Two Weekends in USA

The text was translated from Greek with some help from AI : )

Introduction

Whether we love it or hate it, America is a unique place, and most of us want to visit it at some point in our lives.

The company I work for has offices in Reno, Nevada, and they sent me there.

Initially, the plan was to stay for 10 days, but in the end, they changed my tickets, and I stayed for two weeks (06/01/25 – 20/01/2025). So, I had two weekends at my disposal.

On weekdays, I had some free time after work, but there isn't much to do in Reno.

On the first weekend, I flew to San Francisco and then to Las Vegas. On the second, I rented a car, took a drive around Lake Tahoe, and visited the Wild West in Virginia City.

General Impressions – Comments – Random Observations

• At airports, you have to take off your shoes during security checks (I only remember something similar in Russia). Also, passport control is always conducted.
• Southwest Airlines doesn't assign you a seat on the plane. You board in a priority order (somewhat unusual, not 1-5 like other airlines), and you sit wherever you want.
• Active military personnel have priority boarding, and during the boarding announcement, they always say the classic, "Thank you for your service."
• On planes, they don't just say, “Please fasten your seatbelt…” Instead, they say, “Federal law requires you to wear your seatbelt…”
• I have the impression that in the U.S., planes descend at a steeper rate compared to Europe.
• In almost all restaurants, even small ones, they show you where to sit. Waiters almost always introduce themselves: "Hi, welcome to Wild River Grille, I'm Kayla, I'll be taking care of you tonight." Also, every 10 minutes, they ask, "Is everything okay here?" If they see you've finished your meal, they ask, “Would you like anything else, or should I bring you the check?” In some places, they don't even ask—they just bring the check...
• All juices and water come with two kilos of ice in them.
• Payment at many restaurants happens in two steps. You give your card to pay, then they bring you a receipt with a pen, and you have to write how much tip you want to leave and sign. A 15%-20% tip is the most common.
• In stores, all prices are listed without tax. The tax is usually between 7% and 8.5%.
• TV commercials appear every 8-10 minutes. They advertise weight-loss medications that can cause suicidal thoughts…
• I once called an Uber, and a guy showed up in a massive American pickup truck. In general, many people there drive pickups as their personal vehicles-not because they need them for work.
• When driving on winding roads, there are signs before each turn indicating the recommended speed.

• Bottle caps are not attached to the bottles.
• One really annoying thing was when I said “thanks” and got a response like “ugu” or “aha”…
• For internet access, an eSIM is obviously the best option. I used Airalo and had no issues. The connection was good almost everywhere—only in Virginia City did it lag a bit.
• For phone calls to Europe, I downloaded Yolla.

The flight

The journey started from Bonaduz. About a two-hour train ride to Zurich Airport. From there, I flew Frankfurt am Main – San Francisco – Reno, NV. It took me approximately 26 hours from my home to the hotel in Reno.

In San Francisco, you obviously go through passport control. They scan your passport, take your photo (at every U.S. airport I travelled through, they took a photo of you and use "Facial Recognition Technology" to compare it with the photo on your passport), take your fingerprints, and ask why you're visiting, how long you'll stay, etc.

In my case, it was a business trip. Since I didn't had an official invitation from my company and it was my first time in the U.S. (as they told me), they took me for further verification.

They put me in a small, dusty room—just like in the movies—and interrogated me for about 10 minutes. They asked where I work, where I studied, where I grew up, whether I had travelled to Iraq or Cuba in recent years, and so on.

So, it's a good idea to have your hotel reservation, return tickets, and, if it’s a business trip, an invitation from your company—even if it's just an email.

Also, I had to pick up my bug in San Francisco and take it to the Bag Drop for my next flight. I'm not sure why they don't transfer it automatically—probably so that if you're denied entry, they don't have to search for your luggage on the another plane.

Additionally, if you're connecting to another flight, you must go through security again when arriving from an international flight.

When I arrived in Reno, what surprised me the most was that there were slot machines inside the airport. While waiting at your gate, you can try your luck!

Reno Nevada

Reno is the fourth most populous city in Nevada, with approximately 280,000 residents. About 20% of the population are Latinos. The largest city in Nevada is Las Vegas, with a population of 665,000.

It is surrounded by mountains, has a relatively mild climate, and enjoys over 300 days of sunshine per year. During the two weeks I was there, I didn't see a single cloud. The temperature was from around 0°C to 8°C.

The city is full of huge hotel-casinos. I stayed at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino.

