San Francisco (Friday 12 August)

It has been explained to me that the weather is so cold here at the height of it’s summer because of what is happening in the deserts to the east. They are at their hottest and the resulting lifting of hot air sucks air off the cold oceans via a gap in the coastal landscape where San Francisco is. The cold air I feel is coming straight off the cold ocean currents and this hits the hot air and misty clouds are formed. This is a weather feature of the month of August. September and October are warmer! A spectacular side effect is a carpet of cloud streaming in over the hills to the east.

I didn’t get up to anything spectacular today, just some street walking. Market street is a major street that curiously cuts diagonally through the town. This creates challenging triangular spaces for designers and each building along here is the result of architects rising to the challenge. Some efforts are impressive with huge multi-story buildings coming to a narrow sharp edge on one side. Others are less impressive. Apart from the bridges and the bay, the streetcars and trams, San Francisco’s other defining feature would have to be it’s terraced houses. Much of the business and residential areas are solid with multi-storied terraced buildings of different colours and varied design. Casement windows are a common feature. These buildings are beautiful and contribute to the rich character of this city, and are condensed living at it’s most attractive. Many are timber constructions and there was an instance where one was burnt. Somehow the fire was contained and neighboring properties were left untouched. There is little room for gardening in these places. A lawnmower business wouldn’t work here.

There seem to be a lot of homeless people here but it may just typical of any large city around the world. Many sleep around the green spaces within the city and on the sidewalks. Some beg for money, sometimes in clever ways. A man today was standing on a busy street corner holding up a hand-made sign that read ‘My wife has been kidnapped. I’m short 98 cents for ransom’. Some have obvious mental problems. A middle-aged women was walking back and forth yelling at the cars driving by. I looked around to see what the noise was about and she locked eyes onto me. Why me? I looked away and bolted! How do these people get by in a system where medical help is only available to those covered by expensive insurance?

The area around my hotel is sterile and boring. There are a series of hotels along a major highway with a service station and fast food outlets within easy reach. There is a bar associated with one of the hotels but it too is characterless, full of networking business people. And I reckon the Guinness is watered down! Staying here is in contrast to where I was in LA, where a short walk had me in the thick of working-class suburban life. I will be avoiding staying in this part of San Francisco next time.

I’m moving to a hostel in Merced tomorrow. Merced is a 4-hour bus ride from San Francisco. I’m not sure what Internet access I will have there so blogging may be unreliable.