Just when I thought my device wrecking days were over, I managed to pull a fast one. For the last two weeks, my computer's hard drive sat completely crashed, which meant I had no access whatsoever to the internet, to my music, or anything else for that matter. This time, though, it wasn't my fault. I really didn't do anything wrong, and with Apple's awesome Applecare plan, I didn't have to pay anything for it either.
But anyway, since I've been absent for two weeks, I feel like I must write a lengthy entry today, just to make up for old time's sake. It seems like forever since I last sat down to write something in here.
For one thing, I am busy visiting my sister in California at the moment, instead of back in cold, snowy New York. The temperature hasn't wavered below 65 since I've gotten here, which was last Thursday. For that, I am completely happy. No more slushy roads or salty pant bottoms! (at least until next Tuesday, that is)
Friday and Saturday were days devoted completely to the city of San Francisco. I can't possibly go on enough about how awesome of a place that is. Even Castro Street (or rather the Castro district) was full of amazing life, shops, and pride (it is after all, the gay capital of the world). My sister and I managed to see
To Have and Have Not, an infamous Bogie and Baccall film at this amazing theater in the same area. Read
here for more details about it. I don't think I could give it it's justice.
The one thing I love about San Francisco in general has to be the atmosphere. Everywhere I found little pieces of a world that I had never seen before. As I gripped on to the pole of the trolley car, the wind in my hair as the streets slowly rolled on by, I loved the feeling that I was discovering something new. We visited the aquarium, saw the Golden Gate Bridge (which is definitely a must), and watched the sea lions as they roared on their docks.
When we finally were on our way home, we decided to take the cable car for one last time. Of course, by that time, many people were waiting for the same exact thing. Needless to say, when we finally got on, we were crammed.
At one point, we stopped to let an old man get on. He walked slowly, with a hunch, and happened to sit down right next to me. As we continued on, he started giving us an unofficial tour of the city, something I found very interesting. Either he had lived there for years and was just riding for fun, or he had been there so many times visiting that he knew the history that had been told to him for years.
"Hold on tight. We're about to drop 20 stories in one block," he told the passengers of the bus. We all lurched forward, which could have been prevented if we had just listened to the man. It was incredible how steep that hill was.
The most interesting part of the ride, I think, was when we got to a point where a building stood, dark gray stone covering the entire bottom of it.
"See that, right there?" he asked everyone, "There used to be an old castle there. You can even see one of the remaining turrets if you look back on the next block." I looked, and lo and behold, a small turret stood on the other end of the street.
For a few moments, I learned something new that had never been told to me before. If it wasn't for that man, I never would have known about parts of that city. So now you know, when you visit San Francisco, and you just happen to go onto the trolley car, look up a street. You just might find a castle.
