Canada to Patagonia at a Worrying Age

Those aware of my last visit to San Francisco will know that it ended in disaster and a certain amount of humiliation. In order to avoid it this time I planned to stay in Oakland – just across the bay, while waiting for my ship to come in. Well, Oakland was rubbish and tried to charge ludicrous rates for rubbish rooms in a one horse town. No wonder Jack London left as soon as he could and Gertrude Stein was so rude about it.

As a result I’m now in an expensive hotel on the harbour in SF. Unlike the crappy Oakland one, this one has Aveda products in the bathroom, Japanese wall-hangings and a comp. leopard-skin bathrobe! (Also, looks like I’ll be bumping into Chas and Horse Features on Sunday now.)

In an effort to try to keep safe I’m going down to the complementary wine session now. I did try to clarify what this involves, and appears to mean simply free wine for an hour. After that I’ll be contacting Christina Treacy. So that should make everything even safer!

A final note on the last post. Every single American I met on the Seattle/San Fran train indicated liberal views. One woman was ‘ashamed’ of her country’s behaviour. Another three were bemoaning the fact that they don’t have a NHS. One guy reminded me that ’54 million of us didn’t vote for him’. Another woman was having a go at the subsidies the airlines receive and all were polite. The woman from Alaska asked her companions to shut up and let me talk so we can ‘hear more of that gorgeous accent’. That lady, by the way, will be a grandmother today – so well done to her. Mr Lawyer and Ms Nurse from San Jose – will this do…?

Right off to look at the wine…

Tags: Travel

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