green tortoise

the green tortoise is a well-connected roadhouse for travellers international and national alike. it is a noisy, jostling hive of people on the move, tucked securely - or so it promises - in the pulsing heart of san francisco's red light district. amidst the red, seductive neon of broadway is the green glow of the friendly tortoise hostel, an urban oasis. we stayed there for an entirely too brief three nights, sharing our suspiciously odorous double bunk-bed dorm room with a different variation of folks each night. the tortoise is well-woven into the fabric of the city. it seems to know where every different thread leads, as well as which particular threads to follow to indulge any given whim or fancy. our whims and fancies led us to an assortment of piers, parks, enterprising holes in walls, reefer smokers and sellers, gardens, bridges, and homeless havens. we ate monster burritos in record time, jammed hard to classic 80's music with bright-faced strangers, and wandered far and wide, on foot, throughout the city. we shared laughs, meals, and stories with people from ireland, england, albania, norway, finland, puerto rico, and even alabama. that's right, alabama. it was a delightful junction of worlds.