Kostas Around The World

24HRS – Love at first sight Saturday 8May10, 07:05 am SFO Time. (Where am I now: At the coolest hostel in SF / Downtown on Mason st.
What am I listening to: Some song from Morissey in the hostel’s common room)

Landed in SFO.

It’s been a long flight I have to say. We looked at eachother as the wheels of the plane touched down and Aris was ust being dragged out of his second consequtive 4hr sleep in the plane.
He has the potential to be a world traveler in economy class. We headed to the baggage conveyor to pick up our stuff and looked around – much smaller airport, more crowded, it was Thursday afternoon, outside the big windows a purple-orange veil in the sky was already welcoming us. How do you want to get to the hostel I asked? We had options, the BART (train/underground) or Taxi. Let’s take a taxi, it’s a bit more expensive but we can at least we can do it faster (and it’s so much more convenient if we share costs like these). “You guys looking a taxi?” asked this dude with a blue-tooth thingy permanently attached to his ear.
“Yep, to downtown” I answered back.
“How about a limo for 45 bucks”
“Last time I checked the taxi was 35”, said Mr Greek negotiator/backpacker.
“Allright guys, let me get another couple and I take you down town for 35 plus tip”
“You got it” I answered back, Aris looking at me….

So that’s a nice way to start your “backpacking” trip, right? Have you ever been into one of these long-stretched limos? It’s cool. We talked about all the things the driver had seen happen in the back over time and how this is part of a thing we’ve seen in a film – it was all there: the bar with the glasses, the square crystal whiskey container, the little lights and buttons to operate the roof, raise the divider between the driver and the rest and even the tinted windows in the back, the film slightly worn our making the light come in a little reddish/orange, only making the sunset over the highway look even better. Limo to the hostel... nice, I thought.

We got to our Hostel – which is perfectly located and spotless clean. After Latin America this just looked like a lower star hotel accommodation for me. Even Aris who is not used to this type of accommodation really liked it. Above all though it’s the positive feeling you get the moment you enter, the staff is young and smiling, they know their stuff – it all felt so familiar…!

Showers and out for a quick dinner and drink – Italian food and one drink at the OWL mingling with the local crowd. Early wake up next day – courtesy of the jet lag…!

Breakfast at the hostel was great. Super basic with abundant coffee and bagles with cream cheese, orange juice, peanunt butter & jam and fruits – what else can you ask for especially after 3 days in scrambled egg/bacon buffets in the Marriots and Hiltons of Portugal, this was a refreshing change – including doing our own dishwashing at the end. You disagree that this is the way to go, do you have a different point of view? Well that’s why you are not with us traveling I guess! 

Out and about
We headed out quite early, very happy with the fact that the jet lag offered us the chance to

spend more time outdoors. We headed downtown (well, we are downtown) walked around all the major shops, bought Levi’s jeans (SF is the HQ of Levi Strauss – no they are not cheaper, but still dead-cheap compared to Europe) and then headed towards Embarcadero, slightly hungry.
Have you read my previous blog posts around the world? Well then you know what happens during lunch time when I am in a nice sunny location with a lot of people, preferably in a park or nice area. We bought two huge foot-long Subways (see photos- haha) and just laid down in the park and had a siesta. Aris reported back home (=made phone calls) and I just fell asleep under the warm sun. You could see the Bay bridge from there: wonderful but not the place I came to see. Golden Gate Bridge was still calling me.

We walked around for a bit longer and headed for Chinatown. The Chinese are an integral part of this city, since a very long time they were brought over here to build America’s great railroads. There’s even a big mural showing the workers with the message above: “Over 10 miles of track laid in one day” (Ari, how long does it take for the Greeks to do this 150 years later?) We liked Chinatown, because we like Asians – it’s simple. We took a bus to go to the Bay– I helped an old Chinese lady to get in the bus – the stairs way too high for her, her cane, made out of a tree branch was too small – she was babbling in Chinese - I felt I was helping Yoda get on a space ship.
Another lady behind me tapped me on the back: “Thank you. Wer done, you are wery good person, the ord rady is very rich” (no difference between L and R)
“You are welcome, maybe she can help me win the lottery” I said smiling back.

From the point we got of it was all downhill to the waterfront. And as we slowly headed down, feeling the sun and Pacific wind in my face I saw it in the distance: Reddish, covered in a veil of mist, waves splashing around it, was the Golden Gate Bridge. I was in San Francisco. About two years later, the circle was complete, at least that's how I felt.

An afternoon at Starbucks
Breaks are necessary, especially if you are walking around all day – we went to the local Starbucks, a busy place as people stop there to refuel, on their way to the bridge and sightseeing. There’s a lot to say about this placebut I will let some of the photos and my comments do the story-telling. After all I need to get ready for Alcatraz... Talk to you soon