In the plane from Zürich to London they served some wrapped snack. I asked the steward what it is, but i did not understand him, so i asked the neighbor sitting at the other isle, who i also knew that he didn't know reading from his facial expression, he answered with a smile: something to eat. That was funny, i just liked him, so after that we chatted a bit. They were two on the way home, he as a former iranien to England, the other to Glasgow. They changed planes in ostrich coming from ?Mumbai?, working in oil, on an oil platform, on a small island off west Africa, populated by half a million people, they own 10% of all oil reserve in the world. But it belongs to the wrong people, he said, they were on a 24 day leave, having worked 24 days. he was Arab looking, custom official picked him out right after leaving the plane, the real custom check was later, they picked him there out again to check his luggage, whereas me, a *white* person and non citizen of the Uk, could pass easily.
in London in drizzling rain first thing i hopped on a red double decker bus to Camden town market. i love the locks there, the water, the bridges, the boats. It's bustling, tons of people, it's commercial but the good vibes give the rules, i love the old furniture there, the leather sofas. One guy has a stall there with just wooden tools. busing then to hampstead, it rained now, so i started to check out the pub scenes. Great English institution, these are the old pacesetters for todays lounges, only the heavy smoking pisses me off, in all of London i found only one pub with a really good and fair non smoking designated area. I did more city street walking, also by bus. It still rained, i wear geox shoes with holes in the sole, but they started to leak. My geox shoes are not waterproof. So i ended my city street walking. Next morning i went for a stroll in bishops garden, then along the Thames in putney. in the morning at home i went early for my morning shit, which worked out fine, because i was training for next day, my flying day to San Francisco, i hate to go to the toilet on a plane, usually i don't have to go early in the morning, more so in england where i drink tea and not coffee, so i did a little bit of shit training, so i will be in good form for my flying day, but the toilet after flushing did not sink, that stinking brownish water came slowly up, i was shocked it would overflow. Here i was treated to stay as a guest in the poshest of all London, in an exquisite apartment building with Mahogany wood paneling and the rolls roys auto dealership right around the corner, and that stinking brownish water full of my shit was on its way to overflow posh Mayfair and in the afternoon my flat owner would arrive from abroad finding the flat underwater with some shitty floor liquids. . . So please let me stop here about my English flushing problems in London ...
Still i managed for a boat ride on the Thames to Greenwich, where i checked if the 0 meridian was properly positioned. It is. Flying day from London to San Francisco. I booked this flight 2 and half month in advance, already then i did not get a window seat. This is a big problem for my personnel well being, I'm a painter artist, my job is looking, staring, in a car, on a motorcycle, train, plane, with or without open mouth, I'm a first rate voyeur, i have flown to San Francisco many times, 30 to 50 times, i always had a window seat, during the flight, ¾ was overcast, not england, all of Canada, landing over Sonoma and Marin. Zinfandel walk hotel 2 marina and back. Petaluma , balboa cafe nach der ankunft im flughafen von SFO machte ich zwei riesen laute juchzer vor freude, my soul was jumping to the moon.
i had a window seat, not at the checking in though. i booked my flight in august, 3 months ahead, and all window seats were already gone. without window seats i was down. I'm a first class voyeur, this is my profession, non stop looking. 11 hours not be able to be a voyeur, ugh, oh no what a perspective for a painter. only in the airplane, shortly before take off i spotted an empty window seat, so i asked the stewardess if i could change seat and it was ok with her. i was in heaven even before we were in heaven. most of west england i could see, so Scotland, then it started to be overcast, of Greenland i could see for about 10 minutes, but that was impressive, white glaciers on and on, then of Canada just a white cover, approaching the USA it started to clear up, first snow in sight, Idaho was white, and before Oregon a bit, many volcanoes, then northern California, ugh then it went all so fast approaching San Francisco. the plane flew close to the pacific, along tomales bay. Sonoma county, Marin county, napa, some reservoir lakes, which i bicycled many times long time ago, mount tamalpaias was the only place i could spot for sure before spotting the Golden Gate Bridge. i was finally here were i wanted to belong.
since i had only hand baggage, i was the fastest through customs, even so US Customs are the toughest with their questions, but they have my understanding. hopping on a door to door shuttle, soon after i made my first stroll from downtown hotel to the marina. at the *Balboa* cafe i tasted my first *Zinfandel* wine. on solid ground coming from heaven, i still was in heaven. thank you for being in San Francisco.
Etwa 09Nov2005, nicht mehr sicher, denn mein Blog stürzte mal ab, kann auch eine Woche früher sein, ich flog immer mitte Woche, meistens am Dienstag und blieb für rund 3 Monate in SFO. Auf Februar wieder Arbeit in der Skischule Flims/Laax.
