San Francisco

I got into San Francisco Thursday morning after an overnight Greyhound 20-hour trip, which was... fun. I arrived only to discover that my bag hadn't made it from LA. I had to fill in a little form and ring them back later to see if it had arrived, which was an unnecessary hassle, that I should have sorted myself changing buses at LA, but it was one in the morning so I wasn't exactly with it.

I wandered round a bit, then went to the hostel, which is very nice. It's called the Pacific Tradewinds hostel, there are a lot of cool people and it's a very laid back relaxed place. I went up Coit Tower, which is a small tower, but is on a hill, so it gives a pretty good view of the city. I also did a bit more wandering. Walking in San Francisco can be very hard work, as some of the streets are very very steep, even 45 degree steep. I went to the Cartoon art museum too, which had some good stuff, and an excellent bookshop, which I could easily have spent a couple of hundred dollars at. The evening I spent drinking in the hostel with a group of people from the hostel, including some Italians, a couple of girls from Manchester, and an american guy who works at the hostel. We ended up in a shisha (that flavored tobacco thing in the big pipe) bar, which was fun.

The next day I went to see Alcatraz, which was very cool. The prison cells were just like the Clint Eastwood film Escape from Alcatraz, so they must have either filmed on location or done a very good job of recreating them. The view from the island was also good, although it was a bit foggy. There were a couple of exhibits on the Indian demonstration in the late sixties on Alcatraz which were fascinating. I haven't really seen a whole lot of reference to the Indian population on my trip apart from the brief trip into Navajo territory so it was good to see the films of the people who occupied the island and their newfound sense of identity after the US government was trying to chuck them off the reservations.

I had a quick look at the area of Lombard Street where the road curves round and round, which I've seen in some film somewhere, either The Rock or Bullitt or something... It's a really beautiful city with some great views from all over the place. I walked back through North Beach, the italian area, past an excellent bookshop which again I could have spent a heck of a lot of money at. Today there's a free concert in Washington Square, part of the Jazz festival, so I'm going to head there after checking out the record and second hand bookshops in the ex hippie area of Haight-Ashbury.

More Mexico, New Mexico and the Grand Canyon

THe evening of my last post, Sunday, I went to an open air jazz concert in a national park in El Paso, which was ok, the songs were all jazz classics, kinda boring, although there were some good instrumentalists. I got some food there too, a burrito which was quite nice, and a "Blooming Onion" which is an onion, sliced up and opened like a flower, and deep fried, served with a sauce or ketchup, it was absolutely delicious.
The next day I cocked up the buses to Flagstaff (for the Grand Canyon), so I went over to Mexico to have breakfast and a wander round, now having a bit more idea of where I was going thanks to the guy at the hostel. I got a poncho at the market for my sister, and had a pretty good omelette with chorizo (mexican salami, a bit spicier). Then I went on my way to Flagstaff.
I was really glad I'd decided to do this journey during the day, because the views in New Mexico, even from the bus, were absolutely amazing. It has some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen, and I definitely want to go back with a car, and perhaps check out some of the many National Parks in the area.
I arrived at Flagstaff about midnight, which was just too late to be picked up by the people at the hostel. I'd tried ringing them but my mobile ran out of batteries, and by the time I reached another phone they'd switched the answering machine on and closed up. Luckily a nice couple let me share their taxi, so I got to the hostel for a dollar. It was, however, all closed up, so I wandered around for a while, wondering what I was going to do. After a few minutes a guy came along, sympathised with my plight, and let me into his dorm, where there were a couple of empty beds.
Then, this morning, I packed and checked in as if I had just arrived, meaning I stayed there one night for free! I went on the Grand Canyon Tour this morning, and, well, it was awesome. It really is jaw-droppingly spectacular. We had a look round the main area first, I saw a Condor, a great big vulture with a three metre wingspan, got a great picture of it too. Then we went to another spot for lunch, then we hiked down a mile and a half, and back up, which was pretty hard work, but again, some great views. We made a couple more stops, one at a small museum showing stuff on Native Americans and a dwelling of their ancestors known as Puebleans, and another at an are called Desert View, which has a watchtower with some more great views. We then drove back through the Navajo Reservation, stopping off at one of their markets selling jewelry and stuff, as well as some great views of a tributary of the Grand Canyon, which I can't remember the name of.
All in all, a very worth while experience, and a great day.

Eh Gringo!

I'm in Mexico, albeit for a very brief period of time, and it's not too different to southern Texas. El Paso, the city on the American side, and Ciudad Juarez, on the Mexican side, are virtually identical, only the mexican side is a little more run down. It's like a poorer suburb. There is, unfortunately, bugger all else to say about this place. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount to do, so I'm glad I'm leaving for the Grand Canyon tomorrow morning. I arrive in San Francisco on Thursday, with my Alcatraz tour booked for Friday, so look forward to that (because I definitely am). Hopeofully, San Francisco being the metropolitan place it is, I should be able to upload the photos, but I am starting to give up hope on that.

Anyway, Austin was ok, there wasn't a whole lot to do during the day, and almost all the clubs and bars wouldn't even let you in if you were under 21, even the music bars which I had heard would "brand" you with a felt pen to stop you buying drinks if you were under 21. Eventually we found a place that did let me in called Emo's, a (surprise surprise) Emo/punk-rock kinda american teen rock sort of place. We (we is me and an american originally portuguese guy from New Jersey called Rui who I saw again in Austin after meeting in the hostel in New Orleans) ended up seeing a band called Cruiserweight who seemed to be very popular, fronted by a tiny girl in her mid twenties, who could sing and was pretty goodlooking, if slightly irritatingly cutesy, which explains the success anyway... I don't know if they were signed.

I missed the first bus to El Paso so I ended up staying in Austin an extra day, then getting an eariler bus the next day, taking a wander round San Antonio to see the Alamo, then getting the bus here to El Paso. Tomorrow I'm off early to Flagstaff, the place on the Greyhound route nearest to the Grand Canyon, so I'll be seeing that on Tuesday, then off to San Francisco to arrive on Thursday morning.

Now I'm off back to the States, hopefully I won't get stopped at the border (It's actually just a big bridge where they charge you 35 cents to cross).