— Bohemia, great food and eclectic weather on America’s West Coast
Despite venturing across the pond to the US of A on a few occasions, I had only covered the East Coast. This year I went a little further afield, starting with Las Vegas. Las Vegas is possibly the weirdest place I have ever been. Everything is supersized: the hotels, the food, the people! And the heat is unbearable, staying at a constant 40C. I have to say, after about three or four days you can run out of things to do, but there are some good trips you can take, including the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. There are also a variety of shows worth going to that all take place in the fantastic hotels, many of which you might have seen in the likes of Ocean’s Eleven. Las Vegas certainly has a charm about it, but you do have to look past the manufactured facade in order to discover this. Las Vegas can be a crazy place though, with pensioners hitting the slot machines to blow their life’s savings before they have even had breakfast.
After my three-day stint in Las Vegas, we drove the most unscenic route ever through the barren scrubland of Nevada and California to Los Angeles. I stayed in Santa Monica, a beach resort about 25 minutes outside the city. LA has its pros and cons. The city itself isn’t anything special, hardly pretty with no culture whatsoever, but saying this I did enjoy my walk through Hollywood, past the Kodak Theatre which is where the Oscars are held. From there I took a bus ride around the stars’ houses, through Beverley Hills and Bel Air, and yes, I did see the Fresh Prince’s pad! Not as good in real life, I must say. Shaquille O’Neil’s house, on the other hand, is ridiculous. But once you’ve done those touristy things and checked out the shops on Rodeo Drive, LA does not have much else to offer.
Leaving LA, We traveled north to my favourite part of the trip, San Francisco. San Francisco was great: a real wholesome place with so much to offer. The weather wasn’t the best; the city has a microclimate of it’s own, which is about 10 degrees colder than its surrounding area. This strange predicament is apparently something to do with the wind in the bay. San Francisco also has a real bohemian feel to it, and embraces all cultures and nationalities that visit it and is subsequently
extremely cosmopolitan. This is echoed in the food and in the temperament of the people. In addition to this, the city completely rejects the fame-grabbing, shallow attitude that its Californian counterpart oozes. I found that the people of San Francisco are a bit like New Yorkers, with less of an edge. The public transport is great, with trams covering the entire city, and another fun thing to do is to take the old cable car, where everyone hangs on the side for dear life.
San Francisco is rife with museums and Alcatraz – the famous prison where Al Capone ended up – is also recommended. The best thing I did when I was there was to bike the Golden Gate Bridge. The view of the city from the bridge is stunning, and it’s inexpensive, working out at about £10 per person, only taking around an hour and a half to do the whole thing.
As I touched on earlier, San Francisco’s geographical location means that over the years, like New York, immigrants from all over the world have inhabited the city. Therefore the city offers a fantastic range of different restaurants and food. On the first night I found myself in the centre of Chinatown,
being hoarded into what looked like a dingy apartment block. Seven stories higher, this dingy apartment block opened itself out to be a tranquil Chinese restaurant, with possibly the best spring rolls I have ever tried! Little Italy also offers some fantastic restaurants and all the areas are marked by flags on lampposts, so you know which or whose area you are in.
The only drawback with San Francisco is the abundance of impoverished people that can be seen wandering the streets, which can be fairly intimidating for some. Also a tourist has to be careful – although safe in most areas, take a wrong turn in San Francisco and you will end up in what looks like a scene from the film 8 Mile. I found this out the hard way as I was strolling around, and ended up in the centre of Tenderloin, famously a drug trafficking area, with many addicts roaming around looking for a fix. I have to say that was a hairy twenty minutes! On the whole though I was thoroughly impressed with the West Coast of America and will definitely return. I certainly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about taking a trip to the states.
Sarah Brown
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