love, Big Sur.

Part of the Big Sur coast.

This morning Mark & I woke up to the sound of raindrops and wondered if our trip south to Big Sur and The Henry Miller Library would be worth it. What an adventure! And completely worthwhile it was...now I truly feel as though we are on holiday.

We set out in the pelting rain, and in Mark's words: "It was bucketing down - interesting drive along the coast when you can't see a foot in front of you, you're driving on the wrong side of the road, & the drop to the right is a few hundred feet." I was just glad that I was not at the wheel...



The Henry Miller Library.

In the cloud and torrential rain the view really looked no different to the Sydney coastline. But upon arriving at the library we were welcomed by the sight of a little wooden lodge? cabin? and once we were safely inside we were surrounded by books, posters, memorabilia, a few guys on macs happily typing away on the free wi-fi. Everything was sort of cosy and interesting - not to mention meeting a very friendly pussycat who was hopping from lap to lap saying hello!

Inside The Henry Miller Library.

Fortified, we stepped back out to the car and on to the famous Big Sur Bakery for lunch. I gasped appreciatively at the sight of a real coffee machine, and we feasted on turkey noodle soup and peach pastries. This was the closest I have eaten to Sydney food and I say that in an entirely complimentary way, especially after trying Dennys for the first time yesterday! After finishing lunch, the sun came out, and we thoroughly enjoyed our drive back to Monterey, this part of the world is gorgeous in a pretty special way!

So, what's so special about Big Sur? I can't exactly say. There is very little information available on what it is exactly, but it is basically one road that runs between the forest and the ocean for about 30 miles? - and it offers the best of both worlds. There are a handful of very expensive resorts but other than that there are a few campgrounds and not very much in the way of tourist attractions. Which leads me to the very reason that people go - to experience the natural environment in the first person, I guess! I really hope one day Mark and I can return and hike around, and without sounding too trite, to simply enjoy nature, and maybe enjoy one of the famous concerts held on the grass outside The Henry Miller Library, such as those given recently buy The Arcade Fire and Thurston Moore!


Schoolhouse at Big Sur.

Fort Mason, Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz, Friends and Anniversaries!

Skyline of San Francisco from the Alcatraz Ferry.

So Sunday was our first Wedding Anniversary, and we woke up with big plans... to walk the Golden Gate bridge! I'm not sure what happened (maybe it was the bunkbed sleeping situation) but we were sort of over-optimistic about how far we could walk after some pretty heavy walking the two days previous.

Mark takes a break on our bunk at the Downtown YHA.

Fort Mason Park.

We didn't EXACTLY head out in the wrong direction but it became clear pretty early we weren't going to make the distance in good spirits. We did instead, however take a rather lovely walk along Fort Mason and through the very well kept neighbourhood of Pacific Heights, which ended up being quite enjoyable in itself. Oh, and if I ever have money drop on me from the sky I'd like an apartment at 3665 Scott Street please, you can look that up on google maps if you feel curious :)

Palace of Fine Arts.

The De Young Museum.

We visited the rather extraordinary and monolithic Palace of Fine Arts (once used to house telephone books!) and then caught a cab over to Golden Gate Park to visit the De Young Museum. First, there is no way I could do justice to just how good the viewing platform is in this museum. Second, Golden Gate Park is just so vibrant and beautiful, and if I ever return I'd be attempting to do and see more there. In the short time we were passing through we saw rock 'n roll dancing, a big brass band and segway tours, we didn't have the time to properly take much of it in at all. So many people were sunning themselves on the grass with friends or riding around on a bike, I just got the feeling that this might as well be a place for me if I return.

Happy first wedding Anniversary to us!


We finished the day with a pretty special anniversary dinner at a restaurant called Aziza, recommended to us by our San Franciscan friend Deb. Well, I could get more used to dinners like this! We had meatballs and grilled grapes on skewers, de-boned chicken wings and the most wonderful grilled flatbreads with home made spreads. Not as expensive as Sydney, I even enjoyed a few glasses of wine and we came in under $150, not bad at all for something attempting to be a little more special. We even managed to hold prolonged conversation after hanging out for four days straight, so a gold star for both Mark and myself!

