I hope that the title of yesterday's post (because technically I'm behind in typing this up on the day-of) made you laugh. I know I certainly did when I heard it from a stranger talking on the phone behind me. We were walking down Market street at around 7:00 p.m. and I just knew that as soon as I heard his voice he was having an interesting conversation. I'm not sure I want to know what was being said on the other line, but phrases like "hardened baby arm" sometimes make you snap out of your own thoughts.
Monday. I can't believe I made it that far without something really catastrophic occurring. It probably helps that every time I stand up I check my pockets and double-check that I've got my camera...let's just say that Lawrence is a very safe town. Too safe, I would say, because I am comfortable leaving my bookbag at the table when I go to the restroom at the library. That, my friends, is a sign of too much safety. Traveling to San Francisco has been a good reminder that maybe I shouldn't be so at ease all the time.
Or maybe I should.
You know, in the country people leave their car keys in their vehicles because either it's not worth stealing or the town is so small that if it were stolen, everyone would know who did it. I wonder what that kind of safety is like. I also bet that people living there aren't worried about catching the right bus, staying on a tight schedule, and worried about the time, all the time.
It's hard to say whether or not I would want to move to a city as big as San Francisco. The place is magnificent, but I also don't get the sense that I can do things lazily. And what I really need right now is a little laziness in my life. I've been wanting it for a while, now, actually, and it's hard to do that when everyone keeps telling you to keep doing the same thing that you've been doing because "you're good at it" and "you'll be very successful in the future". Perhaps part of this process of "growing up" is realizing that not everyone who gives you advice is 100% accurate, and that maybe they don't understand the pleasure that can come from a slow, meaningful lifestyle. I would like to design my day so that I regularly spend time doing meaningful work with others, whether that means I'm knitting with a group of older ladies, volunteering to cook meals for people, or hiking a ten-mile trail every day.
What do I not want to do? Be looking at my watch all the time. Be worried about being late for something. Be concerned about how I look and instead be concerned about whether or not my attire matches the forecast for the day. I have learned through my job as a sustainability intern and a student in the sustainable agriculture program that I appreciate (and want more of) practicality in my life. I want to spend more time on a bike than in a car and more time outside than indoors.
The lifestyle in San Francisco definitely reflects my interest of not being in a car. I like being able to use public transportation, but I also like knowing how the system works so that I can navigate it. Yesterday (Monday, wow. Only Monday...) I went in the wrong direction more than a couple times. I eventually made it to where I wanted to go, but not before most of the places closed. Botanical gardens and the Academy of Sciences were two of those places.
This is what I got to see outside of the Academy:
Aren't those trees just the coolest? I still don't know what species they are but I'm going to ask my plant friends and find out.
The rain kind of prevented me from exploring more of Golden Gate Park, and I'm afraid that the same will happen today.
But let's backtrack a little bit first.
In the morning, I woke up on my own. Not good. I forgot to make sure my alarm was set, so I awoke to the sound of children outside the bedroom window. Kind of a bittersweet awakening. Rushed through a shower, headed out without the supplies I really needed for the day, and made it to Pier 1 by bus.
I thought that it was only a couple blocks to Alcatraz Landing, but everything seems that way when the first time you passed it was on bike. So...I walked about thirty blocks to get to Pier 33 and took my time for once, pausing to take a few pictures.
Pier 1 clock tower.
Outside the Ferry Building.
View from the motorcycle parking lot.
Cable car! I got to ride one of these on my way to Golden Gate Park.
Succulents! These guys are everywhere in SF. It's so cool how people use them to decorate outside of their homes, on the sidewalk, and in little courtyards. I've never appreciated them more than I do now.
Yes, that photo is real. And I think I'd like to print it on metal and hang it up on my wall when I get back home.
BTW breakfast was a caramel macchiato and a sausage, egg, and cheddar sandwich on an English muffin. I didn't feel like it was worth taking a picture of because you can get those anywhere. I realized that allowing myself $36/day for food is kind of a lot of money to spend, so I used my giftcard that I'd received for Christmas. Free meal! Thank you Monica and Nicholas.
Today I'm going to see if I can manage a $15 budget. I bought some oatmeal yesterday from Whole Foods and ate that for breakfast today. I also bought some trailmix and an apple. Altogether, $4.53. Apple for dinner yesterday because my milk tea that I bought at night filled me up for a long time.
