SF Prelude and Day One
Okay, so our honeymoon began with a fiasco. The hotel I naively rented happened to abut what appeared to be a San Francisco skid roe ("Hey, $89 a night in the city - how can I go wrong?"). Immediately after crossing the street on our first walk out, we were propositioned for weed by teenagers, accosted by vagrants (or "vags" as V-man likes to say), Shan was ogled by a man standing outside one of many nudy bars, and we walked by a half a dozen prostrate passed-out (dead?) hobos. So, our first walk became a desperate search for a new hotel...which we were ultimately successful at. Now, we're right in Union Square, poolside at the Handlery Hotel, where everything's happening, and we're still steps from a plethora of urban transit.
Our first night out was to Chinatown for dinner and a stroll. Thanks to the Zagat guide for Brandy Ho's - an excellent Chinese place where "medium spice" means "knock your socks off". Then we just strolled around Chinatown and Union Square, enjoying the anonymity amongst the masses that is a necessary part of any urban experience.
Sunday (today) we took the subway out to Golden Gate Park (Note: Golden Gate Park is nowhere near the Golden Gate Bridge, and yes I did know that before I went). We did some quite different strolling through the enormous SF Botanical Gardens & Arboraetum, which included a host of sub-plots representing different climates around the world and a small giant redwood patch. This beast of a botanical specimen greets you at the entrance.
This place was impressive that Shannon officially became a treehugger...and here's the evidence.
We then walked over to the Japanese Tea Garden, where we enjoyed a pot of jasmine tea with some sesame cookies while we sat beside one of the several ponds there. Here's a postcard shot just to give you an idea of the place.
After tea, we made the bold and un-touristy decision to walk the entire 2-mile length of the park to reach the seashore, which was entirely worthwhile. The tranquility of this park is unmatched, and it is arguably better than Central Park, although it is quite far from the downtown. Once we reached the seashore, we revelled in that grand Pacific sunshine and soaked in that deep and vibrant blue that we have to live without in New England. Here's a picture of me "soaking in the deep and vibrant blue" and Shannon laughing at my obviously posed self-portrait.
The SF coast is remarkable, with the Marin headlands rising dramatically in the north, untainted by development, save for a lighthouse here and there on some daunting rocky point. We still haven't seen the Golden Gate Bridge, but with this view, it's easy to forget.
We then hauled it back across the park, where we enjoyed an early dinner of sushi at another Zagat success, Ebisu (actually suggested to me by Prof. Kreisler, which Zagat then confirmed). All in all, an excellent first day. Stay tuned for more.
Our first night out was to Chinatown for dinner and a stroll. Thanks to the Zagat guide for Brandy Ho's - an excellent Chinese place where "medium spice" means "knock your socks off". Then we just strolled around Chinatown and Union Square, enjoying the anonymity amongst the masses that is a necessary part of any urban experience.
Sunday (today) we took the subway out to Golden Gate Park (Note: Golden Gate Park is nowhere near the Golden Gate Bridge, and yes I did know that before I went). We did some quite different strolling through the enormous SF Botanical Gardens & Arboraetum, which included a host of sub-plots representing different climates around the world and a small giant redwood patch. This beast of a botanical specimen greets you at the entrance.
This place was impressive that Shannon officially became a treehugger...and here's the evidence.
We then walked over to the Japanese Tea Garden, where we enjoyed a pot of jasmine tea with some sesame cookies while we sat beside one of the several ponds there. Here's a postcard shot just to give you an idea of the place.
After tea, we made the bold and un-touristy decision to walk the entire 2-mile length of the park to reach the seashore, which was entirely worthwhile. The tranquility of this park is unmatched, and it is arguably better than Central Park, although it is quite far from the downtown. Once we reached the seashore, we revelled in that grand Pacific sunshine and soaked in that deep and vibrant blue that we have to live without in New England. Here's a picture of me "soaking in the deep and vibrant blue" and Shannon laughing at my obviously posed self-portrait. 
The SF coast is remarkable, with the Marin headlands rising dramatically in the north, untainted by development, save for a lighthouse here and there on some daunting rocky point. We still haven't seen the Golden Gate Bridge, but with this view, it's easy to forget.
We then hauled it back across the park, where we enjoyed an early dinner of sushi at another Zagat success, Ebisu (actually suggested to me by Prof. Kreisler, which Zagat then confirmed). All in all, an excellent first day. Stay tuned for more.
posted by Pete at 10:21 PM
1 Comments:
Fabulous! I think Nat and I went to the Japanese gardens when we were kids - I remember looking at Bonsai trees somewhere. Glad you're having a good time.
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