"Your train will be leaving in approximately 10 seconds..."
Bakersfield -> San Francisco, 8th November 2001.
At 6am in the morning, we were woken by a noise in the room above,
that can only be described like a small tribe of very heavy,
clog-wearing people moving their large matchstick collection, one
match at a time, from one end of the room to the other.
Stomp-stomp-stomp-stomp-stomp...and so on. In the end we were forced
to get up, and we all headed downstairs to get our free "continental
breakfast". On arrival we found we had a Danish pastry and a coffee
each. Is that what they eat on the continent?
Anyhow, while we were eating breakfast, an old fellow with a faded
NRA cap started chatting to us. He was a very friendly guy and asked
us where we were from, when I told him we were from Portsmouth in
England, his face lit up and he said, "I've been there!". "Really?"
I replied excitedly. "Yes, I've been to England, I spent some time
in Wales!". Okay. You should always respect your elders, so I bit my
tongue and didn't say anything back. I'm sure a Welsh man would have
had to clear the issue up, but I thought it better to stay quiet.
The wife of the hotel owner, who also worked there, offered to give
us a lift to the train station. After she'd dropped her children off
at school, she took us there with plenty of time to spare. We
arrived and hour early, so we sat around in the station playing
cards and chatting. I also decided to phone San Francisco and sort
the accommodation.
Suddenly, a voice announced over the tannoy system: "The train to
Oakland [our train] will be leaving in approximately 10 seconds". We
didn't really take the announcement in, and we turned round to the
girl working in the station, who'd we'd be blatantly sitting right
in front of for the past hour. Had she really decided to make a
ridiculous 10 second warning? We grabbed our bags and dashed
outside, only to see our train pulling slowly out of the station.
Great.
We rushed back inside, slightly flustered and demanded that our
tickets be replaced so that we could travel on the next train.
Luckily there was one later that day (most trains only leave once or
twice a day). A little bit annoyed, I asked the lady if 30 second
warnings were standard procedure. She said 'no', and that 'she was
very busy because they were short of staff (boo hoo). Eventually she
did mutter something that approximated an apology, so I didn't push
it anymore and we left to have a wander around town.
Bakersfield is a fairly average sized, averagely interesting,
average Californian town. The main thing of interest was that the
town was eerily quiet, we saw few people on our exploration of town.
Once we'd had a short wander around the centre of town, we passed
the rest of the morning in McDonalds (real American cuisine) before
making sure we got back to the station an hour early.
The train to Emeryville, near San Francisco, wasn't quite as
luxurious as the other trains we've used. This route is more of a
commuter route, so the facilities are more functional than
comfortable. The journey passed uneventfully and by the time we
reached Emeryville, it was dark.
 We transferred to a thru-coach which would take us into San
Francisco city. The journey passed in a flash as our mad driver
lived out his racing dream. I think he must have been an extra in
'The Fast & The Furious' film. We sped through the winding streets,
all squashed against the wall as he burned around a corner. We then
flew over a bridge, the Bay Bridge, not THE bridge, and entered the
city proper. Ahh, I love cities, and San Fran is a beauteous
example. Towering skyscrapers glint in the moonlight, the odd window
alight as a late worker burns the midnight oil. Cars zoom by, the
drivers on a social or business mission. The crowds of people
hustling as they push past each other. Soon enough, we reached the
Ferry Building, our drop off point. The buss quickly emptied, then
before we know it, everyone had dispersed. It was just 4 British
backpackers, standing quietly, their world's possessions on their
backs, staring in awe at this new city. A tiny bit of stillness in
the hustle & bustle that is San Francisco.
 We phoned the hostel and discovered that we weren't far from it, it
was just a straight walk from where we were. However, I decided to
take us on a more 'interesting' route so we could see a bit more of
the city. San Francisco is full of the life that is typical of a
vibrant city, it really makes you feel alive. We wandered through
the throngs of people, passing a huge variety of human life. We
walked through a classy drinking area - the people in the streets
clutched glasses of wine, not bottles of beer, and they chatted as
opposed to jeering.
When we reached the main street, we passed a long collection of
adult theatres with 'XXX' and 'HOT' plastered all over them, before
we saw our hostel round the corner. Ahh, we're in the classy part of
town.
The Green Tortoise hostel was amazing inside. A colourful, classic
hostel in a big old building with full facilities and friendly
staff. Some of the walls and ceilings were crumbling a little, but
it simply added to the character and atmosphere of the place. We
managed to get a 4 bed dorm to ourselves, the room was small &
basic, but it had a homey & cosy feel to it. It's strange how the
line between 'having character' and 'being a dump' is so fine.
With our things safely stowed in our rooms, we set out to continue
our exploration of San Fran, and also to find some food.
We passed through an area called 'North Beach' that was absolutely
jam-packed with classy looking pizza & pasta places. We actually
spoiled for choice. Eventually, on the recommendation of a guy we
passed, we decided to buy some pizza to go from a place called
'North Beach Pizza'. We hike up and over some of San Francisco's
small yet steep famous hills, until we come to a cul-de-sac that
climbs very steeply to a point with a stunning view of he harbour
and half of the Bay Bridge, beautiful when lit up at night. Sitting
on the low wall, looking over San Fran harbour while enjoying some
delicious pizza is an experience I'll always remember. It was a
perfect moment.
Back at the hostel, we make good use of the FREE, yes FREE, internet
access at our hostel, before calling it a night at 1:00am. Night!
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