San Francisco - Day 1
Oct. 21st, 2010 09:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puzzle_meI got up at 4:30 AM, finished packing, and drove to a remote lot at MSP. My flight was packed full, but on time. I slept for the first hour or so, and then worked on my laptop the rest of the time.
I got into SFO at around 9:30 AM, claimed my checked bag, and caught the BART into San Francisco. I got off at the Powell Street Station, where some confusion ensued about what I should be catching next. It turns out that Transit511 could have been a little clearer that the Powell-Mason line was a cable car, not a regular MUNI route. Once I sorted that out, I figured out that my best option was a bus a few blocks away - something I should have known, since I've taken that bus almost every time I've gone to San Francisco.
On the plus side, the bus goes through Chinatown, and it is fun to watch the hustle and bustle and shops full of weird fruit and weird meat hanging from the ceiling as you're riding through there. I got off in North Beach, and walked to Brian's dad's office, where I'd be leaving my luggage while I adventured in the city. I chatted with Brian's dad, Lance, for a few minutes and he offered to loan me a book, Stairway Walks in San Francisco. The walk in North Beach hit all of the places I wanted to see, plus some others, and had a bunch of neat historical facts, so I gladly took him up on it. He also recommended a sushi place just down the street for lunch. I went to get fueled up for my walk, and ordered what felt like way too much food when it actually came. It was all *so* *good* though, some of the best sushi I've had in ages, and I was able to finish with no problem. It's just as well, because there was a lot of uphill walking in my immediate future.
It was when I was getting started on the walk that I realized I had forgotten my camera in Minneapolis. So, my apologies, but I can't illustrate where I went in pictures.
The walk started out on Lombard Street - I went past a house that was covered in this enormous bougainvillea vine, planted in 1938. Then, I made some turns and walked up Chestnut (the first hill of many) to a spot with a really nice view over the bay. Then I walked down a stairway and up again to the stairway onto Telegraph Hill. I walked up to Coit tower where I sat down to enjoy some views. While I was sitting there, I heard a noise that sounded like some terrible squeaking. It shouldn't have even taken me a moment to realize that what I was hearing was some of the feral parrot colony. I walked down to where I could see them, and really regretted that I didn't have my camera. I had a close view of one right out on an exposed branch. They're so pretty, and so much fun to watch flying free.
From Coit Tower, I walked down the Greenwich steps to the east. This is easily one of my favorite spots in San Francisco. This side of Greenwich has no street going all the way up the hill. The residents have to haul all their groceries up the stairs to their houses - and it's a steep hill, so they much be able to eat just about anything and not gain weight. In lieu of a street, there's basically a big, privately maintained garden on either side of these steps. I followed a little path into the garden and sat there enjoying it for a while. As I was sitting, I saw a small flock of Townsend's warblers in one of the trees. It is in one of the houses along these steps that Mark Bittner, of The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill fame, lived. Not bad for an unemployed hippie. :)
The rest of the walk was winding my way past some historical houses back to the starting point. Once there, I made my way to XOX Truffles. I don't really recommend visiting their webpage - what they lack in web savvy, they make up for in delicious chocolate truffles. Also, they don't make you pay for a fancy box if you don't want to. You can buy them cheap and in bulk if you opt to take them in a Chinese to-go box instead. I bought a few boxes to take back to Minnesota, but now that I'm home I feel like I should have bought more. Their truffles are that good.
I returned the book to Brian's dad and picked up my luggage. Then I made it across town (bussing through Chinatown once more) to the Caltrain station. I caught an express train, and sat watching the bay area go by as I made my way to the south bay. I love the contrasts you see on the train - a scrap metal yard, heaped 10 feet high with dead and rusting automobile bits and train cars, then 5 minutes later manicured little houses.
Erin met me at the train station in San Jose and we made our way back to Brian and Erin's house. They have a beautiful Edwardian era house that they are fixing up. Erin and I caught up a bit, I coordinated some evening plans with the folks at the ABL, and when Brian got home we went out to dinner. We ended up going to an Ethiopian restaurant, which was delicious. We have lots of Ethiopian restaurants in Minneapolis, but it's a cuisine I love. The place we went in San Jose featured a few items I've never had in Minnesota - honey wine and homemade Ethiopian cheese. I was a fan of both, especially the cheese.
After dinner, we went to the ABL to watch Harry Potter 2. They're watching one HP movie a week in preparation for the new movie. I had forgotten how bad the movie version of HP 2 was, I'm not sure if it was improved or not by the fact that I kept falling asleep during it too. After the movie, we hung out and chatted for longer than I thought I'd be able to stay awake (considering that I'd gotten up at 2:30 AM California time). When we made it back to Brian and Erin's, I had no trouble at all falling asleep.
I got into SFO at around 9:30 AM, claimed my checked bag, and caught the BART into San Francisco. I got off at the Powell Street Station, where some confusion ensued about what I should be catching next. It turns out that Transit511 could have been a little clearer that the Powell-Mason line was a cable car, not a regular MUNI route. Once I sorted that out, I figured out that my best option was a bus a few blocks away - something I should have known, since I've taken that bus almost every time I've gone to San Francisco.
On the plus side, the bus goes through Chinatown, and it is fun to watch the hustle and bustle and shops full of weird fruit and weird meat hanging from the ceiling as you're riding through there. I got off in North Beach, and walked to Brian's dad's office, where I'd be leaving my luggage while I adventured in the city. I chatted with Brian's dad, Lance, for a few minutes and he offered to loan me a book, Stairway Walks in San Francisco. The walk in North Beach hit all of the places I wanted to see, plus some others, and had a bunch of neat historical facts, so I gladly took him up on it. He also recommended a sushi place just down the street for lunch. I went to get fueled up for my walk, and ordered what felt like way too much food when it actually came. It was all *so* *good* though, some of the best sushi I've had in ages, and I was able to finish with no problem. It's just as well, because there was a lot of uphill walking in my immediate future.
It was when I was getting started on the walk that I realized I had forgotten my camera in Minneapolis. So, my apologies, but I can't illustrate where I went in pictures.
The walk started out on Lombard Street - I went past a house that was covered in this enormous bougainvillea vine, planted in 1938. Then, I made some turns and walked up Chestnut (the first hill of many) to a spot with a really nice view over the bay. Then I walked down a stairway and up again to the stairway onto Telegraph Hill. I walked up to Coit tower where I sat down to enjoy some views. While I was sitting there, I heard a noise that sounded like some terrible squeaking. It shouldn't have even taken me a moment to realize that what I was hearing was some of the feral parrot colony. I walked down to where I could see them, and really regretted that I didn't have my camera. I had a close view of one right out on an exposed branch. They're so pretty, and so much fun to watch flying free.
From Coit Tower, I walked down the Greenwich steps to the east. This is easily one of my favorite spots in San Francisco. This side of Greenwich has no street going all the way up the hill. The residents have to haul all their groceries up the stairs to their houses - and it's a steep hill, so they much be able to eat just about anything and not gain weight. In lieu of a street, there's basically a big, privately maintained garden on either side of these steps. I followed a little path into the garden and sat there enjoying it for a while. As I was sitting, I saw a small flock of Townsend's warblers in one of the trees. It is in one of the houses along these steps that Mark Bittner, of The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill fame, lived. Not bad for an unemployed hippie. :)
The rest of the walk was winding my way past some historical houses back to the starting point. Once there, I made my way to XOX Truffles. I don't really recommend visiting their webpage - what they lack in web savvy, they make up for in delicious chocolate truffles. Also, they don't make you pay for a fancy box if you don't want to. You can buy them cheap and in bulk if you opt to take them in a Chinese to-go box instead. I bought a few boxes to take back to Minnesota, but now that I'm home I feel like I should have bought more. Their truffles are that good.
I returned the book to Brian's dad and picked up my luggage. Then I made it across town (bussing through Chinatown once more) to the Caltrain station. I caught an express train, and sat watching the bay area go by as I made my way to the south bay. I love the contrasts you see on the train - a scrap metal yard, heaped 10 feet high with dead and rusting automobile bits and train cars, then 5 minutes later manicured little houses.
Erin met me at the train station in San Jose and we made our way back to Brian and Erin's house. They have a beautiful Edwardian era house that they are fixing up. Erin and I caught up a bit, I coordinated some evening plans with the folks at the ABL, and when Brian got home we went out to dinner. We ended up going to an Ethiopian restaurant, which was delicious. We have lots of Ethiopian restaurants in Minneapolis, but it's a cuisine I love. The place we went in San Jose featured a few items I've never had in Minnesota - honey wine and homemade Ethiopian cheese. I was a fan of both, especially the cheese.
After dinner, we went to the ABL to watch Harry Potter 2. They're watching one HP movie a week in preparation for the new movie. I had forgotten how bad the movie version of HP 2 was, I'm not sure if it was improved or not by the fact that I kept falling asleep during it too. After the movie, we hung out and chatted for longer than I thought I'd be able to stay awake (considering that I'd gotten up at 2:30 AM California time). When we made it back to Brian and Erin's, I had no trouble at all falling asleep.
