We head to Chinatown and spend a good portion of the day there. Southwest Airlines was sponsoring some sort of parade for Chinese New Year, so the streets were all decked out with lanterns and it looked festive. We're taken by the how vibrant the colors are, and again, intrigued by the architecture.
We stop at a park and sit on the tire swigs for a few minutes, and are stopped by a man who needs to use my phone. I naturally do no trust people, so I call the number and put it on speaker. He thanks me by offering me a joint. "Naw thanks, I'm good," I tell him. I think he's in the middle of a deal gone bad so we make sure to get out of there real quick. (Did I mention this is the second time we've been offered weed since we've been here? I feel like it's some sort of currency for favors, but how expensive this must be!)
Across the street is St Mary's - California's first cathedral. It was completed in 1854, and had withstood both earthqukes and fire. There is something about standing in this quiet spot in the middle of a busy city and realizing the holiness of this sanctified space on Ash Wednesday.
We wander Chinatown some more, but now were deep in the city, far from tourists. We explore markets and storefronts selling sea cucumbers and oranges. Older folks move impatiently past white people taking pictures of things foreign to us - breadfruit and pigs feet to Instagram later. This is their life. They've come here to buy things for dinner and you're in their way.
Trash lines the streets but overhead it's all bright red lanterns and golden buildings. We might be the only white people here but that's cool. It's good to be "other-ed" for awhile.
We find a strange sidewalk with sayings on it. Some I like. Some hurt.
We use a fancy outdoor restroom. It looks European and it has automatic doors. We cross the park and eat for a minute. Then we cross the street and admired St. Paul's Cathedral. Stunning. I think this one is actually more beautiful than St. Mary's, but we can't go inside.
We make our way over to Lombard street to find the most crooked road. We find it after climbing a really steep hill, but if that little grandma over there in heels can, then darn it, I'm gonna do it too. Seeds drop on our heads as we climb the stairs and we look up to find about 25 parakeets overhead - a beautiful shade of green with red feathers around the face. These birds can't be indigenous to this area, I know it. The view from the top is incredible. We can see the city really well, and see Coit tower. We head back down and catch a bus home.
No comments:
Post a Comment