San Francisco

Pictured: The San Francisco Marriott Hotel.


I had a great time going up to the Bay Area for Jamie and Ben's wedding last week. I thought it might be a good idea to set down some of my diary of the journey.

Both of my flights were very comfortable. I flew Virgin American airlines, which is only a year old and only has a few planes, but had very good service and a kind of style you don't see much any more with airlines. The terminal counter had a vase of real flowers on it, and there was sort of a purple mood lighting on the planes. San Francisco International airport is much, much nicer than LAX, too. LAX is a dirty, noisy, congested crap-hole.

The BART subway now runs all the way to the SF airport, so I used that both ways and also to cross the Bay to go to the wedding. Very easy to use and efficient. I wish L.A. had a real subway.

I stayed at the giant Marriott hotel in San Francisco overlooking Yerba Buena Gardens. The floorplan is maze-like and I kept getting lost. One day there was a power failure and as a result, my room safe , clock, keycard door lock and the water pumps to the higher floors all failed, as did most of the lights and elevators. I had to go down ten flights of stairs. On the other hand, my bed had six pillows. As with the last several hotels I've stayed at, they tried to bill me for non-existant mini-bar purchases. I guess a lot of travellers are too unobservant or in too much of a hurry checking-out to fight back against this sort of fraud.

I walked all the way accross town on Columbus Avenue, from the Financial District, through Chinatown, through North Beach, to Fisherman's Wharf. I'm kind of surprised they haven't banned the name Columbus, given this city's politics. I guess the Italians still have enough clout not to get pushed around. But it's only a matter of time before Fisherman's Wharf becomes Fisherpersons' Wharf.

Random observations:

• All the Chinese people I see here look about 700 years old. Where are the kids?
• There are no mailboxes anywhere in this town.
• Japanese tourists can sleep in any position.
• It is impossible to buy a good map of the East Bay.
• Why do hotel housekeepers always "tuck in" the bed sheets? I hate that. I get claustrophobic.

An Evening With David Sedaris

Every year for the past five or six years or so, I've taken my mother and brother to see David Sedaris when he appears at UCLA.

Last Saturday night was his most recent visit, and he was in top form. He read about half a dozen stories over a period of two hours. They were all new except for one I had already read - a very funny story about his experiences flying to Europe, which you can read online here.

He always seems to include one gross-out story, this one about animals that commit suicide by hiding in the bushes by the side of the road and jumping into oncoming traffic at the last minute.

He's quit smoking and he no longer talks about being gay, and he didn't even mention living in France. I wonder if he's turning into a Republican.