California Dreaming...

There is something quite intrinsically romantic about driving around the hills of San Francisco. The quaint European trams trundling their way around town, the glorious views across the bay and universally recognised street architecture, it all seems so ideal to drive around.

Or so it would be with the right driver / partner. Our taxi driver, an early but strong candidate for Lunatic Asylum Escapee of the Year 2008, took it upon himself to launch our 1,2 tonnes of Detroit automotive steel into the path of fellow drivers, dog-walkers and pensioners at every opportunity, using the steep gradients of the world-famous local streets as a basic but effective rocket ramp. That we laughed rather than cowered in fear was undoubtedly down to the bottle of Sauvignon Blanc consumed during dinner.

Today I witnessed something special. Basking in the unexpected glory of being entrusted with excursion duties for the day and treating the scale on my map with wholehearted disdain, I suggested a short walk to and across the Golden Gate Bridge to the leafy and upmarket suburb of Sausalito for dinner.

14km, a brush with death and an absolutely breathtaking stroll across the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset later and I am fairly sure that my tour leadership skills will not be called upon again by my fellow travellers. It is said that objects in the rear-view mirrors appear closer than they actually are. I would like to extend that conjecture to the Golden Gate Bridge. 14,5 gazillion tonnes of steel and hundreds of feet high (Statistics kindly provided by the It-is-midnight-and-I-cannot-be-arsed-to-check-the-guide-book-for-the-correct-numbers reference library), it nevertheless appeared to sprout castors at its base and roll slowly and surely away from us every time it seemed we must be close to hitting the final straight.

After living in a universe inhabited entirely by blisters and profanities, our annoyance and tiredness rapidy transformed themselves into unrestrained awe and marvel as we timed our arrival onto the bridge so perfectly to coincide with a glowing sunset over San Francisco Bay. As the city slowly completed its transition from day into night, lighting up the sky with its myriad lights, the evening sky and sea gave us the most splendid hues of orange, blue and aqua from the lofty heights of America's largest man-made construction. A truly spectacular moment in my life that I have no hesitation in describing as one of the finest sights I have ever witnessed.

The often unjustified high esteem in which I hold myself as a world traveller usually leads me to judge a city too rapidly. After orderly St. Louis and sterile Dallas, my first impression of San Francisco was of a dirty and disorganised city that did not deserve its reputation and status as unique amongst American cities. And all this within the first block upon exiting the Metro...

Well dammit and damn you to hell JMK. You were sorely wrong. This city is a magnificent and vibrant metropolis in an absolutely unique geographical location wrapped around the shore of a natural bay. This is THE city for lazy strolls and long lunches. Whether gorging on tastebud-arousing Dim Sum in Chinatown or sipping a ruby chianti at a streetside table in Little Italy, we have enjoyed every picosecond of our stay here. I will be sad when we leave on Saturday... And a little fearful, because:

Next stop Las Vegas...