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July 2021

-  Cable Car  -

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The cable cars in San Francisco are a relic from another era. They rumble on thin rails over undulating terrain down to the sea and back up to the terminus. Up there in the tight curve, where the vehicle turns after arriving for the next departure, it can sometimes happen that a wagon gets off track and has to be pushed back onto the rails by the drivers. The queue of waiting passengers is long, free-riding is not only a special pleasure for tourists. Yes, it was like this back in the 1970s when I rode the cable car for the first time.

I had fulfilled a little dream, had returned to my favourite American city with my husband Klaus. "So, how does it feel to be back here?" he wanted to know. What was I supposed to answer him? Did I really expect time to stand still here? No, I hadn't. But perhaps I had hoped? Young women in floor-length flapper skirts, colourful headbands, jingling hoops on their wrists and ankles as well as long-haired men in embroidered waistcoats were nowhere to be seen, of course, but the little bookshops and shops, even the cosy cafés had disappeared – at least from the city centre.

For me, the cable cars represented the spirit of the times, the charm of which I tried to explain to my husband. For the old vehicles still seem as special, individual and full of life as the city once was, through which they had pulled me up hill and down hill. In those days, even strangers had friendly glances and kind words for each other, one quickly got into conversation. No wonder I soon bought a plane ticket to Hawaii, because everyone I met thought it was so obvious. Today's San Francisco is different, but it felt good to be back – and we soon discovered the new flair of the city.

 

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