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Day 1: Jan 24, 2018, 4.00 AM
Los Angeles, California
Waking up at 4 have always seemed like a far cry when I'm in my hometown, Chennai, but whenever I travel I really don't care much about sleep – though I make sure I get a good amount of sleep, at least for 6 hours, in order to keep my body rejuvenated. As the boarding starts at 5.50, I had to make sure that I reach the airport by 5 to clear the security check. As it wasn't a weekend, I was pretty sure that there won't be a huge line at the TSA. Started from my cousin's home at 4.30 and I managed to get to the airport around 5. It took me a while to get to the terminal as I was dropped off by my cousin at terminal 3 and I had to wait for a shuttle that took me to terminal 6. By 5.40, I did complete the security check (as expected, it was less crowded), and managed to get into the aircraft on time.
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| Boarding Pass: Alaskan Airlines operated by Virgin America |
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| Inside the aircraft |
Previously, in the year 2016, I opted Virgin America to fly to Las Vegas from Los Angeles and the experience was thoroughly satisfying. Since then I couldn't give any second thoughts opting for this airline unless I badly wanted to try a different one. This time I was supposed to opt for Delta or United, but I was afraid of the delay I could face. A delay of even 1 hour will possibly screw up my day's routine. Virgin America appeared to be a safe bet as the chances of experiencing the delays are minimal. Moreover, I was running on a tight budget and this was the cheapest flight I could find that takes me from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I spent $39.20 on this flight.
At first, I thought, ‘Ashwin, once the flight departs, you're gonna take a nap for an hour to rejuvenate yourself'. But I ended up watching the movie ‘Home Alone' (at least 60% of it). Before I could get to the pre-climax, the aircraft landed in San Fransisco. Getting out of the aircraft, I followed the signboards and headed to the ‘Air train' station, which took me to the BART station.
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| Entry to Air train station |
After reaching the BART station and after struggling for a while to get my ticket out of the kiosk (thankfully a humble American lady helped me out), I headed to the platform. I had no clue of which train to board and all I knew is to get down at Powell station. My experience with trains when I visited Chicago in the mid of 2017 came to my rescue. All I did was to read the BART route map and understand the difference between the different coloured lines (blue line, yellow line, etc). I was there at San Franciso International Airport station, which means I had only one option – take the yellow line. I noticed that the train from SFO airport stops at Powell St, which was my destination. It took me close to 35 minutes for the train to reach Powell St. By the time I reached my destination, it was close to 9 in the morning. I was running on schedule, without any delays.
After reaching Powell St, the only thing that kept running through my mind is ‘burger'. Luckily, there was a Burger King right outside the train station and I had a steakburger (oh man! I love steak). After having my delicious breakfast, I walked to the Union Square to board the Grayline sightseeing bus that I booked online (Hop-on Hop-off 48-hour tour – I will discuss more in the future posts). From there I headed to the first sightseeing point, the place that was in my bucket for so many years – “The Golden Gate Bridge”.
The Golden Gate Bridge
Before proceeding further, I would like to share an important lesson I learnt while I was there – never ever visit San Francisco without carrying a jacket and a pair of gloves. I had my pullover which wasn't suitable for me to protect from the cold winds (it was around 6 degrees when I got there). Since it was early when I reached there (yeah, the city starts functioning post 10 o'clock in the morning), I couldn't find a suitable shop to buy a pair of gloves. Trust me, my hands froze to death from the moment I landed there till they opened the information centre at the Golden Gate south vista point where I bought a pair of gloves for $8.
South vista point wasn't that exciting, except that you get a close look of the bridge. In my opinion, the north vista point was fabulous at it gave the bay area view along with the golden gate bridge and Alcatraz island. The above pictures were shot from the south vista point and the below pictures were shot from the north vista point. Trust me, sitting at the top of the open bus on the front seat and enjoying the cold wind blowing on my face, the experience of crossing the Golden Gate bridge was out of the world. This might sound like nothing to everyone else but this place was on my bucket list for so long that I was super excited when I got to do what I wanted to – crossing the Golden Gate bridge. I could've walked but I was on a very tight schedule and I couldn't afford to lose 1 hour walking across the bridge.
** Continued in Part 2 **