Alcatraz.

Today we hopped on the ferry to take the quintessential tour of Alcatraz. Sort of dragging our feet at the idea of doing something overly 'touristy,' this was all rather well-organised and efficient, it ended up being informative and enjoyable! We boarded the ferry and took the 10min ride to the island, where we took an excellent audio tour of the buildings and learned about the history in some more detail. It ended up being one of the highlights of my San Francisco stay, so by all means do it if you visit.

We finished off our day visiting our San Franciscan (is that how you put it?) friend Deb, who we met in our Sydney yoga class earlier this year (she was visiting Sydney for work and was disciplined enough to find a local yoga class!) She kindly invited us to one of her 'weekly barbeques' that she holds at her house in Mountain View. It was raining, so about 7 of us ended up around the kitchen table eating home made apple pie made from the tree in her backyard! Funnily enough, this has ended my visit to San Francisco perfectly. Even though attractions, fancy food and shopping can be dazzling, good conversation and friendship is what makes these experiences truly satisfying. Quite a few people at the table had either been to/are going to Australia and gobbled up the Tim Tams I brought along. I also knew once and for all I was in Silicon Valley, sitting at a table with 2 x googlers, an aeronautical engineer, a robotics engineer, a network security specialist and a drama teacher (ha! San Francisco!)

We leave San Francisco in the morning for Monterey, giving our tired feet and stretched wallets a bit of a rest as we hit the road for a few days of driving. It has been a little rainy and San Francisco city is now full of corporate visitors for a Java/Oracle conference, so it definitely feels like our time has come to leave.

I hope to be able to pass on some more news from the road!

Farmers Market, Shopping, The Mission (sort of)

Hey, glad you enjoyed my first San Francisco blog post! Tonight I type to you from our nook in the Downtown YHA, there is no TV here so computer time rules. I need to confess now I made a pretty terrible mistake today... we cheerfully checked out of our rather lovely hotel to slum it for a few days, and we weren't too concerned because I had managed to book a private room and all... and then we turned up to check in... and it IS a private bedroom... just with a BUNKBED! Not to mention it's our first wedding anniversary tomorrow, so umm, it's not exactly the most romantic situation you could find yourself in! At the moment Mark is wedged in opposite me between the wall and the bunkbed ladder... not quite what we were imagining, but we will just have to make the best of it for a few days! Sort of hilarious really, and nostalgic for Mark, apparently he has stayed at this very hostel in his younger years :)

San Francisco Farmers Market.

Mark at the Farmers Market.

This morning we woke up and headed down to the famous San Francisco Farmers Market in the Ferry Building, as this is apparently what local people do on Saturdays. I'd like to say it would be a very enjoyable thing for somebody who enjoys waiting in lines, I actually found very little pleasure in the whole experience and would prefer a trip to Bangalow anytime, now that's a relaxing and memorable Farmers Market experience!

First I need to point out that despite hearing to the contrary, good coffee is still a major problem in the USA, this unfortunately includes San Francisco. Even more disappointing is that tea here as we know it is virtually non existent! So there is this one brand of coffee called Bluebottle that everyone goes crazy about. I have been holding off for days because I have heard the lines are frustrating, and is only served in a handful of cafes in San Fran, but today I could no longer wait. I joined the queue down at the Farmers Market and it took me 25 minutes to get my first decent (but not the best I've tasted) USA coffee. I'm sort of confused that this is happening and if I ever have to do anything entrepreneurial in the USA I would be setting up a damn coffee cart every two blocks, it's obvious this place is more than ready for it!

