We have just arrived in Antigua, Guatemala this morning (after a hectic flight which left San Fran at 12:35am). This is the first tme that I have been on the web, so I will update the blog with details of our time in San Francisco. Walking up Powell street towards our hotel gave us an indication of what was to come - outside the theatres there were Porche´s Merc,s and lexuses and then not five feet away a beggar. What a sad and confronting introduction to the beautiful place that is San Francisco. I suppose that I shouldn´t be too surprised- if my course has taught me anything, it is that sections of the US population live in more abject poverty than many people in India.
We did touristy stuff like Alcatraz and Muir Woods (both of which I can highly recommend) and we also walked all around the city. The walking is a challenge becaue you have to walk up a steep hill only to walk down it on the other side - but I am in training for our Volcano walk, so didn´t mind too much.
Alcatraz. What a place. The men spent all their time in cells and a dinng room about the size of a football field, and the rec yard was pretty small too. A story told on the Audio tour (by a former inmate) was that sometimes on NYE the prisoners could hear the voices and laughter of the people at parties on the Wharf of SF.
Muir Woods was amazing. A place to put everything in perspective. When we wee walking around, I mentioned to Pete that all of our current history seems to fade into insignificance when you are confronted by trees that are almost 1000 years old! Further on we saw that when the UN was founded, the delegates were taken to Muir Woods, ´as it could give a perspective on history like no other place in America´. It is majestic and thought provoking. Being there, I felt like the Woods had an almost cathederal like quality to them - I found it to be a deepy moving and spirtual `place.
Just a hint - we saw bike rental places that said you could ride out there (to Muir Woods) on a bike. We almost did, but then opted for the comfort of a tour bus and I am glad, because after the trip there I am of the opinion that one would need to be very fit, and a good rider to be able to ride up and down those mountains - especially as the roads are soooooo narrow.
We have piccies - and I will get them up as soon as possible. Hopefully they wil tell the story of our visit to San Fran better than I can. I apologise for the typos, and disjointedness of this post - I have had about 4 hours sleep and the keybord needs to be hit with some force.
´Til Next Time...
