Saturday, May 31, 2008

Greetings from the Golden State

Hello friends! We're here in Berkeley at Cafe Strada sipping a mocha in the glorious sunshine, er, I mean overcast coolness. We've spent all our money on tie-dyed clothing, hemp, and bongs. Not really.

We're checking out Brian's old hood, his old school (Berkeley), and Telegraph Ave. Tonight we make a head start on the drive home, and tomorrow we look forward to a loong drive home on the freeway.

The last couple days in San Francisco have been awesome. We did a lot of walking and exploring the different neighborhoods, including Chinatown (went to an amazing tea house!), North Beach, Coit Tower, Mission District, met a friend of Brian's at the Ferry Terminal for lunch, Haight Ashbury, Golden Gate Park (and DeYoung Museum), Noe Valley, Union Square, Japantown, Presidio, and now we're in Berkeley. We've seen a lot! We've had some amazing food here. Last night we had a nice meal at Zuni, where Brian had made reservations a couple weeks in advance. We had great food at Chutney, which my coworker Emma suggested. Slanted Door at the Ferry Terminal had awesome nouveau Vietnamese food. Sushi in Japantown was pretty cool; it was supposedly the first sushi place in the US with the sushi on little boats that float past. We really liked our hotel on Union Square called the Chancellor Hotel -- if you're ever in San Fran looking for a place to stay.

Although I was last here in 2001, San Francisco seems bigger than I realized. Like a west coast, smaller version of New York. There is a ton going on here, a ton of people, and a lot of really interesting, diverse neighborhoods. And great food. Actually, great shopping overall! The architecture is also pretty striking and different compared to anywhere else. I love the ornate, colorful houses. I think we need more of those in Seattle.

Speaking of Seattle, we look forward to finally being home!! It's been a whirlwind adventure the past few weeks. Although you may think that Oklahoma, Belgium, and Oregon/California have nothing in common, I intend to prove you wrong. Stay tuned for a future post on the scintillating similarities between these places.

3 comments:

Tactless Wonder said...

I wish you both a safe journey back home.

The Victorian houses were known as "The Painted Ladies." My XMIL was able to tell which were hand-crafted and which came out of the Sears Catalog--I think that was who sold them--ready made in kits/build your own.

Cindy said...

Hey there! Oh yeah, I've heard of the "Painted Ladies" term for those houses. So beautiful. It would be so crazy fun to build your own Victorian house from a Sears catalog kit. Damn, if only they still had those.

Hey, we'll have to do lunch soon!

erin said...

hey! sounds like you had fun, yay! welcome back to seattle... where it is cold and raining. in june. (what gives??) let's make movie plans soon!

e