But aside from that, there’s nothing particularly special about in Reno.

The people are talkative and polite.

One evening, after it had already gotten dark, I took a walk in downtown. I was the only one walking—along with a few homeless people.

My go-to spot was an Irish pub called "Ceol Irish Pub". What impressed me was how they get to know you and remember your name. When I went back for the second time, the owner, Ron, greeted me by name from the door.

-Hi Levan, how was your day? Take a seat.

I'm not sure if all pubs there are like that, but either way, it was something nice.
A pint of Guinness was $8, and a regular whiskey was around $15. They had over 80 different whiskeys to choose from.

I should have taken the photo before going inside.

San Francisco

I didn't had much time in San Francisco. I landed at 9:30 AM, and my flight to Las Vegas was at 10:30 PM, so I had about 8 hours.

The things I definitely wanted to do were see the Golden Gate Bridge, visit the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), and, of course, take a walk around the city. By the way, the weather was perfect—18°C with a refreshing breeze.

From the airport, I took an Uber to Chinatown. Airports have designated areas exclusively for Uber and Lyft pickups. In the app, you select a spot (e.g., D5), and the driver meets you there. Uber was relatively cheap—I paid $35 for a 25 km ride. Taxis, on the other hand, are almost twice as expensive.

So, my first stop was Chinatown.

Chinatown in San Francisco is the oldest and largest Chinatown in North America and one of the biggest Chinese communities outside of Asia.

In Chinatown, you’ll find relatively cheap souvenirs (important!), Chinese architecture, and, of course, Chinese people.

From Chinatown, I walked to the MoMA .

After 2.5 enjoyable hours at the MoMA, I took an Uber to the waterfront.

With the ferry, we sailed toward the*iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

The view from the boat was excellent.

It took us under the bridge and then made a loop around Alcatraz.

I booked the boat tour through Viator. It cost $38.

The city was generally beautiful, with amazing buildings and great architecture.

This is the so-called "Transamerica Pyramid".

But those hills...

On Google Maps, you should always check the elevation you have to climb.

The population is around 800,000. Restaurants are generally a bit pricey. It also seemed like there were a lot of Asians, so I looked it up. About 300,000 Asians live there.

People are polite, and everyone complains about the problem with homelessness and drug users. I was told that if you steal under $1,000, they let you go, which is why there are so many petty thefts. More than 150 car break-ins happen every day. The taxi driver told me that even if you leave $2 in the car, they'll break the window. The worst area with all the "troublemakers" is Tenderloin. The city is considered one of the safest in the US, you just shouldn't be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

San Francisco also has dozens (if not more) of driverless taxis, called Waymo.

When the sun sets, the streets empty out. Not many people walk around outside.

Downtown, there were also some guys blasting music.

o get to the airport, I decided to try the metro, or as they call it there, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). You buy a card for $3 and load it with however much money you need. The fare to the airport is $11.15. A young guy jumped over the turnstiles in front of me to avoid paying.

The Civic Center station was dirty, the trains (at least from the outside) were also dirty, and there were very few people around. I was there on a Saturday around 7:30 PM.

BART drops you off on a bridge at the airport, and from there, you take another small train that takes you to the terminal you need.

San Francisco from the airplane.

From there, ahead to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas

I arrived in Vegas at midnight.

And, of course, there were slot machines inside the airport.

The small train that takes you to the exit wasn’t working. We had to leave through the emergency exit.

The taxi driver took me in circles a couple of times and charged me 30 bucks for less than 5 km.

By the way, in Las Vegas, taxis and Ubers aren’t allowed to stop just anywhere to pick up passengers. There are designated spots, mostly in front of hotels.

My plan was to visit the Mob Museum, the Atomic Museum, take a photo at the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign, and, of course, walk along the so-called "Las Vegas Strip," the street with all the massive hotels and casinos.

If you're wondering why I went there, I was choosing between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. I picked Las Vegas because it's a more unique city compared to LA. In the end, I was lucky because LA was literally on fire during those days.

I would describe the city as "impressive." Massive hotels with fantastic and relatively unique architecture. The weather in mid-January was around 10°C with plenty of sunshine.

Wherever you go, you will always find a Greek.

To take a photo in front of the sign, you have to wait in line with tourists.

I obviously didn’t wait. You can also take a photo from the side. : )

At night, the city transforms into a Christmas tree. Everything shines, and music can be heard everywhere. There were also a lot of people in the city center.

Many people gather in front of the Bellagio to watch the fountain show.

