Day 10 - San Francisco

Buns of steel

That's what I deserve after all the crazy ass hill walking I've been doing today!! (Or, at the very least, to have walked off the eggs Benedict I had for brunch)

I walked a few miles today which in San Francisco is no mean feat. I used to think that San Francisco was built on a hill and that all the roads went down to the sea. If this trip is teaching me anything it's that it's possible to be all kinds of wrong and still be alive at 31. Incredible really. The hills do go down occasionally but more often than not you are climbing two meters every three steps. It's insane. Today I actually saw someone jogging down one of the hills and he couldn't even run in a straight line so instead he was zigzagging down the street! Funny. 

I walked down Lombard Street which was pretty exciting because I've wanted to go there ever since I saw a picture in a (paperback) copy of the 1987 Guinness Book of World Records. It is the World's Crookedest Street:

Almost as interesting were the bunch of tourists at the bottom of the hill standing in the road taking pictures:

The States are different

I've been thinking today about some of the things that have surprised me in the US so far:

10 - The ridiculous number of stop signs everywhere. Yield, people!!

9 - That San Francisco has a LOT of homeless people downtown.

8 - That every street has "street cleaning" once a week (!) when you can't park there

7 - That American showers can give British showers a run for their money in terms of anti-intuitive operation (Note to self - before going to bed, when asking someone for their wifi code, remember to ask how the shower works)

6 - That indicators on the back of cars flash red instead of yellow - very hard to see

5 - The number of people who live here who don't speak English

4 - That speed limits all end in 5 - 25, 35, 65 etc. Why???

3 - That the only people who cross the street when the light is red for pedestrians are a) crazy old ladies and b) tourists who don't know better - sadly I am not in these groups a) yet and b) anymore.

2 - That a cab driver would give someone (me!) a free ride

1 - This:

Project "Talk to a Stranger"

I met some more people today - Mike who was studying for a Chartered Financial Analyst exam, and this lady whose name I didn't catch:

She was from El Salvador and I spoke to her as we waited for the bus. We saw a uniformed guy drive past in an official looking small vehicle (a bit like a Thai tuk-tuk) and she explained that he was a "ticketero" and that he'd give you a ticket if you were "mal parqueado" (Neither of these are real words in Spanish but I guess they work!)

Stop the press!!

Move over Harvard, step aside Oxbridge, there's a new contender in town!

When I saw this I was a little annoyed that my parents didn't send me here. But then, a few blocks down I saw THIS:

And now I just think they were downright irresponsible. Who sends a kid to university when there is a Cheese School in the world??

Random bits and pieces


This morning Elise drove me around Golden Gate Park and up to Twin Peaks (this is the view from there) and it was pretty amazing.

If any of you have ever doubted that American kids drink a lot of milk here's some proof:

These gates in a downtown MUNI station looked very familiar (you can even see where the Oyster sticker would go!) (I know, I'm a transport geek - I have no idea why)

And I really loved this t-shirt I saw at Fisherman's Wharf: