Well it’s
Wednesday pm and I’ve just finished up my third from last day at work here in
sunny California. Am currently lounging by the pool very much enjoying the week long heat
wave that the city has been experiencing for the past 8 days (it’s currently
87F or 30C).
The week at work has been super busy due to Monday having been the Labor
day holiday, with yesterday and today being spent working at super fast pace to
make up for the lost day. Work wise
-I ’ll update you all in full at the week’s end when the work-based segment of
my internship is over proper. Instead I want to dedicate this blog to my recent
visitors and the week we have just had in this great city.
So as soon as
they arrived, it was time to bid farewell, though not before covering squeezing
in a plethora of the many diverse activities that San Francisco and the
surrounding area has to offer. Mum an Pat arrived just a shade over a week ago
after an epic 17 hours of flying 1/3 of the way across the globe, they touched
down at SFO, Jet-lagged, and might I say
– looking a tad dishevelled – my first glimpse of these two pale looking
Scotswomen left a lot to be desired!! You have to remember – I’ve been in the
sunshine, have a nice day, everyone looks healthy and tanned state now for
three weeks. Even though at first you take the opinion that there is clearly
way too much Prozac and Botox being consumed on the west coast, before long you
get swept along with the cheery momentum and suddenly you’re greeting your
bleary eyed reflection in the mirror each morning with a cheery disposition
that would most likely turn Mary Poppin’s stomach. So I smiled on through my
fright and welcomed these pale aliens wholeheartedly. We grabbed a cab for the
ten minute ride to my downtown apartment and spent a good hour or so catching
up, eating some mezze style munchies that I had procured from my fav shop/deli
– Bristol Farms, and I, enjoying hearing their same glee and disbelief of their
having arrived in the state they call Califiron-i-a. It was good to see some
‘kent’ faces and have one of those good old natters that you only really get
with family. So after our gabbing it was off to bed and the start of an action
packed week that was literally all go go go...
I was going
to give you a complete run down of all that we managed to get up to, but
quickly realized, upon writing down some quick daily recap notes that I’d probably
be here for several days and exhaust both you and just getting started. Instead,
I’ll give y’all my top 9 rundown of things we did/to do in and around the bay
area.
9. Eat
San Francisco
has a more varied spread of restaurants than anywhere I’ve ever been; and all
at ridiculously cheap prices. If you want sushi at 3am or a kebab at 9am, Thai,
Malay, Ethiopian, crab salad straight off the boat or dare I say it allegedly
tasty seahorses (none of us tried these I promise) SF is your food stuff
utopia. For the past week we all ate like royalty in quite a few of SFs best
restaurants. One observation – they really do love their bread here. They
literally serve bread with a side of bread. Oh and on the topic of sides – one
of the places we ate on Sunday night offered a side of a half roasted chicken!
A side? Maybe a leg, or a thigh, but no – a half. My Mum actually ordered this (as
part of meal with another side of fries) and I can tell you, if you eat this on
the side of your main, you will suffer from coronary heart disease and you will
die in you 20s. End of. Our fav place though was probably Horizons seafood restaurant
in Sausalito – great food, amazing views over to the city and decor straight
out of a 1980s mahogany heavy and brass clad San Tropez beach bar. Class personified. Fact – if you come
to San Francisco you will gain weight so be prepared to get on the treadmill on
your return home. Truly one of the best views of the city from across the bay.
8. Hang off of a Cable Car
Health and
safety laws? Not here. Jump on the side of one of the old cable-cars that drag
themselves up some of the steepest gradients I’ve ever seen this side of
Everest and experience the thrill ride of your life – no harness required. Mum and
Pat had a bit of a hairy experience though. On one of the days that I was busy
working away, I sent them off on a cable-car ride to the famous SF chocolatier Ghirardelli
via the Powell line. Apparently the car stopped whilst on one of the steeper
parts of the hill and rolled back to a sudden halt on one of the plateaus
between each of the inclines. I believe that they were thrown about the place
and were left in such a state that they just had to stuff their faces with some
local chocolate in order to get over the trauma. FYI – the SF cable car system
was designed by a Scotsman Andrew Smith Hallidie who hailed from Dunfermline. Two
hot insider tips: 1) Always walk up to the stop at the corner of Powell and
Geary unless you want to wait in an hour long queue full of rude European
tourists 2) Be prepared for pushy queue jumpers – bite, kick, spit and rip articles
of clothing to get back to the front of the line that you were respectfully
waiting in.
