Hot in the city

A very “San Francisco” weekend packed with new experiences. On Friday, we had the opportunity to go to a baseball game because James, another Data Connection guy, had a couple of tickets going spare. It was the San Francisco Giants versus the Philadelphia Phillies (how unimaginative a name is that?!) at AT&T Park, a really cool stadium in the south of the city with views of the Bay Bridge, Yerba Buena Island and the East Bay from the stands. There were even people paddling around in kayaks hoping to catch a home run ball, should anyone manage to slog it over the boundary. Anyway, we both had a really good time – I was surprised how much I enjoyed it and got into it. It was very uneventful for quite a while, but then the SF Giants upped their game and scored a few runs towards the end, ultimately winning! They deserved it too, after the Phillies displayed some very unsportsmanlike behaviour, making use of the “four no-balls and the batter gets to walk to first base” rule when pitching, to prevent SF batting phenomenon Barry Bonds from taking a hit.

Saturday was a gorgeous day, which we started with our run along the waterfront to Crissy Fields. I was pleased that I did OK, having not gone running for a while – obviously, negotiating those gradients on Kauai helped. I then had to work for a few hours, as I’ve been sent some checking by the translation company I used to work for (I’ve actually had a very busy week, juggling that with my volunteer commitments, which included accompanying the kids to a multimedia museum). In the evening, we headed out for dinner at an Italian restaurant that had been recommended to me, but it ended up being very mediocre. We decided we’d not had enough and took up Emma (James’ girlfriend) on her offer to go out to a bizarre club-cum-house-party in the SOMA (South of Market) district. It was definitely one of the weirder nights out we’ve had, but very “San Francisco” and actually pretty cool. The “house” in question had a roof terrace, lots of widely differing, plushly decorated rooms incorporating everything from massages to karaoke, plus dancing in the largest room with its trippy artwork and drapes. Lots of people were in crazy costumes and the air was thick with not entirely legal tobacco. We met a few people Emma knows there, including a pair of philosophy grad students from Berkeley University.

Today has been a scorcher – 29 degrees, which is very unusual for San Francisco. We took full advantage by spending the afternoon lazing on Baker Beach, on the ocean side of the city near the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. When it got too hot, it was delicious to go and have a splash around in the icy Pacific. There were loads of people out and about on the beach, which is clothing-optional at its northern edge! Back at the flat, I went for a dip in the pool in front of our apartment block – this was the first time it’s been hot enough to make me feel so inclined, but it was lovely. We then went out for ice cream at our local gelateria near Washington Square and watched the world go by.

In other news, Jon has bought a Nintendo Wii console, so don't expect any more sense out of him for a while!