But back to Alcatraz. Here's my abbreviated version of the story that I understood: Alcatraz started out as a fortress island to protect the entrance to the San Francisco Bay. It sort of made a triangle with two other lookout areas and functioned well under that capacity. Later, it became a prison for some of the worst criminals in the United States.
The people who worked at the prison lived on the island with their families, and the kids had pretty much the best childhood you can imagine. They took a boat to school and back every day, and had the chance to experience the city life during the day but come back to a calm island in the afternoon and evening. One of the wives in a video said that to her it was a dream because there was nothing to be worried about (apparently the prisoners didn't frighten her in the least) and that it was a laidback lifestyle, just tending to her plants on the island.
I mean, with views like this one, I can see how it could be enjoyable.
After the prison was closed on the island, in the 60's I think a bunch of American Indians decided to claim Alcatraz as their own and just set up shop to live there. They wanted to make a statement to get more of their original territories back, and as more of their comrades found out, they flocked to the island to bolster the demand. They were successful in gaining more territory, but were eventually pushed off of the island by the police force.
Later, Alcatraz was designated as a national historic site, and has since become one of the biggest tourist attractions of San Francisco.
The part I enjoyed the most was getting to walk the Agave Trail on southwestern part of the island. I've never seen plants as big as these!
I walked to the top of the hill to get to the main prison area and picked up an audio tour MP3 player. I listened to it in Spanish and actually understood about 80% of it! I don't really like history that much, though, so I made it about thirty minutes in and decided to just explore on my own until the next ferry could take me back to SF.
The plan was to meet up with a friend I met at the hostel to check out the Botanical Gardens at 2. I figured if I left the island at 12:30 that should be enough time, right?
Yes, those are stairs.
Well, as a result of taking those pictures you just saw, I missed the ferry and had to catch the next one, a half hour later. I met a lovely Argentinian family on the ferry ride back and reveled in the chance to listen to them speak. It was like music to my ears!
After I got on the Muni, I talked to a woman who told me that I was going in the wrong direction. Like, completely the opposite direction from where I needed to go. So I waited at the bus stop, and and hour later I ended up at 4th and Irving. I needed to be at 9th and Lincoln though...
At 3 p.m. I decided that it was time to eat. :) Couldn't wait any longer, so I stopped at The Yellow Submarine. Since 1871.
Tasted just like Yellow Sub in Lawrence. Worth every penny.
I let my friend know that I was going to have to cancel on the botanical gardens since they closed at four, and decided to just walk. Walking, I have found, is way more therapeutic for me than taking the transit. I can take pictures and walk into shops, window shop, and get new ideas for sewing projects.
Now we've made it up to the point where I started today's post. Made it to the gardens and Academy but just before they closed. The rain made me walk back to Irving street, and I decided after looking at used clothing boutiques that I would be better off walking twenty blocks to the nearest Goodwill.
I found two pair of jeans for $8 each and a book by Sherman Alexie. The plan was to charge my phone in a coffee shop while reading, then grab an appetizer at a place that had live music. This is what actually happened:
Left Goodwill. Got thirsty. Spent four dollars on a Panna Cotta Mango Milk Tea at a bubble tea spot which looked very popular. Got full and tired, decided to head back to the hostel then go out later for dinner. Took bus to Market St. and South Vaness and realized I was still twenty-ish blocks away from the hostel. Decided to walk. Got distracted by a neat art supply store called Flax, and bought a drafting pencil and planner (Items which were on my Christmas list but never received). Walked some more, heard a stranger talk about very entertaining things, realized I was going in the wrong direction and turned onto Dolores Street. Best. Decision. Of the night.
Dolores Street. Even the name has sort of an archaic, regal sound to it. That very much describes my experience walking from 4th down (and up) to 21st street. The trees in the median looked like they'd been robbed from Miami, with large palms that you only see on the coast. The houses, equally intimidating, each had their own set of succulents arranged out front or in the window, and sparkling chandeliers peeking out from the sheer window curtains. It was beautiful, really, and it was the only time of the day when I felt like I was actually enjoying myself. Well, that and a very long phone call later that night. But that story is for another time.
Once I got back, I was so tired that I just wanted to crash. I didn't, though, out of sheer rebellion. No, Emily, you will NOT go to bed at 8:30 p.m. You can make it until 9. Maybe even 9:15!
