Sorry for the long pause in blog posts. I have been running around like crazy ever since I got back from South America. I know one thing, though, I really miss writing in this blog thang. I am not sure when I am going to write in my blog or how. This may turn into more of a life blog than a travel blog; but nonetheless, I will keep on. I went to San Francisco for the wedding of my two dear friends, Erica and Bryan. They met me at the airport
after of a year of not seeing eachother. I was very excited, and so were they. We immediately went to the Haight, which is the part of San Fran that I have probably heard the most about. I didn't go the famed "Haight Ashbury" cross street, though, and I am not sad about it... We did, however go out to the Haight for Erica's bachelorette party, and that was enough for me.
Although I spent two or three days doing the bridesmaid thing, I was able to take a ride on my first trolley car and get a good glimpse of some sea lions. I was staying in Fort Mason, where the wedding is located, and walking distance to many things.. At least for me :)
The rehearsal dinner was a great restaurant called Greens. I have been a quasi-vegetarian for
many years, and I was still shocked by the
creative ability 0f the chefs at Greens. It was an all vegetarian, mostly local meal. At the dinner, I was able to catch up with old friends and meet a couple new ones. We later went out to a local sports bar - yes people love sports in San Francisco.
The actual wedding was beautiful, a little cold but still awesome. They were married in a park in San Francisco
called "Fort Mason". You could see the Golden Gate Bridge from where they said their nuptials. They even made us (the whole audience) promise that we would not meddle in their affairs unless asked!
The reception was within walking distance of the ceremony. There were mariachis and a wonderful selection of cheeses waiting for us outside of the reception hall! There are my new amigos above. After we had drinks and appetizers, we went to the reception hall and had a great time. We ate and danced for HOURS. I even jumped rope with a bunch of children.
The day after the wedding the whole wedding party and then some went to the Muir Woods. This was my first time seeing full grown redwoods. It was very impressive. What was more impressive was the smell of this place. It was so fresh and so freeing... It is like nothing I have ever smelled in my whole life. We walked around for about an hour, said our goodbyes, and then I headed back to San Francisco.
I had been staying in the Fort Mason hostel and the Comfort Inn, but on the evening after the wedding, I stayed at a hostel in downtown San Francisco. One of my main goals of my trip was to eat as much ethnic food as possible. So, on the night after the wedding, I ate at a Mediterranean restaurant. I must say, it was the first restaurant that I have ever visited where it seemed like the entire wait staff was bi-lingual. This was very impressive, and so was the fact that the whole place was packed at 10:30 on a Sunday night - Europeans :).
The next day I walked from my downtown hostel back to my Fort Mason hostel. This took about an hour. I then dropped off my things and made my way, by foot, to Sausalito. This took about six hours - including my much needed stop for an Indian buffet. On the way, I crossed the
Golden Gate Bridge, walked down a kinda sketchy street that was not made for pedestrians, and saw enough solar panels to make my heart
melt. I was however, exhausted when I reached Sausalito. I took the ferry back to the Pier One of Fisherman's Wharf. This will be the closest I got to Alcatrez, but I would love to visit this site next time I visit San Francisco. I scurried over to another of town and met Erica's brother for Vietnamese sandwiches! First time for this and definitely good :).
The next day, my second to last day in San Fran, I decided I really wanted to go the Castro (the traditionally gay part of San Francisco) and Oakland/Berkeley to see friends that I had made in Peru. I first went to the Little Italy section of San Fran, or North Beach, to eat pizza... It was very good and a cool little part of the city. On the way to the Castro, led of course by my trusty I - phone GPS, I stumbled into China town. I bought a hat there and moved on.. It was very cool to see,
though. I reminded me a lot of some of the markets I visited in South America.
After walking for another three miles/two hours or so, I made it to the Castro. I have to admit, I had no idea what to expect... I had heard about naked men in the street, which I saw. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting this part of San Fran. The streets were lined with crude shop names, and there were same sex couples holding hands everywhere! Hell yeah :). I
also visited the space where Harvey Milk, the country's first openly gay politician, had his camera shop. It is now a human rights shop/museum. If you haven't seen the film Milk, I highly recommend it.
After walking through the Castro, I used the trusty I-Phone to get me to Oakland. BTW - I heart public transportation...
In Oakland, I met up with some friend that I knew from Peru - Jen and Dave. We had some coffee, and Dave and Travis, their friend, prepared us some amazing local snacks. There were figs, strawberries, three types of cheeses, olive oil, blackberry honey, and bread. OMG!! I was soo
excited. We ate this lovely meal, and then headed out to meet some more of our amigos from Peru.
I saw Eileen from DC, Angus from Scotland, Pat from Georgia (even though he won't admit it), Colleen from Virginia, and MC Jesus (Christian) from Sacramento!
The next day, I headed out but made sure to eat in The Mission, the Latino part of San Francisco, before returning to BOONE, North Carolina where the food opportunities are, to say the least, much more limited...
I am now back in NC working at Appalachian State, again and teaching classes at ASU, again.... It sure is nice, though, to have somewhere to go home to. I feel like that about Boone, now. It is my home. I am welcomed to it like I was once welcomed at Topsail Beach. I'm a lucky girl! Until next time - probably when I go visit E and B and the Solar Decathlon in DC. Ciao :)
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