The Mission

When we started booking flights in November last year we celebrated the start of our endless summer (well, 18 months worth anyway). Unfortunately, we only got about 3 days of summer in Canberra this year. Never fear, our first stop was sunny California - the Sun drenched western state and the 13th largest economy in the world! Our city of choice was San Francisco.

That's right, the home of famous bridges, cable cars, sourdough, tech start up companies, unbelievably good Mexican food, lots of hills and deceptively chilly weather (despite the sunshine).

We were staying in 'the mission' area with a lovely couple we found on Air BnB. For those not familiar with this gem, its a website that has formalized the concept of couch surfing and monetized it. People list their spare bedroom, couch, or floor space and a rent price. You request a booking, the host checks your profile and if comfortable they offer you a booking. Just post a happy photo and say nice, 'normal' things about yourself and you'll be fine. Ok, so enough with the advert.

The mission area is a really funky part of town. There are street art murals, loads of cafes and a 'taqueros' joint on every corner. And that meant cheap, tasty, mexican food was the front runner for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It also meant you could buy a 'choc taquero' in the local corner store. For one not acquainted with is culinary staple, just think choc mint cornetto in the shape of a taco... nuff said.

While we're on the subject of food, we ate our first slice of American pizza. I liked it. Amanda wasn't too fussed and still maintains it was 'Italian' pizza in America... I'm not sure if it was its lack of nutrition or the fact we'd had a massive, tasty salad (see photo for reference) for lunch only a couple of hours before. After dinner that night, the couple we were staying with took us to an ice cream store. Let me set the scene.

Expectations had been built up for the previous five days. Not quite an Everest build up, but probably a kilimanjaro-sized build up. Every time we'd been past there was a long line. Sometimes there were 4 lines. I kid you not. Velvet ropes were out marking the 4 different lines. I would have mistaken it for a night club except the first time we went past was about 1pm and there were 8 year olds in the line. Our hosts had also rated it one of, if not THE best ice cream they'd had. It was a cold night, but with our hopes high we went anyway with the advice 'fight cold with cold' ringing in our ears (from that bastion of modern philosophical thought - The West Wing). Of course, once we got there our experiences couldn't be more varied. Joe didn't get anything. Nisha had something and was satisfied. Amanda tried every flavor except about 5. Me, well there were just 2 favours that were dairy free. So my experience can be summed up with one word - anticlimax!

I told you that story to tell you this one: San Francisco really is a foodies' paradise. Every corner store sells kombucha (just look it up, or come over for a drink when we get back), kefir milk, raw jersey milk, cheeses galore, and real options for vegans. It's also the home of world famous sourdough from Boudin breads - which uses a sourdough starter over 100 years old. It tastes good. Another tip for young players - only buy from the Boudin store at fisherman's wharf. It's fresh and delicious. Don't buy it from the airport no matter how hungry you are. It's stale and awful. Only suckers on holidays from Canberra buy that stuff.

Ok, back to the main story. The mission is quite a colourful area and the dress code is different. What we call 'vintage clothing', many missionites just call 'clothing'. So, we hunted through the racks in a few vintage clothes stores and I tried out their wares, opting to keep my Canberra style intact - at least for a few more days... mission is also home of the oldest building in San Francisco - the Dolores mission building settled by some Franciscan monks a while back. Nearby is the Dolores park. It's quite a sight. It's a very public space. The law in the US says you can't drink in public. One exception is Dolores park. The authorities seem to just let it go. The park itself has great views over the city and an impressive children's play area, but it's the people in the park who are the heroes of this scene.

Try to picture a mass of people with grass underneath them. There is a large flat area where there are games of soccer, frisbee, 'catch' with a baseball, 'catch' with an american football, frisbee, croquet, and bolle (but with wooden rectangular prisms). The thing is these games are all intersected and playing over the top of each other. Yet, somehow it works. Oh, there is also a silent shuffle tent of groovers on weekends... Well, I think that's what it was.

Otherwise, there's a really weird fashion trend and dance craze going on in this city! Not to mention people practicing their circus skills, kids getting their daily run around and a few dogs taking their owners for a walk. Add the sounds of various drums and musical instruments grooving away and the chatter of hundreds of disinterested spectators chilling out in little groups drinking and smoking and catching some sun. Throw in the smell of Mexican dishes from a nearby food truck and a couple of make-shift BBQs and you're nearly there. To put it another way, it's a twenty and thirty-something, hippy, social, urban festival scene without the outrageous ticket prices or portaloo queues. We mostly enjoyed the freedom and opportunity for people to mix and have fun in a variety of different ways - all in one spot.

 

On the down side, there were also a lot of lost people there - searching, lost in their drinks with a lack of purpose or hope, or just plain alone in the crowds. Although, I suppose that's typical of many big crowds. Apparently it's also possible, no likely, that you'll have access to a few different types of 'smokes' on a typical day in the park. Not all tobacco. Fortunately, there were no unwanted offers for us... But we caught a whiff of different smoke at times.

Speaking of offers, the couple we were staying with (lovely people by the way) were telling us that almost everyone in San Francisco is working in a tech start up company, has an idea for one, or knows somebody who does. It's exciting but it messes with their salary structures. Many start ups cant afford to pay staff straight away or can only afford minimal salaries. Staff work in exchange for stock or equity inn the company, hoping that when the company releases it's Initial Public Offering (IPO) that the company will be worth the millions of dollars the staff projected it to be worth. Otherwise they maya get very little in return for their hard work. For more established companies most staff receive a mix of salary and stock options, which has been another path to wealth for many. Our hosts were telling us about a former work colleague who got a basic job in customer service straight out of uni. Eight years later she has tens of millions of dollars from the company stock. The company - Facebook. She lucked out. But presumably there are many who don't.

Oh, while on the topic of tech companies, most of the big ones have shuttle buses at pick up their employees for free and take them to work. It makes sense - reduced exposure to corporate espionage, building culture, fostering conversations where new ideas might be born, and providing another perk to staff to keep them. It's time for Australia's big companies to get on the band wagon!

All up, we're loving it here! Next up, we tackle the Golden Gate, see the dark side of 'Occupy Wall Street', and hug some redwood trees. We will tell you about that soon!

J.