Off the Rails...

Hey there!!

Uff, it is hot in California! The sun is burning down and I didn't bring enough summer clothes...che stupida!

Today, I slept long because it is Sunday and sometimes you need to relax. After talking to my mum, I went to Santa Cruz Ave, a really nice street in the neighbourhood. There's Ann's Cafe and it is a relic from better times. A real 1950s diner that has opened its doors in 1946 and is still run by the same family. I ordered some coffee and blueberry pancakes.
What I got, looked really delicious. And it also tasted amazing...really sweet...rrrr...I poured some more syrup on it and it was succulent...also the coffee was great...I normally don't enjoy black coffee, but this one was really good. However, these pancakes had the highest amount of calories I have consumed for breakfast ever!!
Then I had a look around Santa Cruz Ave since there is an art festival in the street and people exhibit paintings, handmade jewelery, glass, etc. But the prices are really high...at least you don't have to pay for looking at stuff...

Yesterday, I went to San Francisco. I got up at 8 and was puzzled by a grey sky. I waited an hour until the sun came out, rode the bike to the bus stop and took the Samtrans bus to San Francisco which costs 4.50$ one way and takes about an hour. The train is way faster, but costs more and I like to look outside the window...it doesn't make a difference if it takes an hour or 30mins.

When you enter Frisco in the moring, it is amazing to see the heavy fog that lies over the city....the bridges vanish in the fog and you can't see the other end...

I got off at the Transbay Terminal in Mission street and first, I didn't know where to go. So I went down to the shore and walked to Fisherman's wharf, the famous place at the sea directly in Frisco. I took some pics of Alcatraz, the island which once was the "home" of Al Capone. The area in the wharf looks really nice with all the shops but it is packed with tourists, so I didn't wanna hang out there. I saw the Golden Gate Bridge from there, but I didn't wanna go there since it is far and I wanted to see some special parts of the town. At Pier 39, sea lions hang around because it is a save place and when they are not hunting, they need to relax, which looks like this.

On other the piers you can see historic ships and submarines...and a museums of the oldest slot machines ever...I took pics of amusement slot machines for boys who could enjoy a girl strip in pictures for a quarter dollar.








I took a bus to Market Street and on my way there, I saw the famous O'Farrell nightclub, where Hunter S. Thompson used to hang out and do the night manager.

In Market Street I had to wait for another bus to go to Haight - Ashbury, the district where the American hippy culture was born and had its peak. Hunter S. Thompson used to live there too. I got off the bus too early and had to climb one of these steep Frisco hills that the city is famous for. Once I arrived in Lower Haight, I felt at home. The houses are so beautiful, there are peace signs all around and people sit on the stairs and read the newspaper. I went along until I arrived in the middle of the district and I can only say, I WANNA LIVE THERE!








This is probably one of the most relaxed places in Frisco and the people there are really crazy. There are still some hippies around but the place has been taken over by the "new" counterculture, such as the punk or at least the rock people, vintage styles, but also brands that are fashionable but do not represent a real counterculture, such as American Apparel and RVCA. There are skateshops, hippy shops with vintage hippy clothes, smoke shops, record stores, bike stores (because they seem to love bikes in Frisco), secondhand clothing stores and many many diners and pubs and clubs and also tattoo parlors. First, I wanted to check out one parlor that was close to Haight-Ashbury, but I ended up in another one, talking to Derick Montez, who used to be a street artist, and has a tattoo shop in Haight Street. He is really nice, has done some great tats and we talked about one of my tattoo plans... I guess I will visit him again =)










I also went to a record store and got all excited to see how much stuff they have. I was in there for more than an hour and was looking for some stuff. However, they didn't have the records I wanted.

I had a coffee break in the Golden Gate Park, which is like next door and then took the bus back to Market Street, where I had a look around and found the usual European designer stores that I hate so much.

I then went home, since I had walked soo much and was tired and I had been invited for dinner by Humberto and Ana, the couple who lives here in the house with me. So we had a really nice dinner, all people who currently live in the house, Humberto, Ana, Prof. Juan Sanchez and our landlords, Lynn and Rich and their daughter Tristan who came to visit. Humberto and Ana had prepared some pasta with mushrooms, basil, asparagus and pistacchi. Additionally we had cheese, dried tomatoes, salad, olives and red wine and a lot of fun while eating...

I then went to bed and fell asleep like a stone...I had crazy dreams but this happens...

Well, now I go to study a bit outside...I need to read many pages for tomorrow since I have my class with Dr. Fellner and need to go on with my Thompson research.

So good night and good luck....and leave me comments...it really works now!
xoxo