Kids Living it Large in San Fancisco

I went to San Francisco with no flower in my hair. Shame!

No wonder ordinary things in America are large. I first noticed it in Chuck y Cheese, although it did not register at the time. American children live life large, really large. I have seen tots weighed down by the immensity of their treats.   Hugging huge boxes of popcorn, massive hamburgers and enormous ice creams the children totter gleefully around the attractions on pier 39 on the San Francisco water front. It’s remarkable just how large a packet of crisps or a bag of candy floss can be.

Even the rides are big (No miniature choo-choos for these children). They are blessed with full sized Carousels and Big Bouncy Bungy type devices. And when they win on their gaming machines, the machines spew out hundreds of tokens. So, a common sight is that of a kid draped in winning tokens struggling with his bag of taffy. There is a lot of joy on pier 39 both for parents and children.

So, apart from the compulsory ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, my visit to San Fran came to an end. The city was much as I expected, it is featured a lot by Hollywood, and those city streets are even steeper than I had imagined. What is this fetish for building cities on a grid? Wellington in New Zealand has a similar terrain but is of a more European design with its roads hugging the sides of its hills as they ascend in a casual manner.

Much to my surprise I really liked San Francisco. Oh, I didn’t mention China Town, The Japanese Tea Gardens or Twin Peaks did I. Nor shall I. The parks are big too.