For those of you young travelers out there, here are my notes that I took during lunch. Maybe they will prevent you from experiencing as much distress as I:
Learning experiences from Monday:
Monday. I can't believe I made it that far without something really catastrophic occurring. It probably helps that every time I stand up I check my pockets and double-check that I've got my camera...let's just say that Lawrence is a very safe town. Too safe, I would say, because I am comfortable leaving my bookbag at the table when I go to the restroom at the library. That, my friends, is a sign of too much safety. Traveling to San Francisco has been a good reminder that maybe I shouldn't be so at ease all the time.
Or maybe I should.
You know, in the country people leave their car keys in their vehicles because either it's not worth stealing or the town is so small that if it were stolen, everyone would know who did it. I wonder what that kind of safety is like. I also bet that people living there aren't worried about catching the right bus, staying on a tight schedule, and worried about the time, all the time.
It's hard to say whether or not I would want to move to a city as big as San Francisco. The place is magnificent, but I also don't get the sense that I can do things lazily. And what I really need right now is a little laziness in my life. I've been wanting it for a while, now, actually, and it's hard to do that when everyone keeps telling you to keep doing the same thing that you've been doing because "you're good at it" and "you'll be very successful in the future". Perhaps part of this process of "growing up" is realizing that not everyone who gives you advice is 100% accurate, and that maybe they don't understand the pleasure that can come from a slow, meaningful lifestyle. I would like to design my day so that I regularly spend time doing meaningful work with others, whether that means I'm knitting with a group of older ladies, volunteering to cook meals for people, or hiking a ten-mile trail every day.
What do I not want to do? Be looking at my watch all the time. Be worried about being late for something. Be concerned about how I look and instead be concerned about whether or not my attire matches the forecast for the day. I have learned through my job as a sustainability intern and a student in the sustainable agriculture program that I appreciate (and want more of) practicality in my life. I want to spend more time on a bike than in a car and more time outside than indoors.
The lifestyle in San Francisco definitely reflects my interest of not being in a car. I like being able to use public transportation, but I also like knowing how the system works so that I can navigate it. Yesterday (Monday, wow. Only Monday...) I went in the wrong direction more than a couple times. I eventually made it to where I wanted to go, but not before most of the places closed. Botanical gardens and the Academy of Sciences were two of those places.
This is what I got to see outside of the Academy:
Aren't those trees just the coolest? I still don't know what species they are but I'm going to ask my plant friends and find out.
The rain kind of prevented me from exploring more of Golden Gate Park, and I'm afraid that the same will happen today.
But let's backtrack a little bit first.
In the morning, I woke up on my own. Not good. I forgot to make sure my alarm was set, so I awoke to the sound of children outside the bedroom window. Kind of a bittersweet awakening. Rushed through a shower, headed out without the supplies I really needed for the day, and made it to Pier 1 by bus.
I thought that it was only a couple blocks to Alcatraz Landing, but everything seems that way when the first time you passed it was on bike. So...I walked about thirty blocks to get to Pier 33 and took my time for once, pausing to take a few pictures.
BTW breakfast was a caramel macchiato and a sausage, egg, and cheddar sandwich on an English muffin. I didn't feel like it was worth taking a picture of because you can get those anywhere. I realized that allowing myself $36/day for food is kind of a lot of money to spend, so I used my giftcard that I'd received for Christmas. Free meal! Thank you Monica and Nicholas.
Today I'm going to see if I can manage a $15 budget. I bought some oatmeal yesterday from Whole Foods and ate that for breakfast today. I also bought some trailmix and an apple. Altogether, $4.53. Apple for dinner yesterday because my milk tea that I bought at night filled me up for a long time.
But back to Alcatraz. Here's my abbreviated version of the story that I understood: Alcatraz started out as a fortress island to protect the entrance to the San Francisco Bay. It sort of made a triangle with two other lookout areas and functioned well under that capacity. Later, it became a prison for some of the worst criminals in the United States.
The people who worked at the prison lived on the island with their families, and the kids had pretty much the best childhood you can imagine. They took a boat to school and back every day, and had the chance to experience the city life during the day but come back to a calm island in the afternoon and evening. One of the wives in a video said that to her it was a dream because there was nothing to be worried about (apparently the prisoners didn't frighten her in the least) and that it was a laidback lifestyle, just tending to her plants on the island.
