Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Despite the tight schedule on my business trip to San Francisco, I really wanted to experience the spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the northwest. I got lucky and actually had some time left on a sunny afternoon. Unfortunately, it was too late for a tour with a rental bike from Canary Wharf—which must be a great trip and something I’d recommend to anyone. Studying the bus timetables would probably have taken too long as well; after all, there was a wonderful afternoon light right now and banks of clouds were gradually moving in from the west.

So I called a taxi and gave him my destination, ‘Hawk Hill’—I was well aware of a certain cost risk, but I accepted that under the circumstances. The driver admitted he had never driven north out of the city across the Golden Gate Bridge before. Since I roughly knew which roads would take us to the viewpoints (the first exit after the bridge) and he felt he could get there with my help, off he went. First, we struggled through the city during rush hour and finally up the southern ramp. He was immediately thrilled as we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and then drove up the panoramic road (Conzelmann Road): “What a great sight and view. I’ve never been on this side, I’ve never seen the bridge and the bay like this before, and on top of that, I’m even getting paid for this trip.” In return, he was very accommodating and waited patiently while I took photos and enjoyed the view. I rode back down the road with him a little way before we said goodbye with a friendly smile at the lower Vista Point. The $25 was definitely worth the trip. For the way back, however, I decided to cross the bridge on foot, and I experienced what Jack Kerouac already described in 1951: “Driving across the Golden Gate, the sun over the Pacific created a fantastic veil of brilliance, a veil from which I had to turn my eyes away, and so that was the shining shield of the ocean leading to China (…)”.