An incredible couple of days ! San Franscisco is truly a wonderful place, the hotel is superb, and Virgin have looked after me really well. In fact I'm having a much better time than I would have done had I hired a car, and the loss of the wallet has given me the impetus to really make the most of the Frisco stay.
Friday 6th
Woke up at 5 AM (8 AM according to my body). Had bath and then started journaling some things I'd been pondering. I'm in a process of looking back at my early life and my marriage and ensuring that I'm learning key lessons now that I'm embarking on a wonderful new relationship. This has been very much assisted by an amazing book I've been reading called "The Celestine Prophecies", which is very deep and powerful.
After breakfast I went round to see the Virgin rep, who sorted out my situation re the lack of a hired car and informed me of a baseball game that evening. Three of the others there were from Horsham too and we had mutual friends at RSA ! I then set off on a walk right along North Point Road, following the coast until I reached Fillmore. Climbed up there - did this ok despite the smoking, so I should be able to get fit quite quickly when I quit at the end of this trip. Stopped for a while and started journalling again - loads of memories and themes pored out, and I started to see connections between a few things. San Francisco is clearly preparing me to move on into a positive new phase in my life. I just couldn't stop writing !
Eventually reached Alamo Square, then the Panhandle, and then Haight Street. Went into Amoeba and bought a few more CDs, including a couple of "out of print" items. I then went to "Land Of The Sun", where I bought a Janis Joplin t-shirt. The lady there, the lovely Alicia, remembered me from my previous SF trip last Easter, and we chatted about San Francisco music. I took her picture and she made me promise to email it to her. Will be nice to keep in touch with someone who loves SF music, and particularly The Grateful Dead, so much. I was a bit disappointed, though, that the sales assistant there (a young boy) had never heard of Quicksilver Messenger Service, who were every bit as good as the Dead in the sixties.
I then took the bus back to the Hotel and got the train to Oakland Athletic stadium to see Oakland vs. Seatle in the American League (West). This was my first-ever live baseball game, and I absolutely loved it; I was absorbed by every play. A knowledgeable guy next to me answered any questions I had when something I didn't understand took place. Oakland were murdered by Seatle mainly due to poor pitching (too many invalid deliveries) and mistakes in defence which allowed Seattle to score 4 runs in the third innings. It might well sound cheesy, but I found tears welling up as we sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" during the game. The only thing I found a little frustrating were the frequent timeouts and advertisement breaks (but at least I could go for a slash without missing any action). This was an incredibly thrilling experience which I probably would never have had if my marriage had survived, since I would never have got away with three solo US jaunts in a year ! The presentation of 20-20 Cricket in England has clearly been based on the baseball event, but somehow it just doesn't work when English people try and go "brash". Here in the US, though, it is a natural expression of the national personality. Got back at about 11:15 and had trouble sleeping since I was so exhilarated !
Saturday 7th
Spent the morning on a bus tour of the city. The commentary was very illuminating, pointing out fascinating facts about San Francisco's history (e.g. North Beach, which is now inland, was the edge of SF until the 1820s, when they created the Wharf district via a landfill exercise. Went over Golden Gate Bridge, which was lovely as in the past I've always been driving when I've done that.
The bus was late and I needed to be back at Pier 33 in the Wharf District for 13:15 for my trip to Alcatraz. The driver made a special stop at the entrance and I just made it ! The boat left at 13:45 and I spent a couple of hours on the island. The prison cells are suitably grim, especially the Block D Isolation Unit. But there was a garden with some very beautiful flowers - the colours were just so strong. The views across the bay are incredible and I felt very peaceful.
Returned to SF at 16:30 and then I sat by the sea reading for a couple of hours, finishing "The Celestine Prophecies". Walked back along the shore pondering the lessons from the book, and wandered into the shopping area on Pier 39, where I just happened to find the perfect souvenir for my new sweetheart ! The book is very strong on the significance of apparently "chance" events, and this could not have been better and it was the very first item I saw in the shop ! Wierd, man.... (p.s. am totally unstoned writing this. A bloke in Haight Street did offer me some pot yesterday but I told him I'm too old and boring to do that stuff now).
Plan for the evening is to check the football results, have a beer or two and supper. Need an early night as I'm shattered after last night. Plan for tomorrow (my last full day) is to go on the Bus Tour again (I have a 2-day pass) and stop off at various places to do some shopping. Might try and catch a film and also make contact with the people I met from Horsham for a drink.
How I love Frisco ! It knocks spots off any other city I've ever visited. Washington was very grand and impressive, Manhattan the usual madhouse, but Frisco has so much creativity, cultural diversity, and "positive vibes" going for it.
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