AMERICA (JUNE 2017)
I had been dreaming about this trip for almost two years. I only had a small amount of time, so everything had to be planned down to the wire and I was excited to go on this adventure. That’s how I wanted to remember it – as a great adventure with friends and a trip for myself with memories that would last. Unfortunately, I had started dating someone for a few months and out of the blue he tells me that he doesn’t want me to go on my trip. When I replied that he was being unreasonable, he screamed that he didn’t see why I couldn’t drop everything and do what he wanted me to do, and that it was “unnatural” for me to have any close friends of the opposite gender.
So I said, “Okay, I agree. I’ll cancel everything” and never went on my trip.
Just kidding.
Single and happy once more, I fittingly hopped on my flight to the land of the free and the home of the brave a few months later. Two and a half weeks. Six flights. Four cities. And the most fun travelling that I’ve ever had.
San Francisco
I stayed in Berkeley, the home of the Free Speech Movement in the 60s, where my friend was a student at the university. When I had told the customs officer at the airport this, he had remarked, “Hm, Berkeley. Quite left.” Walking around the streets of Berkeley, I could certainly see why he thought so. There were Black Lives Matter signs in people’s windows and pickets on lawns proclaiming, “We believe in science! Women have the right to choose!” It was new for me to see people wear their politics so openly and boldly. Politics was not something entirely separate from people’s lives that went on in the background; here, it was part of their identity.
Over the next few days wandering around San Fran, I discovered politics would be an integral part of my experience in America. When I ordered a cocktail and oysters in the financial district, the bottom of my receipt would read, “Immigrants Make America Great”. Even my food was politicised. And I loved it. I am not American, but I followed the Presidential election closely and felt the tidal wave of horror mingled with shock at the result. Every rebellious liberal message I came across in California gave me hope.
Nowhere was the message of hope more prevalent than in the Castro District of San Fran. The Castro District was one of the first gay neighbourhoods in America and there was an explosion of rainbow flags everywhere, more than usual, because it was Pride month. My trip was amazing, but a big regret I have is that I missed the Pride Parade, which would have been wonderful to see. As I walked through the multi-coloured streets, I thought, “So, this is what she meant” and smiled to myself.
A while ago, I had been at a friend’s birthday dinner. I wound up talking to a stranger who was telling me all about her recent trip to San Fran. She seemed relatively normal and I enjoyed the conversation up until she said, “It’s a great city, except there’s one big street full of gay people. Avoid it.” After a beat of shock, I managed to recover and loudly quipped, “GAY PEOPLE, YOU SAY? Well, then that’s exactly where I need to be.” She hastily made an excuse and moved seats while I sat there chuckling.
Something I was really looking forward to was biking around San Fran and being on the Golden Gate Bridge. Biking is a great way to get a feel for a city, I find. San Fran is a beautiful, eclectic city–in both its people and its architecture. I think that if you don’t quite fit in anywhere else or are searching for something, you could come to San Fran and feel at home. It’s a city that revels in being a melting pot. After tackling one of San Fran’s particularly steep hills, taking a look at the unique houses on the street is a good excuse to stop and catch your breath. San Fran’s houses are famous for their mix of Victorian and modern architecture. Bright colours, columns, bay windows and decorative lace eaves are everywhere. No two houses are alike.
After a big morning of biking all over the city, we arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge. There were whales playing underneath us, which was really special. I could clearly see their flukes curve elegantly in and out of the water as they frolicked, and laughed at the seagull that got startled when a spout of water hit it mid-air. Tip: they’ve now divided the bridge so that one side is for walking, and the other is for biking, whereas before you could do both on either side. I would recommend taking the walking side, which has a much better view.
From the Golden Gate Bridge, you can see the notorious Alcatraz Island. I would highly recommend this tour, run by the National Park Service. The tour is fascinating, well organised and inexpensive. Tip: book your tickets as soon as possible because they sell out quickly (tickets are released 90 days in advance of the tour date). The view from Alcatraz is stunning. As one inmate had remarked, it was the perfect prison. You have the best view of the city, you can see everything you ever wanted, but you can never have it because getting sent to Alcatraz was like being put underground. The skeletons of some of the old buildings on the island and the cacophony of the hundreds of birds nesting there give the history of Alcatraz a real atmosphere.
Another aspect of San Francisco that I still remember vividly is the food, one of the best advantages to having a multicultural city. In particular, I remember the best seafood of my life and all the bakeries. Lemon crème tarts, mushroom tartines, the sweetest crabmeat and scallop sashimi…all made with the freshest ingredients and bright flavours. A highlight of my trip was meeting famous chef Dominique Crenn by chance. She is so lovely and friendly, with no airs about her at all despite the fact she is one of the best, most talented chefs in the world. She is effortlessly cool and charming in a way only the French can be. Thank you for stopping to meet me chef Dominique, tu es merveilleux.
