Jan. 20th

The trip is getting close to being over and the rain still isn’t giving up like we had hoped for. Instead of doing a walking tour through some of the San Franciscan neighborhoods we decided shopping in Union Square for the morning would be more enjoyable. After having breakfast at the hotel we loaded up on the bus and headed toward shopping mania. I had never seen so many stores in my life. Three stories of The North Face, five stories of Niketown, four of Urban Outfitters, and the list could go on and on. It was overwhelming to say the least. We had lunch in the food court considering it didn’t involve us having to brave the downpour. I had a giant burrito filled with veggies and black beans while some of my friends had sausage sandwiches and grilled paninis. Compared to the fresh food we have been eating the last few days the food court wasn’t amazing but I enjoyed being inside and having lunch with my friends.
After Union Square we headed toward Haight Ashbury for our tour. I hadn’t heard much about our tour guide other than the fact that she was quite the character. After meeting Eizu, formerly Suzie, “quite the character” was a huge understatement. The rain had died down a bit we were standing outside a brightly painted townhouse as Icco, Eizu’s knight in shining amour, pushed her in her 45lb wheelchair up the hill. She ecstatically introduced herself and welcomed us into the 60’s hippie psychedelic museum. As hot tea simmered in the kitchen we sat listening to Eizu’s stories about her days as a dead head. Well actually, she still is a dead head! The house had dozens of old pictures of music icons. She shared firsthand memories of the Summer of Love and Woodstock. It was obvious that she had a true passion for the hippie way of life and I don’t think any other explanation of this time period would do it any amount of justice.
We walked through Haight Ashbury with Eizu pointing out famous singer’s houses, memorable street signs, and “totally cool” clothing shops. I would have never imagined myself being so intrigued by such a hippie but her love for the music and culture of this neighborhood was almost contagious. She could answer almost every question and add in about five extra minutes of details that some probably didn’t need to know! She was a phenomenal speaker and storyteller and I had a blast during my time in the Haight. After leaving Eizu we visited Amoeba records and shopped around the neighborhood for a while until we headed off to dinner. The rain had slowed down to a slight drizzle during our tour but as we got off the bus to eat dinner at the infamous Burger Meister it felt more like a rainstorm. After multiple wrong turns we finally found the small burger joint and I had a delicious cheeseburger with fries.
Today was more casual and less structured than most of the other days but after almost a week of non-stop going it felt good to just walk around together in the city. The Haight was beyond my expectations and I couldn’t have dreamed up a better tour guide than Eizu for our time in Haight Ashbury. After all the fresh food and healthy nutritious meals it honestly felt nice to have a fatty cheeseburger and french-fries.