I mean, with views like this one, I can see how it could be enjoyable.
Later, Alcatraz was designated as a national historic site, and has since become one of the biggest tourist attractions of San Francisco.
The part I enjoyed the most was getting to walk the Agave Trail on southwestern part of the island. I've never seen plants as big as these!
I walked to the top of the hill to get to the main prison area and picked up an audio tour MP3 player. I listened to it in Spanish and actually understood about 80% of it! I don't really like history that much, though, so I made it about thirty minutes in and decided to just explore on my own until the next ferry could take me back to SF.
The plan was to meet up with a friend I met at the hostel to check out the Botanical Gardens at 2. I figured if I left the island at 12:30 that should be enough time, right?
Well, as a result of taking those pictures you just saw, I missed the ferry and had to catch the next one, a half hour later. I met a lovely Argentinian family on the ferry ride back and reveled in the chance to listen to them speak. It was like music to my ears!
After I got on the Muni, I talked to a woman who told me that I was going in the wrong direction. Like, completely the opposite direction from where I needed to go. So I waited at the bus stop, and and hour later I ended up at 4th and Irving. I needed to be at 9th and Lincoln though...
At 3 p.m. I decided that it was time to eat. :) Couldn't wait any longer, so I stopped at The Yellow Submarine. Since 1871.
Tasted just like Yellow Sub in Lawrence. Worth every penny.
I let my friend know that I was going to have to cancel on the botanical gardens since they closed at four, and decided to just walk. Walking, I have found, is way more therapeutic for me than taking the transit. I can take pictures and walk into shops, window shop, and get new ideas for sewing projects.
Now we've made it up to the point where I started today's post. Made it to the gardens and Academy but just before they closed. The rain made me walk back to Irving street, and I decided after looking at used clothing boutiques that I would be better off walking twenty blocks to the nearest Goodwill.
I found two pair of jeans for $8 each and a book by Sherman Alexie. The plan was to charge my phone in a coffee shop while reading, then grab an appetizer at a place that had live music. This is what actually happened:
Left Goodwill. Got thirsty. Spent four dollars on a Panna Cotta Mango Milk Tea at a bubble tea spot which looked very popular. Got full and tired, decided to head back to the hostel then go out later for dinner. Took bus to Market St. and South Vaness and realized I was still twenty-ish blocks away from the hostel. Decided to walk. Got distracted by a neat art supply store called Flax, and bought a drafting pencil and planner (Items which were on my Christmas list but never received). Walked some more, heard a stranger talk about very entertaining things, realized I was going in the wrong direction and turned onto Dolores Street. Best. Decision. Of the night.
Dolores Street. Even the name has sort of an archaic, regal sound to it. That very much describes my experience walking from 4th down (and up) to 21st street. The trees in the median looked like they'd been robbed from Miami, with large palms that you only see on the coast. The houses, equally intimidating, each had their own set of succulents arranged out front or in the window, and sparkling chandeliers peeking out from the sheer window curtains. It was beautiful, really, and it was the only time of the day when I felt like I was actually enjoying myself. Well, that and a very long phone call later that night. But that story is for another time.
Once I got back, I was so tired that I just wanted to crash. I didn't, though, out of sheer rebellion. No, Emily, you will NOT go to bed at 8:30 p.m. You can make it until 9. Maybe even 9:15!
For those of you young travelers out there, here are my notes that I took during lunch. Maybe they will prevent you from experiencing as much distress as I:
Learning experiences from Monday:
- Don't think you'll get it right the first time
- Always double-check to make sure your alarm is set
- Accept the fact that you'll probably go in the wrong direction at least 50% of the time
- A compass should be your new best friend
- Remember to allow yourself time for a meal every now and then
- Accept help from others
- Don't be afraid to ask for the nearest bus stop instead of walking thirty blocks
- Don't always be in a hurry, especially if you're on vacation
- Be flexible
- Bring a book and journal even if there's more weight on your back. It's worth it.
- Allow more time for stuff than you think. (Yes, Dad, I know you say this to me all the time)
- Being rushed through Alcatraz sucked. Allow yourself at least four hours there, not two.
- Allow yourself an entire day for Golden Gate Park.
- Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
Comments
Post a Comment