From Laguna Beach I flew to San Francisco. Let me say, I want to go back right away! It is true that it takes your heart. I think that it was one of my best trips ever.

While I am sure I would have had a good time either way, things were particularly good thanks to the weather. Where LA was dreary and overcast, San Francisco was bright and sunny. There was only a bit of rain the first day I arrived, and after that it was perfect. I had been worried about the weather in SF, as I had heard that it could be changeable in favour of being wet. I think the big problem with rain while traveling is that you spend a lot of time scurrying from one museum to another trying to stay dry. Instead my hosts had no problem finding parks and cafes to sit in and watch the world go by. Time was no worry, and we traveled lightly without rain gear.

For the most part I stayed overnight at a friend’s house in Berkeley. Julia and her parents were wonderful hosts, and can’t wait to go back and spend more time with them (and everyone else I met!). I especially want to spend more time in their garden, which had a lovely outdoor bed filled with cushions and blankets. Knitting out there with my tea every morning was the best way to start the day.

I had friends in the city, so most mornings I would take the BART to downtown. I love the style of the houses!

The Saturday I was there was Cinco de Mayo, a holiday we do not celebrate in Canada. I have been in the states on May 5 before, and it seems to me that celebrations run in the same vein as St. Paddy’s. While it may have original reasons as a festival, it is mostly seen as a thin excuse for young people to get really really drunk. Preferably in public.

Well, that’s not completely true. When I was in NYC last year there was no indication of what we were actually celebrating. In SF we went to Dolores Park, which had a big official celebration going on. There were vendors selling Mexican food, and a stage set up with musicians playing all sorts of traditional Mexican music. There were tons of people, mostly young folk with some young families. It was so much fun to watch all the people milling about, and to enjoy the sunshine.

We found delicious homemade organic popsicles from a vendor. I had Strawberry Lemonaide, and my friend had Kiwi Lime Ginger. YUM!

Wandering around one of the neighbourhoods one day I found this park. I think it was the corner of Oak and Laguna. See all those little boxes? Those are hives! Urban bees!

I went on this trip with very little agenda. I wanted to see friends and to go to A Verb For Keeping Warm*. Everything else I left up to my hosts. And thanks to the weather we got lots of hanging out time, and sometimes that translated into doing kind of touristy things as well. Like eating breakfast in front of the famous Painted Ladies.

Sometimes meals were sit down brunch at a restaurant, and sometimes it was as simple as a bagel and strawberries in Alamo Park.

One of my favourite things I saw was these graffiti koi painted on the sidewalk outside a cafe.

They matched the giant koi I found in a mall near LA.

What a great time spent with friends! I am going to have to come back, hopefully very soon.

*Don’t worry, I will post about Verb. I think it deserves its own post!

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