San Francisco

[juliet]

Arrived in San Francisco this morning. We came under the Golden Gate Bridge just after 4am -- which I did get up for, and it was all very exciting. We came right past Fisherman's Wharf, as well, and I could see Grace Cathedral all lit up on the hill as we came into the bay. Docked just before 6am, had a nice chat to a very friendly, helpful Customs & Immigration Official, and was on US soil by 7am. I then hiked about 2 miles to the nearest BART station, which may have been an error (my knees hurt now), but after 24 days of no exercise at all, it felt good at the time.

Other things that are good: the TRULY ENORMOUS vegan burrito I had for breakfast (black beans and tofu!); free interwebs and squashy sofas at the youth hostel; being in contact with people again.

I am bloody knackered though (didn't sleep much at all last night, and haven't been sleeping well for a while now, possibly due to lack of exercise) and hanging on in there for another couple of hrs until I can legitimately go to sleep.

The ship was an interesting experience, about which I may write more anon. The diet (they're not really set up for vegans or even vegetarians; I ate a lot of boiled potatoes, although the cook was kind enough to cook veg separately most days for myself and the other veggie passenger) & lack of exercise I found really fairly tough. Being out of contact for so long was quite good in some ways (can't keep hitting F5... and I certainly found it a slightly stressful shock to get back online today and have an inbox full of 90% crap to deal with); and not good in others (no way of contacting people I actually want to talk to!). And of course it did the thing I wanted it to: I got from point A (Australia) to point B (the US) successfully, if slowly.

More excitingly, I saw DOLPHINS in Mexico & then on our way up the coast. And flying fish nearer the equator! I also came to the conclusion that the Pacific is really very, very large indeed.

It might be nearly dinnertime. I am going to make lentil bolognaise. I am looking forward to this quite a lot.

Comments

[damned_colonial]

I'm interested in the exercise thing. It might just be too much Terminator 2 at an impressionable age, but I always thought that if I were ever in prison or, well, on a freighter for 24 days, I'd use it as an excuse to get up to doing 100 pushups and stuff, and I would come out of it super buff and ready to take on the zombie apocalypse or whatever. Most of the freighter cruise websites I've looked at say they have an exercise room with cardio machines, too. Did yours?

[juliet]

I'm seriously rubbish at doing that sort of exercise - I can't keep the motivation up. (And shipboard life in general is not good for motivation -- everything seems very calm, somehow, and I found myself feeling very detached.) This is why cycling is my usual option - it's transport, so I'll automatically get it done. Surfing worked too but that was fun :)

I *just about* managed to keep up with doing pushups intermittently. Surfing 3 times a week for 4 months generated me some upper body strength for the first time *ever* & I didn't want to lose it altogether, which gave me just sufficient motivation. Unfortunately, my real problem with pushups is to do with lower back muscles. Surfing was v good for those as well but pushups per se don't do that much.

There was indeed an exercise room. It contained 1 x broken weights machine, 1 x seemingly slightly broken static bike (the setup felt weird, and I couldn't work out how to change it, and I didn't want to risk putting my knee out *again*, which bad bike setup will do), and 1 x functional rowing machine. Unfortunately 5 min on the rowing machine generated kneeache, so I gave up on that.

(And it's the cardio that really does the making-me-feel-better, for me, although I would *like* more in the muscle line as well!)

[sashajwolf]

If you're ever in a similar situation again, yoga sun salutations might be worth a try. They're surprisingly aerobic, great for flexibility, and develop some strength in the arms as well, especially if you do them slowly - and you should be able to do them in most spaces where you can do pushups (you do need more headroom and a bit of space in front of you). There's a description in words here and pictures here, both from the Sivananda school (other schools have slightly different sequences). We usually do 12 rounds as a warm-up in class. People who want a challenge sometimes work up to doing 108 rounds in a single session, especially to mark solstices and birthdays (9, 27, 54 and 108 are auspicious numbers in Hinduism).

[djm4]

Glad to hear you made landfall OK. Coming in under the Golden Gate sounds fantastic - I once spent an evening in Lincoln Park just watching ships do that.

What's your rough schedule from here on?

[juliet]

Leaving here tomorrow (Friday) morning for train to the East Coast; pottering around Baltimore/New York/Philadelphia for a day or two; currently due to leave Philly on another ship on the 24th; arriving at Tilbury the 3rd, I think.

[zebrallama]

You made it! Well done!

Uhmrflbd

[(Anonymous)]

TcineU

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Good to have you back in the land of the contact-able dude!

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

Wheeeee! Hello! :)

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Did you go to "Herbivore"? That place is lovely.

[juliet]

I have not been there! And sadly tonight will be self-catering so can't, bah. Another time...

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

There are a load of great vegan places in SF. Bah, I should have been more organised and given you a list :-( Fair payback for your excellent Paris suggestions, which I muchly appreciated.

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

Helloooo! *waves*

I don't suppose you could catch yr own (flying!) fishies from the boat (not that YOU would, I mean one)!

[juliet]

I guess one could in theory! But you're quite a long way off sea-level on a cargo freighter (maybe 5m+ on the bow, a bit less at the aft deck).

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Have a good time in SF!

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

YAY!!!

Expect an email soon!
x

[steer.livejournal.com]

Dolphins rock totally. I'm off to SF in early Sept, hope it's a fun place to be.

[juliet]

SF is awesome & thoroughly recommended in general.

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

I am going to San Francisco tomorrow, but the quick way. :) I am hoping it is warm there, since it is pretty cold in Auckland right now.

I'd be interested to hear more about the ship. I read David Foster Wallace's A Supposedly Fun Thing I Will Never Do Again which put me off such things a bit, but would be interested to hear other people's experiences of such things.

[juliet]

I haven't read the book; was that a cruise ship? I was on a cargo freighter, which is a different beast: pretty much all you get is your cabin & food, & access to the ship's DVD and book collection; rather than the whole entertainment etc etc that cruises provide. There'll only be a handful of passengers, as well (at most 12, due to licensing restrictions; the ship I was on could carry 6 passengers plus the 21 crew, but there were in fact only 3 of us). (We also had free run of the ship -- I don't know how normal this is.)

There's not a lot to do, basically. I had my laptop, knitting, some books, etc etc, so enough to keep me occupied, but it all fels very disconnected & motivation is a bit difficult! Plus, as above, no exercise to speak of available. I wouldn't do it again for preference, but I would if it was the only way to reach a place without flying. (And I do of course have another 8 days on a different ship upcoming!).

I don't think I'd go on a cruise ship, full stop. Plus they're actually worse for the environment than flying (unlike cargo freighters -- it's to do with a) the fuel used for the 'hotel' stuff on cruises, & b) the fact that nothing else useful is being done with the ship/voyage).

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Welcome back to (what passes for) civilization :-)

In case you missed it, Herschel launched successfully and is now up there getting ready to do stuff. You can see more here:

herschelmission.wordpress.com

Hope the rest of the traveling goes well!