The produce itself at the Farmers Market looked wonderful and if I were a local person I'd surely come down for a weekly fill, we bought a nice tourist photo off an artist and had a good walk around on the pier. All of the produce was very cheap compared to Australia ($1.50 for 3 bananas!), its just a shame we currently have no use for fresh food. So after taking in the sights we walked back up the hill past an anti-corporate demonstration stopping for lunch at La Boulange. Although the USA is full of food to eat I do recommend this place if you're at least making some effort at eating healthy, the salad is actually fresh and crisp and there is a fairly wide range to choose from. Let's face it, America is carbohydrate central, it seems lunch basically translates as 'a trip to the bakery.' But La Boulange, although a bakery, offers some other satisfying stuff as well.

La Boulange.

Anti-corporate demonstration.

After heading back to discover our new 'bunkhouse style' living situation we headed back to the shops for some retail therapy. Wont bore you too much other to say I bought a year's worth of Victoria's Secret bras for about A$120 (unheard of) and Mark bought a new lime green swatch watch :) I pretty much bought a bag full from my (almost) favourite store Anthropologie and will probably make another hack at the credit card in their LA premises. For the Sydney ladies I'll also let you know I saw stock in Zara that is currently sitting on the racks in their Sydney store so they are staying true to their word about distributing their current range widely.

Mexican is Mark's favourite so we headed back into town for dinner at a 'nice' Mexican restaurant called 'Tropisueno' ($8 margheritas!) where i can't seem to get enough of the enchiladas. After that we decided to take the BART to 'The Mission' for some ice cream at the famous Humphry Slocombe ice cream parlour. This is a must do trip! If I were younger, I may like to say, frequent a few of the bars in the area! And the food smells yummy and authentic, murals painted all over the street, everything a little edgy, I'd go as far as saying this is a 'must do' in San Francisco. I had pumpkin 5-spice ice cream (Halloween is coming!) and Mark had milk chocolate malt, YUM!

Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream.

So what about the little day to day differences in San Francisco? What do I see here?
- You definitely need to stand to the right on escalators, and just in general. There are however, many people that just take up the whole escalator :)
- When you hear funny whistles in the street (sort of like a recorder) it's just a hotel concierge trying to call out for a cab.
- If you are riding a bike and would like to take it on a bus, there is a bike rack on the FRONT of the bus where you can store it! The whole bus has to wait for you to get it up there and locked in, I could just never imagine that going down in Sydney.
- Women here love wearing makeup, it seems everyone has a full face on!
- Ladies love to wear the skirt and boot combo, I feel like I am in a mid 1990s video clip, floral skirts (even CULOTTES!) with boots BOOTS!

Store your bike on the front of the bus!

And before I go, some fashion forecasts for the ladies! (All Winter stock is coming in here now...)
- Cardigans Cardigans, knit only, waterfall style or open at the front. These are EVERYWHERE and it's tiring to see!
- Cropped navy military style jackets with brass buttons, cute, I wouldn't mind one of these
- 'Shrunken' knits (sometimes cabled and consisting of a few different colours) which are sort of fun but I'll have to hit the gym hard to feel completely comfy in this one
- Wedge boots, more of a 'lace up at the front' style in a beige or light grey, suede
- Leggings (still) but they are looking increasingly less appropriate and more suburban, I wouldnt say the legging has much further to go
- Jeans are getting wider, or are staying skinny but are getting colourful (yay, something new!)
- Heavy rim glasses (well I dont have bad eyes so I have nothing to say about this!)

So that's my day in San Francisco, my bunkmate is saying he wants to switch off the light shortly so I'd better do the right thing! Tomorrow we are off to walk the Golden Gate Bridge to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, so special!! x

Heart in San Francisco

Hello from San Francisco!

I've been here 2 days already and the time has just flown, mainly due to the mixture of familiarity, discovery and jet lag! The flight was long, and changing planes in the last 2 hours in LA left me almost delirious.. the jet lag has bitten me pretty hard this time and I was awake for a good part of last night, as well as 'napping' today during the Australian night time.

