San Francisco, Take 2

First, I have to say that I did not get as many pictures as I would have liked in San Francisco. Partly because it was rather gray and rainy. Also, the people I asked to take our pictures did not do a good job, let me just say! But, I certainly had a fabulous time, despite that, and am eager to share my little adventure with you all.

Friday

After being picked up at the airport by Jessica, we went off in pursuit of lunch. We ended up eating Dim Sum, which was delicious! I’d actually never had it before, although now I’ll have to scout out a place here at home that serves it. After dumping off luggage at the apartment and going to the grocery store, we headed off through Golden Gate Park to the de Young Museum to see the Warhol Live and Yves Saint Laurent exhibitions plus some of the permanent collection. Both exhibitions were stunning! We also went to the top floor of the museum when has an observatory where we could look over at the California Academy of Sciences. It’s an interesting building and has solar panels on the roof as well as gardens. Jessica said they’re actually growing vegetables on top of the building that some chefs will be harvesting and using in their restaurants! Below are some shots from the observatory:

We closed out the evening by getting dinner at the cozy Burma Superstar! restaurant where the sumusas were especially good.

Saturday

After a delicious breakfast of coffee and Greek yogurt with blueberries, almonds, honey, and cinnamon (which I’m now addicted to) we were off to the Ferry Building to visit the Farmer’s Market.

Breakfast

This was one of my favorite aspects of my trip. The place was teeming with people! We got the most delicious latte I’ve ever had in my life at the Bluebottle Coffee Company stand whose line wrapped around the other stands and probably took 15-20 minutes to even get my coffee. Jessica said, however, it was worth it and boy, was it ever! I never drink plain lattes (usually vanilla) but they only make plain and it was superb! I didn’t need to add sugar or anything, it was so smooth. No wonder the line was so long! We also “snacked” on beer battered asparagus and I had to try chocolates from Recchiuti. I tried a piece of Lavender Vanilla and Fleur de Sel Caramel. It was truly chocolate like I’ve never had before. We got sandwhiches (salmon and the best slow roasted beef sandwhich with spicy green and onions on sour dough) to take with us to Alcatraz Island.

Banjo man at the market

Market with Ferry Building in the background

View of Bay Bridge from Ferry Building

Alcatraz Island was fascinating. The audio tour was excellent! I’m so glad I did this tour, as it was something I didn’t do on my last trip. The following are some pictures from Alcatraz:

View of Alcatraz from Ferry

San Francisco from Alcatraz

Golden Gate Bridge in the background

San Francisco is in the background

Golden Gate Bridge

Inside the solitary confinement cell

After Alcatraz we went to Ghiradelii square and got Irish Coffees at Buena Vista Cafe to warm up and hung out for a while.

In Ghiradelli Square

Also at Ghiradelli Square

Sunday

Sunday dawned much sunnier but very cold and windy.

View from apartment window

We spent the morning walking around the neighborhood, checking out boutiques and bookstores. Then we drove around to the shore side of San Francisco and got out to check out this windmill in Golden Gate Park.

Windmill in Golden Gate Park

Tulips blooming in Golden Gate Park

Then we went to the Mission district of San Francisco and checked tons of cute shops and got ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery, which was some of the most amazing ice cream I’ve ever had. It was a cold windy day, like I said, but the line was still long. Jessica mentioned she’d never had ice cream there because she’s never wanted to stand in line and the line is always long. Despite being long, it moved quickly and I totally enjoyed my Meyer Lemon and Cinnamon with Snickerdoodle cookie scoops of ice cream.

Our final destination was Range, Jessica’s current favorite restaurant. For appetizers we had artichoke salad with pork belly with hazelnuts and goat cheese and sorrel stuffed pasta with lime butter and chives. For dinner I had shiitake and piopini mushroom pot pie with a gruyere cheese biscuit. And for dessert (no, the afternoon ice cream was not enough) I had a lime pudding with coconut cream and pineapple. The meal was delicious, and I was reminded how wonderful truly good restaurants are, since it has been a while since I’ve eaten at one. It was a perfect ending to a delightful weekend of friendship, food, and all around fun!