Category: San Francisco Bay Area

Morning: breakfast at Lori’s Diner.

City Pass thing – kept trying to make sure we have it, because we’d end up forgetting in which bag or pocket we misplaced our passes; these passes are good for a week, useful for Muni rides. But, God, do I miss my MetroCard or what.

Cable Car ride to Fisherman’s Wharf. Really interesting stuff. “Bay Area Adventure” with “Captain Nemo” – all aboard the Blue and Gold ferry tour, and the audio recording of Nemo to give you an ambiance. Really nice views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

Pier 39. Really nice – great shopping (love the bargain souvenir shopping).
Aquarium – nice stuff. Loved the idea of walking underneath the tank, to make you feel like you’re underwater and among the undersea stuff. (“Under the sea…” – oh, God, thinking about The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo Disney stuff; I so need to get a Real Life).

Thanks to the City Pass: did Boudin Bakery, which has a museum on Boudin family and the history of baking and French baking style and sourdough bread in the American frontier. Thumbs up on the museum – charming. Plus, bread tasting in the end. Mmm. So love bread. Thumbs down to the Atkins diet for its disfavor of bread, I say! Did the real clam chowder in bread bowl at the Boudin Bakery; have to say that was the best clam chowder I’ve had – well, then again, I usually don’t like clam chowder. Sourdough and soup is quite good.

Walking to Ghiardelli Sq. Chocolate. Mmm. At least the City Pass allows one to get free chocolate samples. But, buying bargains at the bargain souvenier shopping place at Pier 39 – meant buying Ghiardelli chocolates at almost half the price – far more preferable.
The climbing up the steep hill to get to see Lombard St., the most crooked street, at its peak – well, I was hyperventilating, to say the least. Real smart to let someone as out of shape as me (despite my trying to do more walks in NYC) and who has fear of heights go up a steep hill. The going up part kept reminding me of the feeling of sliding down part. I was probably not very good company for my traveling companions. Ugh, more of this? The view’s spectacular, but if I’m freaking out just trying to get to the top of the hill… well, cable car, please!

Oakland Atheletics v. California Angels baseball game on Fan Appreciation (fireworks) night – well, I’ve rooted for the Angels in the past, not big on the A’s, but figured I’d try to root for the A’s since more ex-Mets are there. An ex-Met Marco Scutaro (who’s still cute) helped win the game in extra innings. A’s magic number to clinch for post season is now 2. Fireworks: amazing.

Brave enough for more steep hills tommorow? Boy, has NYC’s flat gradient and sea level tendencies really spoiled me (my college years can’t count, since campus – while on a hill – was not a drastic slope at all, and you couldn’t tell how high a real hill it is until you (a) stand at the edge of Faculty House and faced Morningside Park or (b) head to Riverside Park and see more heights, or (c) stand on the bridge atop of Amsterdam. Yeah, big slope going down, facing the south and a higher one facing north – none of which had me losing my breath unless I was late for class).

Anyhoo, tips on how I may avoid losing my marbles (again) are alway welcome.

Flight – Delta. Snack – processed cheese and crackers (“ooh, processed cheese…”). Some kind of chocolate chip shortbread which tasted a little stale. Some kind of raisin cranberry mix, which I never did get to eat. My brother took the peanuts.

Turbulence. Ugh. Was not a good feeling.

Finished reading John LeCarre’s “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.” What a chilling book. Very well written, tightly plotted. Tragic. The spy business is ugly, and John LeCarre, the guy who used to be in the business (to what extent, who really knows?) wrote it as such. Alec Leamas, in 1961, is getting sick of the business, but has to do one more mission…. highly recommended.

Cartoon Art Museum – fascinating.

Yeurba Beuna Gardens/Metreon – interesting.

SF MOMA – interesting. But, I’m not big on modern art, I guess.

Asian Museum of Art – really amazing stuff. So impressed to see one museum on Asian art and its diversity and in such a beautiful building. Why don’t we have that in NYC? Hmm…

I wonder if NYC spoiled me; SF seems to have more of a presence of the homeless on the streets. Or is it really just me, since as New Yorker, I developed my own mental guard about that?

Stay tuned.