Summing Up
And given everything else weighing on our minds, I didn't expect to enjoy San Francisco anywhere near as much as I did. I really liked it, and I really want to go back. I would even go as far and say it was my favourite of all the US cities we visited - leaving the best for last! It had a really nice feel to it, quite different to the other big cities we visited. There is plenty more to visit in San Francisco for us, and the nearby surrounds. Without a doubt, we will be back. It needs more time than we had given it, let alone what time we ended up having there - but at least we know that for sure now, and the next trip can take that into account!
This was also the end of our time in the US - 4 weeks in total. We had been from one coast to the other, across the continent seeing all manner of things along the way. It was the longest we'd spent in a single country the entire trip, but the US is not a country like any other. One coast is not like the other - and without a doubt, the other areas of the US we didn't get to see or do are most likely different again. Many things different, but many things the same. Either the West Coast seems less prone to the seemingly inherent inefficiencies of the American way of doing things, or we'd just gotten more used to it as those 4 weeks progressed. Perhaps one of the reasons why I liked San Francisco is that it seemed less "American" than the other cities we went to.
I'm extremely glad I visited America, and saw what I saw, did what I did. I do want to go back, and will. But nothing in the US made me think its my dream destination - if I was like my friend William and was to do a 5 week holiday, rather than do the US like he did personally I'd be picking Europe. It does seem amazing that a country that is the world's superpower seems to be so backward in many ways, and that in general they don't even know it because they don't seem keen to look beyond their own backyard. If they all got their gear together, the US could be almost unbeatable in virtually any aspect. Its got a way to go - its not clear if they even want to get there. Anyway - so best place was San Francisco, followed by Flagstaff/Grand Canyon and then New York and Washington. Worst place - Albuquerque, where there was literally nothing.
The time had come for the trip to end - but that's for the next post.