...so it’s just as well we’re back there in a week to collect it!
We had a great few days in San Fran. After I signed off when we were sitting in the funky lobby drinking free wine, we asked for a recommendation for dinner. We ended up in a great Chinese restaurant just a couple of blocks from the hotel. It was packed out, with a 30 minute wait, but we looked around the clientele and decided it was going to be worth it. There were only a couple of non-Chinese faces, so going on the adage “eat where the locals eat” as we were in Chinatown we decided it couldn’t be bad. We were right! The food was delicious. Probably the best Chinese food I’ve had in a long time!
After having got sun burnt earlier in the day, the weather changed and it got cold. We were freezing walking back from the restaurant. We popped into the Irish bar just round from the hotel to warm up and having a wee glass of Magners (for me) and weak and watery rat’s p!ss lite (Miller lite) for Stephen.
We did a bit of light shopping on Monday. Stephen needed warmer clothes so we were looking for a jumper, and came away with a couple of shirts and a hoody for him. He was glad of the hoody! It was okay when you were in the sunshine, but quite nippy when you were in shadow, and the wind was picking up… much more what I’ve experienced in SF before.
It’s amazing how the feel of a city can change within a couple of blocks. We had walked down Powell to the place where they turn the cable cars (and looked at the enormous queue but decided not to join it!). We walked a couple of blocks further on and suddenly came across lots of homeless guys sleeping on the pavement and two women having a conversation about being on methadone. We simultaneously turned on our heel s and made back the way we came.
We had passed Macy’s eyebrow bar, so I decided that it would be good for someone else to take a turn on the Forth Rail Bridge style task of taming my Dennis Healy’s. My brows have never been so groomed! They were waxed, plucked and trimmed and look sleek and stylish…I now understand why American women always look so neat…they don’t do their own maintenance. No running down to Boots for a manicure kit or a tub of Jolene! They just pop down to their local nail or brow bar and 20 minutes later they are all done. I must make more of an effort to do that….
Stephen is trying to kill me I’m sure! After lunch of a baguette in a little café sandwiched between Chanel and YSL (expensive and not even fantastic!) we decided to walk up Powell Street following the route of the cable car in order to get some photos. Yet again it was a vertical climb! It made the top end of Church St in Malvern seem like a gentle stroll on the flat!! My calves were screaming for mercy and I was screaming for oxygen…or at least Starbucks! I have to admit that the views were pretty special when we got to the top.
We went back to the hotel in order to pack and do the on-line check in for the flight. Stephen had just secured us seats in Economy Plus for a bargain $50 each when the system chucked him out and he let out an anguished wail which echoed round the lobby!! He was distraught that the seats with a few inches more leg room were going to be someone else’s! Thankfully the receptionist was kind enough to jump in and take over and do it for him. She also booked our transport to the airport for the morning. It could not have been more marked a contrast. We arrived in a minivan and left in a luxury sedan car (limo) with blackout windows and a suited driver…. And the sedan car only cost $9 more!!!!
The lovely receptionist also made a great recommendation for dinner and pointed us at an alley with about half a dozen restaurants on it. We walked down admiring the menus and practicing our Italian, French and Spanish…well we managed hello/good evening in each language anyway!! We chose an Italian restaurant with Argentinean waiter and then we (not the waiter!) ended up back in the Irish bar for drinks. Altogether a very multi-cultural evening!!
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