comparison of public toilets was more disappointing. We ordered an Uber which we managed to negotiate without cell phone service but when the driver dropped us at the Amtrak station it was clearly just a local train line. We scrambled, more in hope than expectation, to find the Amtrak station in time for the only train of the day. The 1st saviour was the Uber driver who circled around until he found us because he had discovered the actual Amtrak station. He very sweetly drove us there..... but there was no ticket office nor ticket machine on the platform. More confusion and more willing strangers trying to help, this time in a language that we could understand, well one of us could! A train miraculously arrived and we boarded without a ticket. We brazenly asked the conductors about the destination, in the UK I'm sure that we would have been charged a fine for travelling without a ticket but these guys couldn't have been sweeter. They told us to get off at San José main station and transfer for a bus... and to pay for our 2 station rail fare at the same time. The ticket agent at the station again surprised me with his friendliness and great service, he was the 1st of many to ask our ages in case we qualified for a seniors discount, (over 65, eek!).
The view from the bus was delightful, rolling green hills, the occasional glimpse of the ocean and wild flowers. Truly magnificent Steinbeck vistas. Over and over, during our stay, I reflected on the similarity of central coast California to silver coast Portugal. A laidback lifestyle, stunning cliffs and beaches, warm days and cold nights, over-salted food, IPA craft beer (only), down to earth, large people in casual clothes. The biggest difference is the cost of living. The cost of every single item shocked me. At least 4 times what I expected, sometimes 10. It's very rare to find anything on a supermarket shelf for less than $4... that includes a loaf of bread, a pint of milk, a pack of cookies, an icecream, a bag of carrots. As for cafes, bars and restaurants, well they seem to have added a 1 in front of their prices for fun. A milkshake is $12, a beer $10, a slice of pizza $10, a salad $18, a bowl of soup $13. The only affordable option are tacos but only in Mexican districts on Tuesdays. Of course we sampled many tacos. I admit to being disappointed not to be smacked around the mouth with the flavour such as with Thai food. A far better option than a burger or fries but unless the salsa topping is generously spiced I found them rather bland.... and annoyingly messy to eat. I did discover that the best way to eat them is to take the extra tortilla from underneath, push half of the topping on, smother them both with salsa and use a knife and fork. I know, embarrassing Brit!
Our time in the 5 cities was a mixture of family time and exploring the quaint towns, the beaches, the thrift stores and of course playing a gig. We were welcomed with warm hugs and such generosity from friends old and new; free coffee, cookies, pizza, beer, bread and even milkshakes. Maybe the common enemy of Mr Trump has united the everyday people. Driven them to share love and acceptance and hope. We rarely heard his name mentioned, what a relief!! Even on 'hands off' protest day there were smiles and a joyful spirit around as well as handmade signs in the hands of all the generations. We found out about the protests from a cool librarian when we were using the Arroyo Grande library WiFi. She connected with us because we were wearing badges on our jackets. Her alternative daughter came to our show and bonded with our ethos. It led me to reflect on the multitude of random, joyful and meaningful connections that we have made through these last 4 months, possibly over 100. It just strives to remind me that people are just trying to find purpose and share goodness and love in every culture and every country. What a privilege to be able to use music as our magnet to attract like-minded souls.
We took a 5 hour bus ride down to San Francisco for just $16. I was delighted with the price but it appears that the offer is simply to ensure that any homeless people leave the area and head to the city. Devious. However, I had been expecting San Francisco to show obvious distress from the fentanyl crisis and the homeless problem. Not so, at least not where we explored, it was a delightfully clean, picturesque, quirky city. We stayed in a perfect 'home exchange' in El Cerrito del Norte, just a 5 minute walk from the BART station. A calm oasis with a gorgeous patio. We enjoyed the freedom of the BART transport system and the perfect walking weather.... although 6 hours of continuous walking was perhaps over ambitious at our 'senior discount' age! Joe was a charming and informative walking guide. We walked from Montgomery up through Haight Ashbury where the 'summer of love' hippies had their heyday. Stunning, multicoloured victorian mansions with blooming gardens on the steep streets giving way to shops full of tie dye, incense burners, vinyls, Hendrix memorabilia and all things hippie. I felt like I was strolling through so many iconic movie sets. We then crossed through the glorious Golden Gate Park into the pre- hippie underground theatre zone and on to Presidio Park. At this point, I was ready for a rest but we didn't pass any cafés. However, the pavement pounding was more than rewarded with a dreamlike panorama of the beach, the Bay and the golden gate bridge. We staggered to the golden gate cafe which was closed but the gift shop had water as sweet as the finest wine and a welcome packet of dried mango.... chewy, expensive but like mana in the desert. Another welcome vision was a bus stop providing us with a ride around the shore to Columbus. We then walked into the literary centre (or center!) of North Beach, the Beatnik area where the authors and poets hung out and the magnetic pull of bookstores. The final stretch was skirting around China town... phew that was a full on walking tour of a delightful city.
The walk from the Ashby BART to Barkley Beach for our gig the next day was almost equally epic. All was going well until we reached the complicated spiral of the intersecting freeways. We followed the footpath under a bridge that had become a sad hovel shelter for several folk... nobody was home just a lot of debris. After this path we were presented with a more treacherous scramble over a ramshakle shelter. Fortunately, nobody was sleeping and we avoided stepping in anything hazardous. A dash across the road and we found a lake to walk around but in order to cross the freeway we had to walk past our destination, cross the bridge and walk all the way back. It was worth it though to meet Lee and his gang of music makers and music lovers at his solar panel gig. 'Elegant Trash', 'Hardvaark' and 2 other accomplished bands put on great shows. We fumbled through a fun set with yet another stand-in drummer. Those of you in Portugal look out for 'Elegant Trash' at the end of May when they will be touring through.
A catch up with family that I hadn't seen since 1988 completed our bay area visit.
One thing to mention were the driverless cars throughout San Francisco. It was so spooky to see them maneuvering around with our without passengers. A terrible shame for Uber drivers and surely not safe. My phone frequently freezes for no reason, imagine that happening in the middle of an intersection!
It was a joy to spend time in California. I can see why inhabitants never leave....as long as their salaries or savings allow them to stay.Meer informatie