Diary of a Mad Brit in San Francisco. . .
Nov. 14th, 2003 12:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seethingheathen. . .or, How Sonja Spent Weekend-last.
Thursday.
I think I woke up at 6.00 am to be certain I was not late for my train to San Francisco. I was quite nervous. I couldn't eat a damn thing for brekkie, else I would have puked. Not good.
When I did finally get on the train, the car I was assigned to smelt rank as all fuck, and was full of icky-type people. It was the Ghetto Car™. There were lots of Skinheads in the car ahead of mine, and that was okay, cos they weren't the stupid facist ones, but the good kind that we have in London. =D
There were quite a few delays on the way to Nisi. Several times we had to stop for freight trains and whatnot. Yeah. I was bored shitless. Until dinner. Some of you may not know, but when you eat in the dining car of a train, you are seated with random people. For dinner, I was seated with an American couple and a nice woman from Melbourne called Sally. We both ordered our meals with accents, and that struck up a conversation. We chatted for a bit, and then went about our business.
The films showing were Daddy Daycare and Bruce Almighty; the latter being quite a bit more entertaining than the former, although they were edited severely for content.
During the night, a rather pissed individual was put off the train. He'd passed out on the floor behind my seat. Nice.
Friday.
We were an hour and a half behind on Friday. I was terrified that Nisi would be waiting at the stop for me, and give up. I have anxiety disorders which made this quite scary, considering I had left her mobile number back here in Denver.
Sally came down to the lounge car, and we chatted a bit. She really does resemble Veevs, sort of. Short hair, tortoiseshell glasses, lovely accent. Heh. But, I digress.
I went to lunch, ate Jambalaya, and went back to my seat. Later that evening, I went to the lounge car, and chatted again with Sally. She'd just been over in London! We like the same sort of music, and I told her all about my upcoming trip to Australia, went on and on about Veevs, how she goes to Cherry Bar, how she likes Gerling and You Am I. Yeah, I know. Shut up. I am not pathetic. We exchanged information, so she may read this. (Hello, Sally. I hope you had a lovely time!)
Anyway, so we finally got to Emeryville, where we were to take a bus to San Francisco. I sat next to Sally, and she gave me that book, Last Chance Saloon.
So, I got off the bus at Pier 39 on Fisherman's Wharf, and Nisi was there. Thank fuck. We took the bus back to her dorm, walked to the liquor store for vodka, and fell asleep watching The Boondock Saints. And our scarves fucked like bunnies.
Saturday.
Nisi and I woke up, ate brekkie, showered. . .and then hit San Francisco. The first stop, I believe, was the Golden Gate Bridge. There were two English guys there on the bus that stopped talking when I started talking. It was odd. The three of us Brits just shut up as soon as we were in proximity of each other. I shut up so I could try and see where they were from, and I think they did the same. I'm going to say Bristol, maybe. Hard to tell.They were gay.
After the GGB, we went to the Cliff House. It was a lovely view. I do so love the seaside. The wind was blowing something awful, and we got sand in our eyes. I loved it! I picked up a few shells, but I left them on Nisi's desk.
Next stop was The Haight. Lovely vintage shops there. So many, many things I should have bought! We went to Amoeba Music, wherein I bought Nisi a Beatles poster and a little something for another friend whose birthday party I was invited to, but to which I couldn't go. We saw the Gay Brit Boys again, and I bought Veevs something from one of the shops. I posted it via airmail yesterday, so she should be getting it soon.
It started raining hard, and neither Nisi or I had any sort of coverage, so we walked back to hers getting soaked the whole way. Good shit!
We got more Vodka, watched The Faculty, and headed out for The Castro. Nisi was so completely pissed that she puked in a public rubbish bin. In front of Does Your Father Know?. Hehe. She had to be at work at 2.30 am, so we headed back to watch the commentary of The Fellowship of the Ring. Nisi thinks I sound like Orlando, accent-wise. I was glad, cos that's the accent I'd been practising. (*.~)
I went to sleep, Nisi went to work.
Sunday.
Nisi got off work at 7.00 am. We made for the bus stop, and waited. And waited. Then we gave up and went to another stop. We missed the bus to my train!
It was okay. Nisi went back to work at 10.00 am until noon. Then we went back to her dorm where we fell asleep, until her room mate came back.
We decided to go for a proper dinner at a proper restaurant. And we took a cable car. Where the queue-up is for the cable car looks so much like London, it's unreal. Yeah, I cried. Shut up. I did. The streets are all brickwork, and the buildings are just so, and the intersections are at sort of 45-degree angles. It was amazing. So very nice the way it looked.
The cable car ride was fucking brilliant! I felt like in the films when people ride on cable cars. It was cool.
We went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. The food was great, and there are animatronic animals there. We named the elephant Melvin, cos that's what I thought Nisi had said when she had said, 'elephant.'
We walked up a really big hill, and stopped to rest on the corner of Hyde and Francisco. The view was amazing. I later discovered I had a postcard of that very corner! Weird. Then we walked down Lombard Street. And back down that sodding hill!
We went back to Nisi's dorm, passed out until 6.00 am Monday, and headed for the bus. I slept throught 95% of the train ride back to Denver, so if anything exciting happened, I was not aware.
The pictures from my trip are here. I am a big. Fat. Cow.
