Travelling with a bicycle is difficult. We thought we’d learned from previous expeditions and carefully boxed our bicycles using the expertise of no less than 4 bicycle mechanics. After the sting of excess baggage fees, we entrusted our custom built beauties to be care of Virgin Blue. We discovered in Sydney they had failed to put our bikes on the plane. We were patient, we were trusting. They promised our bikes would be delivered to our hotel the next day.
We didn’t see our bicycles for another seven.
You can imagine the tension. On the sixth day, when it was clear no authority knew where they were, we took a chance and went back out to the airport, hoping the bikes were just revolving on a carousel somewhere. This was almost the case. As it turned out he dear things had been passed on to a completely different airline- one we hadn’t flown with or even heard of. But it seemed they all knew who we were.
The seven days we did spend in San Fransisco, as a result, was a bittersweet romance. In and out of fog, San Francisco is one of he most stunning cities we have been to. We stayed in the seedy Tenderloin district, an area that feels like the set of a 1970′s cop show. If something was happening in the Tenderloin, it was happening on the street, with sirens, booze and ‘colourful characters’.
Beggars and tourists are the majority in Downtown San Fran, and we think that about 90% of the world’s iPhones and Toyota Priusses can be found in the S.F. Bay Area. The homeless compete for the same patch of sidewalk as the kids who queue for the next iPhone product …this went on for days.
Of course, if you want to get to know a place better, it’s wise to consult the locals. We took the train out of the fog to visit Audrey and Donald McDonald in Los Altos to get the good word. Having once lived in Melbourne, D & A are Vintage Dunstan family friends.Don, now well into his nineties, still volunteers at the local history society and has just been published in this regard. Over a glass of local Zinfandel (17%) and equally punchy burritos, they suggested the SF art gallery California Palace of the Legion of Honor. We took up their suggestion the next day….
A three quarter scale replica of Paris’ Palais de la Légion d’Honneur, it exists as a location for wedding photography and is home to some of the most European art either Lauren and I have ever seen in one place. Not what we expected a stones throw from the tenderloin.
As an added bonus, we were also in town for the Gay Pride Parade, a spectacle that takes over the whole city for over a week. This year was the 40th anniversary, and reportedly bigger than ever. It was encouraging to see people of all ages dressing up for the party. Every organization in California , it seemed , was represented with a float. Celebrities, sportspeople and public officials from the grassroots up all waved from convertibles for hours on end. We were greatly encouraged to see so many ‘nuclear’ families dressed and face painted for the occasion too. I reckon it would been a good day for burglars in San Francisco, everybody was down watching the festivities.
Originally we had only planned to spend three days in sf, but by the time the bikes arrived we’d run out of excuses, and rolled over that famous bridge. It was the first fog free day, and we got to see the Golden Gate in it’s entirety. We were so gobsmacked by it’s awesome presence, and with certain death on both sides, we’re lucky we made it across alive. Maybe we should have walked the bikes instead.
Next edition: Headwinds of the Californian Coast!
Surely the plural of Prius is Prii?
Ah, good old airline-you’ve-never-heard-of comes through with the goods, literally, again.