Back in Reno, I flew on a Boeing 737 MAX 8. In 2018 and 2019, two of these crashed due to a computer issue, and in 2024, a door detached after takeoff.

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is a relatively large and very beautiful lake surrounded by mountains at an altitude of about 1,900m. It is shared by two states, Nevada and California.

Since the lake was relatively close to Reno, I rented a car and drove around it.

First, I went to Carson City. The town had nothing remarkable except for the Nevada State Museum.

The next stop was a so-called Greek restaurant in the south of the lake.

I didn’t find any Greeks there. The waiter was Mexican, and a cook who came out of the kitchen seemed Latino to me. The only thing Greek was the pita, I’d say. But in terms of taste, it was okay.

From there, I drove around the lake.

The drive was pleasant. In some places, there was snow on both sides, but the road was clear.

Since it was Saturday, the most famous spots to stop were crowded. I couldn’t find a place to park. But even where I did manage to stop, it was beautiful.

Virginia City

A small town in Nevada that was once one of the richest cities in the world. It was full of gold and silver. From around 1860 to 1880, the mines operated non-stop. Back then, its population reached 25,000, while today, fewer than 1,000 cowboys live there.

The drive from Reno was nice. You drive up high, and beautiful mountain views come into sight.

Of course, I also visited a museum there—the "The Way It Was" Museum. It had artifacts from the Wild West era. I also took a tour in a mine.

The town is generally famous and quite touristy because it has a Wild West style with old buildings and saloons.

No comments

When there are no modern cars parked, you wouldn't be able to tell that the photos are from 2025.

The town is very small. You can walk through it in 30 minutes. Overall, I wouldn’t really call it a "city"—the name just remained from the past.

This (Presbyterian) church is the oldest in town and one of the few buildings that didn’t burn down in 1875 after a fire destroyed over 2,000 structures and left half the town homeless. According to a local who was telling the story, the neighboring building was reduced to ashes, but the church remained almost untouched.

That’s it!

Museums

All the museums I visited were interesting. From the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, where there is a wall still stained with the blood of gangsters killed in 1929, to the Nevada State Museum, where you can see the bones of a mammoth.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

The MoMA was very impressive and huge. It is one of the largest modern and contemporary art museums in the U.S., with seven floors. I had about two hours, so I had to rush through it a bit.

The museum also had an exhibition by Amy Sherald. She is the first woman and the first African American to ever win the National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever competition (2016) with this painting, Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance).

Las Vegas The Mob Museum

I don't know if there is another museum like it anywhere. The museum building was once a courtroom where some of the gangsters featured in the exhibits were tried. As a museum, I found it very unique and well-designed.

The videos were also interesting. The highlight was the actual wall from the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929.

Las Vegas Atomic Museum

The atomic energy museum was interesting but nothing exceptional.

A piece of the Berlin Wall.

Actually, it had something exceptional! They had a real Enigma machine from World War II.

Carson City Nevada State Museum

Quite a nice museum. It obviously covered the history of Nevada, from the Native Americans to modern times, and of course, guns.

A lot of guns…

The "simulation" of a mine was cool.

A Ghost Town

The mammoth at the museum was unexpected. From the photo, you can't tell how big it is. I placed my wallet down, which is the size of a Marlboro pack.

Virginia City Chollar Mine

It was interesting to enter an old mine.

The workers used canaries as sensors for carbon monoxide and methane. If the canary died, it meant the levels of dangerous gases were high, and it was time to get out. They also fed mice and kept them as companions. If they saw the mice panicking, it meant something had gone wrong, and they needed to leave immediately.

For light, they used candles or various oil or carbide lamps of the time.

And... if you're curious about where the workers relieved themselves...

Virginia City The Way It Was Museum

There’s nothing specific to mention. It’s a museum with old items from the city.

We had a similar sewing machine (bottom left) at our house in Georgia. It obviously worked without electricity; you’d press the pedal, and it would turn. : )

Reno Nevada Museum of Art

The Nevada Museum of Art was a bit of a waste of time. It had bones from marine ichthyosaurs that lived 240 million years ago, but I didn’t see much "art" (due to construction, a large part of the museum was closed).

Reno National Automobile Museum

I really liked this one. You could see, among other things, the first cars ever made at the end of the 19th century, huge luxury cars from 1910-1920, 1930s Mercedes, and Formula 1 racing cars.

A highlight was the DMC, which we know from the movie Back to the Future (1985).

That's It!