Yosemite
It was time for a little road trip. Although I lived in Canada for a year, I never drove there. Canadians and Americans drive on the right side of the road, while in New Zealand we drive on the left. Thankfully, I did not need to use the insurance I purchased and lived to tell the tale. I was so excited to do this road trip with my friend. We were belting out classics like California by Phantom Planet and Hotel California by The Eagles, while actually driving down the 101. That is what memories are made of.
When people ask me what Yosemite is like, all I hear is myself repeating “beautiful” over and over. There are some places on this planet that words just can’t do any justice to, but I’ll give it my best shot. Yosemite is awe-inspiring and majestic. Standing at the top of the valley looking out at the soaring granite cliffs, you feel so small and everything is put into perspective. You are at once reminded that you are connected to a much bigger earth and also that your little worries do not matter in the scheme of things. Yosemite is the most gorgeous place I have ever seen. Although New Zealand has its own beauty, it struck me as strange that Americans would travel all the way here when they had that in their own backyard. But I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. We hiked for three days in the blazing Californian sun all around Yosemite, and stood under waterfalls to let the mist cool our skin. The best hike was when we reached the summit and there was still snow, despite the heat. I never thought I’d have a snowball fight at the top of a mountain. Given how hot it was, losing the snowball fight was an advantage for the first time ever.
Las Vegas
I was going to be staying in Las Vegas for one night only and was excited to see my friends from Canada. I had never been to Las Vegas before, only seen it in movies. In the cab from the airport to the hotel, my driver asked me if I was here for EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival, a massive music festival). “No,” I laughed. “I’m here for the Backstreet Boys concert and it’s going to be the best night ever!” And it was. I danced, I sang every lyric, I screamed hysterically and I loved every second.
Las Vegas is a whole other world of escapism. There are massive replicas of global monuments everywhere–a pyramid, the Eiffel tower–and everything is larger than life. In the conservatory of the Bellagio Hotel, there are giant floral sculptures made of thousands of fresh flowers. The water and light show outside the Bellagio at night is quite spectacular to see as well. There is always something to entertain you and distract you from real life. Maybe next time I can stay longer in Las Vegas and ask the guy dressed as a cowboy in ass-less chaps on the street his life story.
New Orleans
Ah, New Orleans–city of jazz and soul food. NOLA was the place I had most wanted to visit in America, and it exceeded my expectations. I found the locals here especially friendly; I only had to stand on the street for one minute before a kindly southern gentleman in a tan suit asked if I needed directions anywhere. The locals clearly loved their city and were eager to share it with us.
Daytime was spent strolling through the sunny streets of NOLA, listening to buskers on every corner and perusing the many art galleries, while nights were spent sipping cocktails and listening to live jazz on Frenchman St. We did take a walk down the famous Bourbon St, but drunken college students bellowing loudly and the strong tang of cheap alcohol is not my kind of scene. Tip: You are actually allowed to drink in public in NOLA; the only rule is that your cup must be plastic.
NOLA, like San Francisco, has its own unique architecture inspired by its multicultural history. You can find an example of almost every style, from creole townhouses, to Greek revival, to Spanish, to French and Victorian. The Southern mansions in the historic Garden District showcase this variety on a grand scale. Massive columns, intricate facades and wrought iron gates give some of them an almost Gothic feel.
This spooky, mysterious and magical quality is also what drew me, a horror fanatic, to this city. NOLA has a dark history if you look beneath the smoke of the jazz bars. After all, it started as a French penal colony, where the worst of the worst were sent to survive hurricanes, yellow fever plagues and each other. It is famous for its hauntings, voodoo, murders and even vampire societies. New Orleans is proud of its beautiful and unique cemeteries, otherwise known as “cities of the dead”, which feature mausoleums and tombs above ground (as the city was built on a swamp, you could not bury people underground unless you wanted them to pop back up out of the ground during frequent flooding). Cemetery scenes from classic movies were filmed in NOLA, such as one from the film Double Jeopardy (a personal favourite), which was shot in Lafayette cemetery. I think it was here that I saw the sweetest Southern inscription, which read simply, “Reunited With His Honey”.
But the most famous cemetery of them all is Saint Louis Cemetery No.1. I was there to see the tomb of the powerful Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau. Her tomb is one of the most visited sites in America and people frequently leave tokens in the hope that she will grant them a wish. Tip: Many tourist sites suggest drawing three x’s on her tomb for a wish, but this is actually offensive to voodoo practitioners so please refrain, unless you’d like to be cursed.
