Just a
short blog... Sitting in my hotel room in San Francisco, it’s got one of those
over-bed fans – note to self, when I get my dream house/flat/someplace it’s
going to have one of those over-bed fans, a wooden one, or one like this in
white... Me likes....
The Coast
Starlight was a very long train ride.
Now, I knew that before I started but that somehow didn’t help. It was very long. 23 hours is very long indeed. And I guess being only 30 minutes late on a
23 hour journey is very good indeed, but it made it even longer... When I was 21 I travelled the Amtrak across
America, New York to Washington, Washington to Chicago, Chicago to Las Vegas,
Las Vegas to Los Angeles and finally, the Coast Starlight, Los Angeles to San
Francisco. So, I have now completed the full
Coast Starlight journey as it runs Los Angeles to Seattle. When I was 21, travelling across the States
by train seemed exciting and romantic, and full of promise. And I thought, when I booked it back in February
that it would be those things again.
Plus, my very good friend S convinced me that I might bump into Ethan
Hawke and have a Before Sunset/Sunrise moment of my own... But it wasn’t, and I
didn’t. Instead, at lunch and dinner I
was at a table with old people, the person next to me for the duration was old,
and Ethan was nowhere in sight... By old, I don’t mean, old but young at
heart. I mean properly old, grandparent
old but without the joy of being your own grandparents. It was a long journey. Of course, the scenery was breathtaking. But not breathtaking enough to compensate for
the length of the journey. Did I mention
it was a long one?
So, I got
into San Francisco rather tired and achy early this morning. Thankfully I could check into my room early,
so I slept.
Then, to
get food and explore. I took my boss’
advice and found Mel’s diner on 4th and had a fantastic
omelette. Then, to my deep dismay (not)
I stumbled across an Ed Hardy store. Two
for $40 is an absolute bargain, so I just had to add to my already over-heavy
suitcase with two more t-shirts... Before I knew it, it was time to return to
the hotel to get ready for the cabaret show in the evening...
Which was
also my boss’ suggestion.... And quite disappointing. Rather alarmingly the audience of Americans
thought it was totally amazing and the best thing they had ever seen. They need to see more Cirque du Soleil. It was not a patch on the Cafe du Paris, or
La Soiree. On the other hand, when I saw
that there were young children in the audience, I should have known that a
magic act wouldn’t involve a little red handkerchief, a striptease, and full
nudity... Nor fire-eating. Although there was sword swallowing
briefly... I refrained from buying any
of the Venetian masks that were on offer... I have several nicer versions of my
own at home already...
However,
the Russian acrobat on the hoop was beautiful, and the pink Russian doll was
perfection. She has led me to suddenly
*need* to have a bright red bobbed wig.
It is on my wish list.... It was also lovely to get costume ideas and
now I have lots of thoughts for how to make & adjust existing things...
Which I will probably never get around to...
I was on
one of the best tables for the show, but once again, placed with old
people. An older lady and her fiancé,
and her mother, who was 80. I am
probably sounding quite ageist, but I still haven’t been carded, I’ve been
ordering & drinking alcohol and I am being seated with old people... Do I
actually look 60, and it’s only me that sees me in the mirror...? I might be in one of those body-swap films
and not know it...
Getting
home was interesting – got convinced to get a $10 per person limo back to town
with several other people... and then it got a flat tyre... But still managed
to share a cab with a couple, so got home in the end...
Tomorrow is
wine-tasting, and a reunion with my friend Ron.
We first met when we were 15 in Aix-en-Provence. I fell in lust with one of his friends, but
we stayed in touch, then lost touch and were reunited via Facebook last year. I’m excited to see him, and meet his wife. And be amongst people who aren’t old.