7. SF Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)/San
Francisco City Pass
Covered this
in the ‘Birthday Treat’ blog below. I didn’t actually go again, but Mum and Pat
loved it. They agreed with my sentiment that the life story of Frieda Kahlo was
truly tragic and are now raring to get home to rent the movie about her life to
further help contextualize their experience of the exhibition. They managed to
see more of the other parts of the SFMOMA that I did – exclaiming when I met
them later in the day in the sunny Yerba Buena gardens “wow - there were
Matisse’s and ... etc”. It really is a great collection and well worth a look
if you are ever in town. Top tip – If you are here on the first Tuesday of the
month entry is free. Otherwise get yourself a San Francisco City Pass for $54 and the $16
admission price is included along with entry to the Asian Art and De Young
museums, Aquarium at the Bay, a trip under the Golden Gate or to Alcatraz and
free use of all of that the SF Muni network (trains, trams and cable-cars
[normally $1.50, $1.50 and $5 repectively a ride) for 9 days. Money well spent I’d say.
6. Chinatown
Set over 15
blocks, the SF Chinatown has to be one of the most impressive Chinese enclaves
outside of, well, China. If I’m honest, on my second visit to Chinatown with
Iain and Lorraine, I really couldn’t have gotten out of the place quick enough
(I do love it though) but I sent Mum and Pat on a journey there on their second
day in the city to see if they were up for hanging around longer than I did. As
it turned out – they loved it. So much so that they didn’t bother to come back
to downtown to meet me and buy me lunch. Apparently there is no such thing as a
free lunch? Their food experience was also significantly better than mine had
been and I have been told to tell you all to find somewhere specializing in dim
sum. Before I came to the city I really wasn’t sure what dim sum was, but
basically it involves eating a whole load of light Chinese dishes served
alongside Chinese tea. I am reliably informed that after doing dim sum in Chinatown,
the old Cantonese favourite in Edinburgh just will not do. The shops are cheap
and full of lots of tat but even more cool stuff. They came back with a load of
Oriental gifts destined for many an abode across the east coast of Scotland, as
well as a Mah-jong set for me! If you fancy a cheap ‘designer’ handbag – this is
definitely the place to go.
5. Golden Gate Park/Japanese Tea Garden
The Golden Gate Park is another legacy of a Scotsman’s endeavours in this fair city. Dr John Hayes McLaren from Bannockburn and formerly the Edinburgh Royal Botanical Gardens is credited with both lobbying for land to be set aside for this most impressive of urban parks and also for its care and design. McLaren apparently insisted the park be open to all and refused to erect any ‘keep off the grass signs’. His hard work was most definitely appreciated by three visitors from Scotland on the sunny and hot Labor Day holiday. The park is simply stunning. Stow lake (another Scottish name) with its island hill vista in the middle and row boats lazily floating around it, the impressive and modern De Young Art Gallery building, SF Botanical Gardens and the pièce de résistance – the Japanese Tea Garden to name but a few highlights (it’s 3 miles long). Now I know that some of the other interns are in Japan proper, but this has to the second best thing! Stunning pagodas, impossible bridges, Buddhas, bonsai, waterfalls, winding paths, bamboo and a way too cool tea bar. We grabbed a seat at the benches that run along the outside of the tea cafe place and sipped jasmine and oolong teas with Japanese rice crackers and fortune cookies. Died and gone to heaven doesn’t even come close. At $5 for entry to the garden, it was way cheaper than the $600 Expedia are quoting this evening for a one-way to Tokyo. An absolute must. Couple of tips – 1) If you want to save even this paltry entry fee – head there before noon Wednesdays when entry is gratis. 2) Grab the Muni N line tram from one of the Market underground stations to 9th and Judah ($1.50 return) – and it’s a mere 5 minutes walk for you exercisally challenged.
Tune in tomorrorw for the rundown 4 to 1...
Ro
Sounds like the City is amazing!
Can't wait to start my life down there!!
Looking forward to China Town!
Posted by: Sanja | September 04, 2008 at 01:30 PM