So... what is San Francisco like? What is going on here?
Hotel Rex

Mark and I are staying at the Hotel Rex which is just a block and a half walk from Union Square (the equivalent of Pitt Street Mall.) It's just enough to be in the heart of things, but also a little away from it all. Hotels here are surprisingly expensive... and also pretty rickety and old. So we are staying here for 3 nights, then we are heading tomorrow for the Downtown YHA (a bargain private room) for another 3 days to save a few dollars. I would honestly recommend The Rex to anybody thinking about coming to San Francisco, the whole hotel has a 'book theme' and I'm currently drinking my free daily glass of red wine from their library bar. It's lovely coming back each afternoon to a freshly made up room and the staff here are warm and friendly.

So far, I sort of feel like I'm sort of in Sydney and sort of in Brisbane! Driving in from the airport it felt like Brisbane... but it's obviously not! San Fran certainly lacks the intensity (and self importance) of Sydney and is much more laid back and less self conscious. Clothing is very casual and people are generally more chatty (hard for someone like me who is used to generally ignoring anybody's attempt at eye contact after 4 years in the Eastern suburbs!)

Of course San Fran is a shopping mecca for Australians and Aussie accents can be heard everywhere. It's nice shopping in a Zara store that doesn't look like it's been completely ransacked and customer service, like in New York a few years back, is excellent. I wouldn't say San Fran is entirely as efficient as New York in this sense but it certainly is easier work having help in changerooms and at registers, it makes it all easier spending my hard earned dollars!

Maiden Lane.

I would recommend a walk down Maiden Lane once you are jaded by Westfield and big brand surrounds, sure alot of it is very expensive, but it certainly has a nice feel and is a bit outside of the ordinary. I'm thinking about buying some ballet flats from London Sole in the next few days because they are virtually half the price as they are in Australia.

The Bourbon and Branch.

Food? Well I'm pretty difficult to please because we are lucky to have best of the best in our part of Sydney. We have eaten some good food, sure, but nothing completely stand out. I attempted to get Mark drinking last night at The Bourbon and Branch without much success, but I'd definitely recommend this bar to anyone attempting to impress. It's basically themed around a speak easy and you can't get in without a booking and 'password' at the door. It's dark and rather seductive inside, and the quality of cocktails is second to none, and apparently 'expensive' at $11 (HELLO Sydney prices!) so I had a rather lovely time drinking my cocktail and most of Marks before hitting the pavement again at 7pm.

We are going to the famous Farmer's Market tomorrow and also a 'recommended restaurant' on Sunday so I'll see how we go with the food... one thing for sure is the Mexican is a standout and I can't wait to enjoy more of it!

The Haight - famous for it's 'painted lady' houses.

The row of houses from TV Show 'Full House' - Where's Uncle Joey & Uncle Jesse?

Today we went for a massive walk through The Haight and Golden Gate Park. We were gone for most of the day and had lovely weather to walk around in. We ate breakfast in Kate's Kitchen and I have to say this was the most 'normal' tasting meal I've had so far, even though they served fries with breakfast. My stomach was very thankful about that!

We walked up Haight Street (which is pretty much a hybrid of King Street Newtown and Byron Bay) and Mark took me to the Grateful Dead House. It was a nice walk with lots of colourful things along the way (sometimes a little tense feeling around Fillmore St) and it's something I'd certainly recommend doing.

Japanese Tea Garden.

We ended up in Golden Gate Park, which is basically a bigger and greener version of Sydney's Centennial Park, I could certainly imagine being a regular here if I lived nearby. We visited the Japanese Tea Garden where we found an excellent tea house which was tranquil and calm with a few squirrels hopping about, at least until I had my sunglasses stolen! Despite this frustration, I'd definitely recommend it to any visitor, besides, my lenses were very scratched so their karma has already come back upon them as far as I'm concerned!

So overall, we are really pleased to be in San Francisco. It also makes me feel very fortunate to be living in Sydney, where there are far fewer homeless people, and things are generally newer, cleaner and hip, I guess. Sydney HAS arrived. Don't worry I'm not going to take out my flag and start waving it around yet, but we certainly have it good!