San Francisco - the first part

Arrived in San Francisco on a Wednesday, after what must have been the shortest flight ever between Atlanta and San Francisco - it took less than 40 minutes. I was awake for maximum 20 minutes - may also have been 10 because I don't remember taking off - in the beginning, and for about 20 minutes before we were on ground and the door opened. And I KNOW that flight is supposed to be many hour long, but little did I feel it.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, April 2012

Arrived in San Francisco, bag already through customs clearance in Atlanta, and while I was wandering up to get my bag my friend was all of a sudden right in front of me, my very dear friend whom I was going to stay with and whom I know well, and as I was so focused on getting my bag and didn't expect that he would have been able to walk all the way up to where the bags arrives, it took a split second before I recognized him. I blame the jetlag.

Once the bag had arrived it was tremendously nice to not have to worry about any taxi line or any shuttle buses, nor any train for that matter (BART, the train, goes all the way from San Francisco International Airport to the city - a really good option if you ask me) - I could just walk up to my friend's car, load the bag into it, and off we went. It was also really nice to just get inside, unpack the most important, and walk out to get something to eat.

Feeling the smell of San Francisco, breathing in the atmosphere, seeing the hills, now even more clearly very very hilly (after four years in one of the flattest cities in Germany, good old Düsseldorf, I saw San Francisco in a partly new light. The last time I was here was 3.5 years ago, when I had been less than a year in Germany). It felt a bit like coming home, I love the city of San Francisco. There is only one disadvantage with it and that is the distance from all other brilliant cities - even Los Angeles which is the closest what I would call big city is some 7-9 hours driving time away.

I knew I was going to have a great time in California, and it started well.

But then again, it is San Francisco, how coudl that EVER be anything but great?