Going out & more hiking in Marin

I have started my job hunt in earnest now, and it has been proving a bit frustrating. I’m doubtful that I’ll be able to get exactly what I want (teaching French/German), so I’m widening my search. However, I have been given some useful tips by a friend of a friend, who’s a teacher. I’ve also been working hard in my volunteer positions, soliciting donations for the Shanti fundraising gala and also for the Italian Institute event. A nice Italian restaurant in the neighbourhood agreed to donate a gift certificate for the latter, so when our friend Emma got in touch and suggested a night out with some British chums, I of course recommended the restaurant in question. We had a lovely meal and they really treated us as VIPs, bringing us free bruschetta and free desserts! Still, we did buy a lot of wine (think I was drinking away my frustrations with the job hunt), and then repaired to a couple of bars, one notoriously good and one notoriously bad (we went for the experience!). It was a great night, but probably not wise in the middle of the week!

Yesterday was a bit rainy, which was just as well, as poor Jon had to work and I wanted to do some more job research on the Internet. In the afternoon I went over to Berkeley in the East Bay to the monthly German speakers’ meet-up. I went over by myself and used BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) for the first time. This is a kind of underground which turns into overground at certain points. I nearly missed the train because it took me so long to work out how to use the ticket machine! Back in SF, Jon and I went out for a Thai meal in the evening in a new bit of town (for us), but still within walking distance.

Today was nice and sunny, so we did our customary jog along the waterfront, and then headed over the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County and the Tennessee Valley trailhead. We had done the shortish walk to the beach a few weeks ago, but this time we undertook to do a longer hike high up over the cliffs to Muir Beach. The views were spectacular, as always along this section of the coast, which consists of wooded mountains plunging dramatically into the ocean. We spent a while on Muir Beach: reading, recovering and paddling, before heading back to the trailhead via a different, more elevated and more inland route. At one point, we were rewarded with the surreal view of San Francisco’s skyscrapers and distinctive Transamerica Pyramid peeking up in the cleft between two forested peaks. We also saw quite a few birds: loads of vultures, a few stunning red-winged blackbirds and a couple of California quail (see pics below). It was a great hike, but my muscles are suggesting I overdid it a tad – maybe a five-mile run and a strenuous eight-mile hike are a bit much for one day! When we got back to SF, we compensated for the fact that there was no ice-cream van at the beach just when we needed it (don’t think they have them here) by going out for some at a great gelateria with dozens of flavours just around the corner.