Apr 23, 2009

If you’re going, to Saaaaann Fraaaancisco….


I noticed that Twitter is the blogging tools for either lazy or people with ADHD. I am more the latter than the former (btw, TwitBin is a must-have Firefox add-on for any twitter). The same difficulty as with long e-mails persists, staying focused is hard! But I will make an effort - like I always did - and report about my latest travel, one week in San Francisco.

First and foremost, I agree that the city should not be called Frisco (too whack) nor SanFran (too lame). Emperor Norton was right when he promised a 25USD fine for anyone calling his beloved city, Frisco. He was a nutcase but some people consider him a genius. Didn’t they [the people] say the same about King Ludwig II or any other eccentric figure? Well… moving on!

After spending a week in Seattle, a must-do for any Microsoft employee (now ex-, thank you very much), I was not sure I wanted to get back to the US of A. As a Couchsurfer, the story changed when I met some really cool people from across the pond. Two of them live close to SF (this is how I am going to call it from now on). I initially charted 3 American cities to check out before I die, NY, Chicago and SF. With the spring-break’s cheap fares, SF sounded reasonable even if the fare was not that cheap (the flight-company was) and instead of taking 3 weeks to visit all three of them, I split the plan and decided on the furthest one for a week around Easter .

The first thing I thought when I was back… ok, the SECOND think I thought when I was back was “It’s so great to be a CSer!”. Two weeks in advance, I started looking for people to host me, many were not going to be there (consequence of the spring-break) but I did end up finding a place where they even allowed me to hang out for the WHOLE week, woohoo!!! I was ecstatic, happy to have everything fall into place which it did!The first night, I was introduced to some local beers, the Haight District and a gay bar playing the music along with their videos (a personal dream of mine come true… I am talking about the Music and Videos in case you’re wondering).

That was the first night, the following ones were pretty similar, made of meeting friends of friends, going out, have some beer, enjoying the scene and the people.

I am THE worst tourist in the world, but I love to go to places even if I hate traveling alone. My curiosity for the local tourist spots was equal to zero, I could not care less! You think I went to Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 63 or whatever it's called, , etc... ? Think again!

If it wasn’t for Jeanne, Scott and Yaffa, I’d be left strolling through the city like an idiot. I did not check all the “must see” boxes in the tourist guide, but I checked those in mine and they are related to hanging out with people.

I’ll leave the intro for now and promise to be back later with some of my stories in the city.

The travel bug is definitely in, I am going to Heidelberg this WE, a place many people describe at first with “Americans love it…”. Honestly, is that supposed to tell me something? I am not going there influenced by that highly descriptive and very influencing impression. It’s supposedly a very nice place and living in good old Germania for 3 years now, I should know more about some of the national spots than I actually do. So yes, this is a cultural effort!


cheers,

n.-

PS: I am taking my flashing new D90 for a spin up there!!!! yeeeehaaaaa!!!


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