July 29: San Francisco
Another gorgeous day in the neighborhood, with cloudless skies. As I am writing during the "shank" of the afternoon, which Alexandra and I determined is the mellow quadrant of the afternoon when the light magically illuminates the landscape, the clouds are scudding across the San Bruno Mountains, and the winds are caressing the trees. A glorious moment to be alive!
This morning we slept in longer than usual, had a great breakfast of blueberry pancakes with Wisconsin maple syrup, made by one of Maureen's former students, and freshly ground and brewed coffee. I could get used to this!
After breakfast, we washed and straightened up things and answered emails, and before going out had a quick lunch of a third sortie on the pulled pork/slaw/beans combination, followed by a dessert of nectarines and raspberries.
We drove to Glen Park Station, then took BART from there to Civic Center, walked about 8 blocks, and entered the Kit-Tea, SF's first cat café, where you can visit with up to 12 cats while enjoying one of a variety of Japanese teas. The cats are first acclimatized once they arrive at Kit-Tea, and are various ages. They can be adopted. Two of them were brothers, black with white paws, and one had a small white, tear-drop shaped white marking on his nose. Two of the others lay in the sun and only gradually deigned to make their presence known. One of them, curled up in his bed, looked exactly like Alexandra's cat Major Tom. I took tons of pictures of the cats for Alexandra and picked up a bunch of business cards for her in case she ever wants to visit the place, which is light, airy, and cleanly contemporary in design. After petting all the cats, we spent a little time in the café and finished our teas before leaving for an artisanal chocolate store we had patronized on one of my previous visits to SF--Elbow, where I had a dark chocolate turtle with ancho chilis and cinnamon--an incredible combination. Maureen had hazelnut in dark chocolate. Comfortable chairs with generous armrests and white tables lit from underneath graced the store--a true oasis of good taste, both aesthetically and sensually. From there we walked back to the Civic Center and took BART to retrieve Maureen's car at Glen Park station. We drove to a part of SF known as Noe Valley, where we went to a German store which looked like a time capsule of the 60s, where I bought "Deutschland" and a "Hessen" (the state where I was born) decals for my car. From there we went to a butcher's shop down the street and admired St. Paul's Catholic Church's facade and towers from the outside, as it was closed to viewing the interior. Then we got back in the car and quickly went to the supermarket and bought some supplies for tomorrow's foray out of town, when we plan to travel to the Steinbeck house in Salinas, and to the Mission San Antonio de Padua, close to the Hearst Hacienda, where we will be spending the night as a launch for the next day's viewing of San Simeon, William Hearst's incredible home. On the way, we will also be stopping in Gilroy, garlic capital of the world. Can't miss that! Stay tuned for more tomorrow!
This morning we slept in longer than usual, had a great breakfast of blueberry pancakes with Wisconsin maple syrup, made by one of Maureen's former students, and freshly ground and brewed coffee. I could get used to this!
After breakfast, we washed and straightened up things and answered emails, and before going out had a quick lunch of a third sortie on the pulled pork/slaw/beans combination, followed by a dessert of nectarines and raspberries.
We drove to Glen Park Station, then took BART from there to Civic Center, walked about 8 blocks, and entered the Kit-Tea, SF's first cat café, where you can visit with up to 12 cats while enjoying one of a variety of Japanese teas. The cats are first acclimatized once they arrive at Kit-Tea, and are various ages. They can be adopted. Two of them were brothers, black with white paws, and one had a small white, tear-drop shaped white marking on his nose. Two of the others lay in the sun and only gradually deigned to make their presence known. One of them, curled up in his bed, looked exactly like Alexandra's cat Major Tom. I took tons of pictures of the cats for Alexandra and picked up a bunch of business cards for her in case she ever wants to visit the place, which is light, airy, and cleanly contemporary in design. After petting all the cats, we spent a little time in the café and finished our teas before leaving for an artisanal chocolate store we had patronized on one of my previous visits to SF--Elbow, where I had a dark chocolate turtle with ancho chilis and cinnamon--an incredible combination. Maureen had hazelnut in dark chocolate. Comfortable chairs with generous armrests and white tables lit from underneath graced the store--a true oasis of good taste, both aesthetically and sensually. From there we walked back to the Civic Center and took BART to retrieve Maureen's car at Glen Park station. We drove to a part of SF known as Noe Valley, where we went to a German store which looked like a time capsule of the 60s, where I bought "Deutschland" and a "Hessen" (the state where I was born) decals for my car. From there we went to a butcher's shop down the street and admired St. Paul's Catholic Church's facade and towers from the outside, as it was closed to viewing the interior. Then we got back in the car and quickly went to the supermarket and bought some supplies for tomorrow's foray out of town, when we plan to travel to the Steinbeck house in Salinas, and to the Mission San Antonio de Padua, close to the Hearst Hacienda, where we will be spending the night as a launch for the next day's viewing of San Simeon, William Hearst's incredible home. On the way, we will also be stopping in Gilroy, garlic capital of the world. Can't miss that! Stay tuned for more tomorrow!
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