We arrived exhausted after two long days of driving, looking a little grungy as we searched out Virginia, Ryan's aunt, at a fancy hotel downtown. Apparently there are over a million dollars worth of fancy chairs in this hotel lobby and of course our first thought is: 'How many climbing trips/gear could that buy us?' Feeling a little out of place there we dashed up (very steep hills) to Virginia's apartment on top of Russian Hill.
Day 1 SF:
An early start and a fancy breakfast at the hotel (lots of yummy croissants) got us on our way the first day. Wanting to do something a little cultured we checked out the SF Museum of Modern Art. We had free tickets, probably good since we can't always see the art in a straight black painting, or a black circle on the wall. My favourite exhibit (probably Ryan's too) was the photographs of Francesca Woodman, who took lots of (naked) pictures of herself before she killed herself at the age of 22.
Day 2 SF:
I wake up thinking it's cloudy outside and won't be sunny today, but I'm shortly assured it will be sunny again. The weather has yet to fail us in California. We took a drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and up the mountain side and down to a beach. It was so beautiful and warm. We just walked along and admired the crashing waves.
At night we ventured into North Beach where one Italian restaurant after another fill the streets. Some of the coolest bars are in this area and what better then to go into a 150 year old bar called The Saloon. This tiny bar presents some of the best live music in town. It's a blues bar, with two bartenders that are jokingly; 'as old as the bar itself' according to the musicians. The music was incredible and we had more drinks than were needed. Every gin tonic was stronger than the previous one I ordered, you definitely get your bang for your buck. We managed to find our way home, but not before going up the hill opposite the one we were meant to go up on. Yes there are a lot of hills in San Francisco.
Day 3 SF:
A bit hungover we went for a Sunday stroll to Fisherman's Wharf and the 'pirate ship', renamed so by me. We needed more books so walked to the famous City Lights bookstore. This place has some history with authors getting their start there, including Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouc. I could've spent hours in there but we each picked out a book headed home.
Day 4 SF:
Alcatraz was on the list today. I was sceptical about doing a touristy tour but I loved it! We got boated over to Alcatraz Island, which is now a National Park, and toured the old prison. We walked around with headsets on, listening to the story of the prison life, inmates, escapees, and the community living on the island. The prision cells were fascinating and the stories even better. Since the island is in the bay there was a great view of the city and both the Golden Gate and Bay bridges.
Tomorrow we are off to Bishop to hopefully get on some snow free rock. It seems to be a mild winter this year so fingers crossed. Funniest and stupidest thing heard thus far...'Where is British Columbia, is that a state?' and 'Oh, I thought BC was another name for all of Canada...'
Ryan handled that conversation...
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