A few days in San Francisco; Science and secrets

Sunday

After breakfast at Mel's Drive In (regular customers by now) we once again took the MUNI from Powell to the Golden Gate Park. This time we had the California Science Museum in mind.

The museum was spectacular. Especially the tropical rainforest sphere with live frogs, birds, butterflies, and in the basement snakes and fish.

Inside the sphere.

Butterfly watching us?!

Butterfly hitchhiking?!

The stairs to the museum roof. Liked the composition - had one chance to shoot the picture with just Jenny in it since more than us wanted to use the stairs.

A living roof. It breathes.

Got back to the hotel just in time for the complimentary wine tasting. After that it was time for some shopping again - we paid Victoria's Secret a visit (me with VS bag - not for me to use though)...

We ended the day with another sushi dinner at Sanraku, Sutter St. Back at the hotel Jenny started to pack her bags - her flight leaving next day.

A few days in San Francisco; Cheesecake Factory and shoes

Saturday

After breakfast at Mel's Drive In, shopping at Ross at Fourth St, and complimentary ice cream at the Palomar hotel, time had finally come to visit the cheesecake epicenter in San Francisco - The Cheesecake Factory. Fantastic lunch and superb cheesecake.

More about the cheesecake story here.

Bird looking for free take away cheesecake.

After a day of intensive shopping it's important to justify each purchase.

Shoes, shoes, shoes, ... Some from Ross at Fourth St, some from Skechers at Powell St.

Ended the day with the Angels and Demons movie at the Metreon.

A few days in San Francisco; Golden Gate and Sausalito

Friday

Lance looking down from the ad wall at me and Jenny when we're having breakfast at Il Caffe in Union Square. A good start for a day filled with bike adventures.

So, off we went to find a bike rental. We decided to go with standard bikes from Bike And Roll on Columbus Ave.

The map at the store outlined a couple of trails. We decided to go with one that went over the Golden Gate Bridge, then if we had enough time continue on to the Sausalito village, and then back to San Francisco by ferry. Bigger map here.

The bridge captured from the San Francisco side - just before going over it.

Somewhere on the bridge. The view is spectacular.

Passed the bridge. Picture from the Sausalito side.

A small farmer's market in Sausalito.

We got a tip from a local couple to try the Spinnaker restaurant for lunch. It was ok. The view was great though.

San Francisco skyline captured from the ferry on the way back to the city.

After returning the bikes we went back to the hotel and ended the day with the new Star Trek movie at the Metreon.

A few days in San Francisco; Google I/O, Wave, and Magic

Wednesday - Thursday

Google I/O developer conference, the main reason for me going to San Francisco this time. Eric Schmidt took the stage on the first keynote.

Developers, developers, developers, ... The Spotify team demoed their Android app in the developer corner.

Google Wave was one of the big announcements during the conference.

Everyone got a Google I/O device (HTC Magic) after the first keynote. Came with a one month US subscription ready for use straight out of the box...

A few days in San Francisco; The Haight and Golden Gate Park

Tuesday

Palomar, our hotel for the rest of our stay. It's perfectly situated in the city if you're here for a mix of business and pleasure, just between Union Square and the Moscone Center. I have used it a few times before. Most important though, it's quiet - most city sounds vanish once you've entered the hotel.

We started the day with a breakfast at Mel's Drive In, close to the hotel, Mission St at Fourth. Great omelets. Planned the day loosely and decided to start with going to the Haight area by MUNI from the nearby Powell station.

The Haight area is full of interesting people and not-so-standard house facades.

A picture says more than a thousand words about this neighborhood.

A couple of dogs hanging out in a parked car.

Anyways, it's one of those areas in San Francisco that's worth walking around in a couple of hours. Relaxed, anything-goes, hippie, ...

We walked westwards on the Haight Street straight through the area and reached the Golden Gate Park. After an hour in the sun and a lunch at de Young museum, Jenny took the chance to practice her gymnastic moves. Olympics next year?...

A last shot from the park. A couple had found an almost private place...

My first visit to the park even though I've been to the city a number of times before. It's a beautiful park with lots of green spaces, trails, exhibitions, etc.

We closed the day with a sushi dinner at the Sanraku Japanese Restaurant in the Metreon building. Unfortunately the sushi, service, and the place itself was not as good at the Sanraku place at Sutter St. Go to the Sutter St place instead...

A few days in San Francisco; Wine tour and new hotel

Monday

Got up early, returned the Alamo rental car, and picked up Starbucks breakfast on my way back to the hotel. It was time to leave the Sir Francis Drake hotel and their nicely (weirdly?) dressed guards... Checked out and put the luggage in their baggage room.

So, this was the wine tour day. Me and Jenny had booked a full day tour in Napa and Sonoma with City Sightseeing San Francisco for 65 USD per person. The "small groups" caught our eyes - would be more personal than going with a big bus.

A really nice and talkative retired AT&T guy acting wine tour driver and wine connoisseur picked us up at the hotel. We were the last ones on the pickup tour in the city. Left the city going north - driver plus six persons in a spacey SUV. On our way to Sonoma we were told stories about the city and its surroundings - the bridge, Sausalito village, San Quentin state prison with California's death row.

First stop was Jacuzzi Family Vineyards, Sonoma.

Jacuzzi had some really great wines, complimentary tasting of course... The Moscato Bianco, Alexander Valley, 2007, was just superb. Red ones worth mentioning is Primitivo, Lake County, 2006, and Barbera, North Coast, 2006 with a taste of tobacco and cherry.

It's a "strong" wine...

Happy taster at Jacuzzi.

The Benziger Family Winery was another excellent stop. Benziger has an ecological and biodynamic approach to wine making - more about that here.

A selection of Benziger wines.

The Benziger cave and its fortune.

Mr USA himself. Supervised our Benziger tour and the grand final complimentary tasting.

Where to next?! Open a larger version of the picture to see map details.

Jenny tasting at Half Moon Valley.

We also stopped at the Artesa Winery in Napa Valley and the Cline Vineyard.

A great full-day tour! Definitely worth going on!

Once back in San Francisco we dragged our luggage from Sir Francis Drake to Hotel Palomar and got a suite for the rest of our stay.

A few days in San Francisco; Alamo rental and Muir Woods

Sunday

Busy morning; made a few calls to rental firms in the area and finally found a free car at Alamo, Bush St. Booked it and went down to the reception and booked a wine tour as well - more about that in a later blog post. We picked up the car after a breakfast at the Starbucks next to the hotel. Hadn't made any plans more than to go to Muir Woods and check out Highway 1 north of San Francisco.

The stop at Muir Woods was great. We stayed for three to four hours.

Lost?!

It's definitely worth a trip with its gigantic trees and nice trails.

After Muir Woods we continued on the Highway 1 beach trail going north. Stopped for lunch at the Parkside Cafe at sleepy Stinson Beach Park. Great food, mostly locals hanging out in the backside serving area.

We took the road to Petaluma but didn't stop at the village's premium outlet. Had to get back to San Francisco and return the car.

Well, ten minutes late... Alamo Rentals closed. Oops. Both me and Jenny are time optimists, but this was all my fault. Shouldn't have tried to squeeze in Petaluma. Well, no worries. Found a garage at Sutter and Stockton - returning the car tomorrow.

Closed the day with a dinner at Sanraku, Sutter and Taylor St - best sushi in San Francisco?!