02/05/1998   English German
  Edition # 7  
San Francisco, 02-05-1998

By Bicycle over the Golden Gate Bridge.
Figure [1]: Angelika is not racing, but rather enjoying the view.

Angelika We have already completed our Golden Gate Bridge crossing by bicycle. We did it in bright sunshine, so the bridge was glowing in its most beautiful red. To avoid too many hills and dangerous roads (that's not for me), we first took our bikes on the BART (subway in San Francisco) and went to the Embarcadero (anyone who has been to San Francisco knows where that is; for those unfamiliar: it's a street that runs right along the water). And then we continued along the water towards the Golden Gate, always keeping our eyes on the bridge, Alcatraz, and the boats on the bay.

In such moments, it becomes clear why no one ever wants to leave this city, despite the acute risk of earthquakes--it's just that beautiful. On the bridge itself, we even had our own bike lane. On weekends, both sidewalks of the bridge are open; one is for pedestrians, and the other is for cyclists. However, this leads to cyclists speeding so fast that it really made me anxious. After all, I wanted to enjoy the view and not participate in the Tour de France.

And so that you also know how we felt during the crossing, I will quickly quote John Steinbeck: "Then I drove over the great arch of the bridge suspended by cables and was in the city. It had remained the City I remembered, so confident in its size that it could afford to be friendly.

Figure [2]: View from the bridge over to Marin Headlands

On New Year's Eve, we attended a gala at the prestigious Fairmont Hotel. The hotel is well-known in Germany because the American series "Hotel" was filmed there, which also aired on German television for a long time (something similar to "Traumschiff" but without the ship). There was a fantastic meal, champagne galore, a musical show, and utterly ridiculous-looking party hats that everyone enthusiastically put on just before midnight (not us, of course). We had a great time, although we were a bit disappointed that the party ended shortly after midnight while we were still in a festive mood. Well, you can't have everything. By the way, there's a funny tradition here on New Year's Eve. In the morning, office workers in downtown San Francisco throw their old calendar pages out the window. Since most offices are in skyscrapers, it's particularly impressive.

Figure [3]: New Year's Eve at the Fairmont Hotel, where we let a ball photographer sell us this photo for thirty dollars.
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