Life in Ink and Footsteps

The time had finally come. Vacation! Flying! West coast! New adventures! Heck Yeah! I had been looking forward to this for so long. For a while, it seemed like I’d be going alone, but then Nordic Beauty decided to join me, and together we started planning weeks ahead. Sunshine C. didn’t come with us; she was off to Ohio to visit friends and was out off vacation days. So, it was just the two of us. We planned to fly to San Francisco, spend two days there, and then take the train back across the country, with a one-day stop in Chicago. We were both ecstatic.

And so, in the last week of May, we boarded a plane to San Francisco, ready to conquer it and have the time of our lives. I should mention that we were doing this on a tight budget—neither of us had money to spare. So, we found the cheapest Airbnb we could, without doing any research on the area. That’s how we ended up in a neighborhood called Tenderloin. And boy, what a surprise that was. Both S. and I had gotten a little spoiled in America. We lived with well-off families in the suburbs—safe, clean neighborhoods filled with people who had gardeners and cleaning ladies. So, you can imagine the shock we felt stepping into this part of SF. Homeless people were everywhere. Every street corner, every lamppost, every building entrance had someone occupying it. There was even a tent built on the sidewalk. A tent on the sidewalk. The smell was hard to ignore, too. It wasn’t just gross—it was also a little terrifying. Our plans of going out at night quickly started to fade. But we didn’t let it ruin our excitement. Mostly.

We checked into our Airbnb, which smelled strongly of curry from the Indian restaurant below, and headed out to explore the city.

And what a workout that was. Like, I’ve seen it in movies, but actually walking the streets—up and down, up and down—was exhausting. Every time we reached the top of a hill, I prayed there wouldn’t be another decline, because it was always followed by another climb. But I was wrong, every time. I have so much respect for the people living there and walking that every day. Kudos to all of you. We saw some cool stuff, though. The city has a great vibe. We visited parks, the famous crooked street (which, of course, we had to climb). By the way, the stairs there are the stupidest size—they’re long and low, making it impossible to take a normal step. Afterward, we wandered through Chinatown, grabbed dinner, and went back to our place, calling it an early night. Neither of us was brave enough to face our neighborhood after dark.

The next day started on a funny note. As soon as we stepped outside onto the shady street, we were approached by a homeless man. I’ll admit, we were wary of him. As a women, you learn to be cautious of your surroundings, especially in neighborhoods like this. Who knew what he wanted? Turned out, he only wanted to give us some advice. Apparently, right around the corner was a canteen where they gave out free food—you just needed a container to take it with you. He didn’t have an extra one, but we might be able to find something around. Then he left us alone. It was such a sweet but also slightly disturbing sentiment. We both started wondering if we looked worse than we thought. We must have blended right in! We had a good laugh about it and skipped his offer, opting to buy our own food instead.

That day, we did all the touristy stuff. We took a tram to Fisherman’s Wharf, where we spent the morning eating, walking, and shopping. We got milkshakes at Ghirardelli’s and tried In-N-Out for lunch, which was gross and disappointing. We had high expectations since it’s only on the West Coast—at least it was back then. I have no idea if they’ve expanded in the past eight years. It made us both nauseous, so we just lay down in some park and rested, soaking up the sun. That gave us the energy for our next stop: the famous Golden Gate Bridge.

What kind of trip to SF would it be without seeing the bridge, right? So, off we went. Since we were poor, we walked instead of getting an Uber. That’s when we realized how windy this city can be. But we weren’t about to be scared off! No wind could stop us from seeing this iconic sight. Well, the wind didn’t, but the fog sure did. We reached the park under the bridge, only to find a thick blob of gray fog exactly where the bridge was supposed to be. Everywhere else? Blue, cloudless skies. It felt like a giant fuck you from the universe. So, we stood there for a bit, unsure what to do next.

So we took out our physical map and tried to figure out where to go from there. And we saw a big green area south of where we were, which looked like a park or nature reserve. So, we decided to explore it. And it was worth it. The nature was beautiful, with winding paths, majestic trees, and bushes everywhere. And a cemetery. For the first time, we saw an American cemetery. It looks impressive with the elegant white stones, in perfect rows. But it’s also really weird. There is no soul in them, no uniqueness. It is nothing like what we knew at home. And we were both slightly unnerved by it. So off we went to see more of this place. It was more of a hike than a tourist stroll, though. We were both getting dead tired and hungry. After we exited the greenery into some street, we weren’t sure where exactly we were, but there was another green blob on the map that looked cool, so we kept walking in what seemed like a south direction. The candies we bought that morning were helping with the mood but not doing much for our hunger. Still, no food in sight.

Eventually, we reached a park so beautiful it made us forget our fatigue for a while. There were lakes, a Japanese-style garden, museums, and a botanical garden. It was a blast, we just strolled around, taking it all in—until S. got so nauseous she almost passed out. She’d smoked half a pack of cigarettes and hadn’t eaten nearly enough. Between the hiking and the candy, she was wiped out. We finally decided to stop being cheap and got an Uber to take us to a Thai restaurant near where we were staying, so we didn’t have to walk too far after dinner. Once again, no going out that night—this time, it was because of sheer exhaustion.

That was the end of our San Francisco adventure. The next morning, we headed to the train station and took an Amtrak all the way to Chicago. The ride took over two days and was pretty epic. But that’s a story for next time.

And because we truly felt like nothing can’t hold us – except the fear of our neighborhood – this is today’s song.
Macklemore – Can’t Hold Us