Nisi is a lot of fun. Everyone should spend a weekend in SF with her!
Thursday.
I think I woke up at 6.00 am to be certain I was not late for my train to San Francisco. I was quite nervous. I couldn't eat a damn thing for brekkie, else I would have puked. Not good.
When I did finally get on the train, the car I was assigned to smelt rank as all fuck, and was full of icky-type people. It was the Ghetto Car™. There were lots of Skinheads in the car ahead of mine, and that was okay, cos they weren't the stupid facist ones, but the good kind that we have in London. =D
There were quite a few delays on the way to Nisi. Several times we had to stop for freight trains and whatnot. Yeah. I was bored shitless. Until dinner. Some of you may not know, but when you eat in the dining car of a train, you are seated with random people. For dinner, I was seated with an American couple and a nice woman from Melbourne called Sally. We both ordered our meals with accents, and that struck up a conversation. We chatted for a bit, and then went about our business.
The films showing were Daddy Daycare and Bruce Almighty; the latter being quite a bit more entertaining than the former, although they were edited severely for content.
During the night, a rather pissed individual was put off the train. He'd passed out on the floor behind my seat. Nice.
Friday.
We were an hour and a half behind on Friday. I was terrified that Nisi would be waiting at the stop for me, and give up. I have anxiety disorders which made this quite scary, considering I had left her mobile number back here in Denver.
Sally came down to the lounge car, and we chatted a bit. She really does resemble Veevs, sort of. Short hair, tortoiseshell glasses, lovely accent. Heh. But, I digress.
I went to lunch, ate Jambalaya, and went back to my seat. Later that evening, I went to the lounge car, and chatted again with Sally. She'd just been over in London! We like the same sort of music, and I told her all about my upcoming trip to Australia, went on and on about Veevs, how she goes to Cherry Bar, how she likes Gerling and You Am I. Yeah, I know. Shut up. I am not pathetic. We exchanged information, so she may read this. (Hello, Sally. I hope you had a lovely time!)
Anyway, so we finally got to Emeryville, where we were to take a bus to San Francisco. I sat next to Sally, and she gave me that book, Last Chance Saloon.
So, I got off the bus at Pier 39 on Fisherman's Wharf, and Nisi was there. Thank fuck. We took the bus back to her dorm, walked to the liquor store for vodka, and fell asleep watching The Boondock Saints. And our scarves fucked like bunnies.
Saturday.
Nisi and I woke up, ate brekkie, showered. . .and then hit San Francisco. The first stop, I believe, was the Golden Gate Bridge. There were two English guys there on the bus that stopped talking when I started talking. It was odd. The three of us Brits just shut up as soon as we were in proximity of each other. I shut up so I could try and see where they were from, and I think they did the same. I'm going to say Bristol, maybe. Hard to tell.They were gay.
After the GGB, we went to the Cliff House. It was a lovely view. I do so love the seaside. The wind was blowing something awful, and we got sand in our eyes. I loved it! I picked up a few shells, but I left them on Nisi's desk.
Next stop was The Haight. Lovely vintage shops there. So many, many things I should have bought! We went to Amoeba Music, wherein I bought Nisi a Beatles poster and a little something for another friend whose birthday party I was invited to, but to which I couldn't go. We saw the Gay Brit Boys again, and I bought Veevs something from one of the shops. I posted it via airmail yesterday, so she should be getting it soon.
It started raining hard, and neither Nisi or I had any sort of coverage, so we walked back to hers getting soaked the whole way. Good shit!
We got more Vodka, watched The Faculty, and headed out for The Castro. Nisi was so completely pissed that she puked in a public rubbish bin. In front of Does Your Father Know?. Hehe. She had to be at work at 2.30 am, so we headed back to watch the commentary of The Fellowship of the Ring. Nisi thinks I sound like Orlando, accent-wise. I was glad, cos that's the accent I'd been practising. (*.~)
I went to sleep, Nisi went to work.
Sunday.
Nisi got off work at 7.00 am. We made for the bus stop, and waited. And waited. Then we gave up and went to another stop. We missed the bus to my train!
It was okay. Nisi went back to work at 10.00 am until noon. Then we went back to her dorm where we fell asleep, until her room mate came back.
We decided to go for a proper dinner at a proper restaurant. And we took a cable car. Where the queue-up is for the cable car looks so much like London, it's unreal. Yeah, I cried. Shut up. I did. The streets are all brickwork, and the buildings are just so, and the intersections are at sort of 45-degree angles. It was amazing. So very nice the way it looked.
The cable car ride was fucking brilliant! I felt like in the films when people ride on cable cars. It was cool.
We went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. The food was great, and there are animatronic animals there. We named the elephant Melvin, cos that's what I thought Nisi had said when she had said, 'elephant.'
We walked up a really big hill, and stopped to rest on the corner of Hyde and Francisco. The view was amazing. I later discovered I had a postcard of that very corner! Weird. Then we walked down Lombard Street. And back down that sodding hill!
We went back to Nisi's dorm, passed out until 6.00 am Monday, and headed for the bus. I slept throught 95% of the train ride back to Denver, so if anything exciting happened, I was not aware.
The pictures from my trip are here. I am a big. Fat. Cow.
Nisi is a lot of fun. Everyone should spend a weekend in SF with her!
