Home thoughts from abroad.....

Monday 9 April 2007

A 4 a.m. start to the day with Mel taking us to the airport ready for our 6.40 flight to Heathrow. Once there we had plenty of time to grab somethings to eat (yoghurt, fruit puree & granola for me and egg & bacon sandwich for J), buy some perfume - the large size was much better value and a Peter Rabbit for ₤1 was an added bargain! We took off at about 11 a.m on the 10 hr and 30 minute flight to SF with frequent snacks and drinks and numerous perambulations around the plane - not much leg room! Amazingly I only slept for a couple of 15 minute stints and we arrived at around 2 p.m. SF time. Getting through the immigration checks didn't take too long and Ben was waiting there to whisk us off to 766 Clemantina Street.

After a tour of a very tidy apartment and copious glasses of water, Madeline was home from work and we all went off exploring to Twin Peaks with wonderful views over San Francisco and then a beach walk near Crissy Fields opposite the Palace of Fine Arts where we admired the wind surfers.

We scarily drove down Lombard Street which fortunately is one way extremely steep and winding and saw other sheer drops which are roads in some parts of the city and are crossed in places by equally steep streets with cable cars! I fully understand why Madeline wanted an automatic car! Then it  was out to Basil for a lovely Thai meal within walking distance of their apartment, a quick game of pool at an Irish Bar in which I helped Ben to draw even with J and M in the second game! J & I were asleep by about 9.15 p.m. but considering we had been awake for around 26 hours I think we did well. Jet lag? What jet lag?? M & B went to watch a reality TV show with Emily (M's sister) and B ate too many chips (crisps) which he regretted the next morning.

Tuesday 10 April

J & I were awake early and were showered, bright eyed and bushy tailed before our hosts were awake. Ben made smoothies for breakfast then off to see where Ben studies so hard. Very pleasantly green grounds surrounding less attractive buildings.

M, J and I climbed up onto a roof amphitheatre to get the best views of the surroundings whilst Ben went to plead his case to be allowed to work for Yahoo over the summer. We then went for coffee and muffins before heading back to Ocean Beach and rolling breakers, no surfers, but lots and lots of dogs! The local dog walkers seem to have anything up to 10 dogs and they all seem to get on very well together. Some very interesting, flat sea urchins which M reliably told us are called sand dollars. Must get one to bring home if we visit the beach again. Madeline's photo of the world through a hole was the winner!

Then it was off to the shops to view the trainers, (no purchase) and to buy goodies for a picnic which was eaten by the shores of Lake Merced surrounded by an interesting display of birds including herons, cormorants and starlings in disguise plus some lovely blackbirds with patches of bright red feathers.

Our experienced chauffeur then took us to Sausalito which is on the opposite side of the Golden Gate Bridge which looks very impressive as you drive over and seems very long. Rapidly going off the idea of walking over it later in the week as the road leading from it looks very busy and full of cyclists. Sausalito is very pretty with lots of boats and warm sunshine. We ate an ice cream whilst watching a fisherman land a 100lb batwing ray (his estimate not ours but it certainly looked very big). We then drove home and played Scrabble which M narrowly won (oxen on a triple word score did it!). Emily took us to a lovely Italian restaurant called Nob Hill Cafe where we saw the San Francisco twins!! Parking places seem to be at a premium in that area of the city but Ben (driving Emily's swish Audi) found a space!. A lovely meal was had by all and then it was home for a game of Scattergorie in which J managed to play completely the wrong round and still scored points and I won overall. And so to bed.

Wednesday 11 April

It rained, as forecast, during the night and early morning but fortunately cleared up for the rest of the day. A lazy start to the day for some!  Impressively, M went for a jog! B, J & I walked to Trader Joes for ingredients for the evening meal; Ben took his wok cook book with him to ensure he didn't forget anything!

A really nice shop with lots of local organic fresh produce and other  interesting goodies. Ben cooked eggs and goodies for himself and J and M & I had cereal. It was then time to walk to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) station to get the train to Oakland Colliseum for the baseball game. (Thank you Mandy for our birhtday tickets!)

There are 9 innings in a match each of which continues until 3 players are out. We al now have an impressive knowledge of the rules and understand the terms, pitcher, catcher, home run and 3 strikes and out! A vast amount of food and drink seemed to be consumed by the 19,000+ people who were there including hot dogs and jacket potatoes for our party.The Oakland Athletics were playing the Chicago White Socks who were losng all the way through until near the end when an Oakland pitcher, who didn't seem to know how to play, managed to allow the  CWS to get 3 runs. The fianl score was 6 to 3 for the CWS who I was supporting against the odds. Back on the BART for a lazy hour or so and a nice cup of English tea! B skateboarded tot eh Post Office and Fed Ex to post his importand documents and post cards and was later convinced by us all that going to the gym would be a good idea whilst M got on with the next instalment of the Diana Gabaldon books and I was allowed on the computer!

Blogged with Flock