enfinblue's Bluey (credit to Fifi for the nickname!) Diaryland Diary

"I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart." -Vinc3nt V@n Gogh

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Lucky us. With sushi in our hair.

I've been promising some photos of San Francisco, and now that I'm simply "chilling" at home on Good Friday, here they are.

C. and I truly did have a MARVELLOUS time on our trip to California. It's a lovely place. The only things I appreciated when I returned to Ottawa were 1) the utter quiet (boring at times, but it's truly unbelievable how quiet it is here compared to any bigger city); and 2) the fact that everything costs much less here than there (naturally!). It's amazing to think that the state of California has more people in it (demanding goods, etc.) than does the entire country of Canada, especially given that Canada is about 150,000 square km bigger than the entire country of the U.S. No wonder it's quiet and lonely here! MFV (how I miss him) always wondered where the people were in my photos. We now realize that they have all moved to California! :)

Anyhow. I really enjoyed my visit there and am glad I had a chance to see it for myself. Everything was great and the scenery was delightful.

When we arrived and were taking the train into the city from the airport, I found the neighbourhoods of the south of the city to be somewhat similar in terms of layering/underlying topography to those in Vancouver East:

On the first evening, as I had mentioned the other day, C. and I stopped at a Chinese restaurant to have some Peking duck (ducks in the window):

We walked around the Coit Tower (after going in to see the WONDERFUL 1930s murals of working people). From the road as we descended the hill we could see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance:

I always take pictures looking into the sun. So shoot me. :)

I like the way that the steeples of the church peek out through the centre of the picture:

The next day we did our walking tour in the downtown in the morning. Afterwards, we had a great meal at the Tadich Grill, before walking the Golden Gate Park, etc.

In Golden Gate park:

This is one of my favourite "sightings" from the trip. I loved the message on this bench. I said to C. that one day I would hope that someone could say that I did something as lovely as that with my life. He made an obnoxious joke. Still, I would like to do something useful such as this woman did:

Then the dude and I walked along the beach. C. resisted because the wind was high and he didn't want sand in his face, but I needed to walk towards the windsurfers. :)

I always seem to like to take pictures of my own feet:

And then Lincoln Park at sunset, to see the bridge and walk the cliffs:

The next day was our fabulous tour to Muir Woods and Sonoma. These photos are unfortunately distorted wide as I have no idea what the hell I am doing when I flip pictures around. :)

I know it's a rather unfortunate angle from which to have to view my ass, but just to prove that I DID, indeed, hug a tree (it was great):

In the evening, we ate at the Iranian artist's organic jazz cafe. Fun.

The next day, one of our two walking tours was to the Mission neighbourhood of SF. If you are ever in San Francisco, I HIGHLY recommend that you check out the free walking tours offered via the public library. The tour guides are fabulous, obviously in love with their city, and (from what we saw) congenial retirees with a keen interest in history. Truly magical. I'm almost tempted to start my own such organization here in Ottawa!

Wonderful mural on the "women's building":

You have no idea how much I loved the sight of these owls in someone's window!! When I was a little girl and my mother was going through her cocktail party - kaftan wearing - macrame phase, we had macrame (lots of owls, too) all over the house. My mother even macrameed jewellery for me to wear in school pictures. :)

Lovely old Victorian houses that survived the fires associated with the earthquake of 1906.

On our "Gold Rush" tour I was fascinated by a gallery in the warehouse district that was selling 17th century Dutch drawings and paintings.

The next day, C. was laughing at me as I tried to take a picture of a very distressing Burger King ad in the metro ("Now you can eat AND pay rent").

The C-meister at Alcatraz, our last stop of the trip.

I have many more pics to share. All told, a wonderful trip and a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with my best pal.

4:37 p.m. - 2009-04-10

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