Nicolas Cage’s pyramid-shaped tomb (he was going through his National Treasure phase, I think) is also there waiting for him. Alas, that tomb is the only piece of property Nic Cage has left in NOLA after the IRS apparently repossessed his homes due to tax issues. Some say this happened because he bought cursed land–the home of the notorious Delphine LaLaurie. Madame LaLaurie was a woman of high society in NOLA who threw lavish parties downstairs in her parlours, while keeping slaves chained in her attic that she had tortured. When a fire broke out in her kitchen and authorities discovered what she was doing, she escaped out the back in a carriage to France, allegedly laughing maniacally.
If there’s anything that can revive your appetite after a horror story, the food in NOLA can. In particular, it is famous for its beignets, which are these beautiful pillow-shaped French doughnuts from heaven. Golden and crispy on the outside, soft and doughy on the inside, they are served piping hot with tons of icing sugar. Pair a beignet or three with an iced coffee, and it’s the perfect way to start your day. Southern food is comforting and hearty, the way food was meant to be. I also got to try crayfish pie, rabbit and dumplings, and alligator for the first time, all of which were delicious and flavourful. Although, I do regret not going to a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant and living out my dream of eating a massive pile of crawdads taller than me. Oh well, next time.
Because there will definitely be a next time. It may be a cliché, but it’s completely true for NOLA when I say that that city and its people are full of soul. I love NOLA and hopefully one day when I’m a millionaire I can own a home there and spend my days sipping tea, listening to the sweet sound of jazz float down every corner.
Los Angeles
My last stop was the city of angels to see one of my childhood friends. It’s a big city where people go to make their dreams come true and see their name in lights. But walking through downtown LA, I could see how someone who was a little naïve and innocent could be swallowed whole and lose their way. As one of my wise Uber drivers (himself an aspiring musician) put it, you have to be careful in LA. There are some good people, but a lot of others who don’t actually want to be your friend. It’s hard to find real friends, he mused, because everyone in LA is only looking at how you can be useful to them and help their career. That LA is a city full of fake people is an opinion I’ve heard more than once but never fully understood until then. Well, I guess that’s what you get when you live in a city full of actors.
No trip to the land of Hollywood would be complete without a visit to Universal Studios. It was an absolutely magical, fun experience. It was awesome to see the sets of classic movies that I love like Psycho and Jaws, but, for me, Harry Potter World was the best experience of them all. They had created a life-sized replica of Hogmeade, where you can drink butterbeer, buy candy from Honeydukes and even choose a wand from Ollivanders. Tip: ask for the butterbeer iced, not just cold, as it tastes better. I also now possess the elder wand, which I won in a fierce duel of course, and my inner geek has never been happier.
The name “Voldemort” actually crossed my mind when I fortuitously disembarked at my metro stop and found myself at the exact spot on the walk of fame where Donald Trump’s star was. Alas, I did not have my wand with me, so I used a substitute: my middle finger. I have never been prouder to do my civic duty as a decent human being.
Another highlight was experiencing the Getty Museum and the Getty Villa. The Getty Villa specialises in ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities. While the antiquities are very interesting, the museum itself is also a work of art. Modelled off of one of the most luxurious villas in the ancient world, the Villa dei Papiri in Italy, which was buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the Getty Villa is a study in symmetry and all the details are hand-painted. The larger Getty Museum was amazing as well. When you’re finished gazing at a Monet or a Van Gogh, the outdoor areas are also a sight for sore eyes. The building is bright white, with lush green gardens full of topiary and the best view of LA from its many balconies. If I lived in LA, I would probably spend a lot of time at the Getty Museums, where J. Paul Getty realised his dream of building a space for art, elevated above the smog and noise of the city.
If you’re sick of the city, another way to escape is to head to the beach–Venice beach, of course. There is a thriving market place full of people selling art, clothing and all their wares along the beachfront. Walk a bit further down and you’ll see Muscle Beach, where bodybuilders sweat it out under the sweltering sun. Also nearby is Santa Monica pier, where we took a stroll to watch the sunset against the rollercoaster ride and carnival atmosphere before stopping to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. To my surprise, the Cheesecake Factory actually has great food, including an assortment of cheesecakes, obviously. The portion sizes in America never ceased to amaze me. Instead of the small bowl of pasta I was expecting, I received a platter the length of my forearm. New Zealand restaurants, I hope you’re taking notes.
After dinner that night, my friend took me line dancing to country music over a bar. I’d never done it before and I’m not sure I got all the moves right at all, but it was a whole lot of fun and I can understand America’s enthusiasm for the genre.
Finally, it was my last day in America. After a good gin cocktail on a rooftop bar overlooking the tall skyscrapers and a hard goodbye with my dear friend, I boarded the plane back home. My luggage wasn’t filled with shopping like it usually is, but with something even better–memories of one of the best experiences of my life.
*Special thank you to my friends Nick, Brendan and Roxie for helping to make this trip amazing and wonderful, just like them.
Photos are copyright to Storme Sen
