Sunny days

Last week was a bit difficult – no Jon to cheer me up and lots of work! I did, however, meet my friend Randan from volunteering days on Wednesday for a delicious meal at a gem of a Vietnamese restaurant in the area known as “Little Saigon” in the Tenderloin (generally viewed as a rather dodgy bit of town, but it actually boasts a few good, unpretentious eateries). I worked late on Tuesday and Friday, but finally got my lovely husband back late on Friday evening. We had a few chores to do on Saturday, but spent much of the afternoon nursing a latte in Caffè Sapore and planning the trip to Mexico, which is now only about four weeks away! Afterwards Jon went to get his hair cut, while I went to soak up some sunshine in Washington Square.

I could write a whole blog about the experience of sitting in Washington Square on a sunny Saturday afternoon. It’s a pleasant patch of greenery, triangular rather than square, flanked on one side by the ornate white façade of St. Peter & St. Paul Church. Behind the buildings on the eastern side rises Coit Tower, atop wooded Telegraph Hill. On the southern side the tip of the Transamerica Pyramid pokes out above the classic Edwardian architecture. From the right spot you can also see the distant hills in Marin. It’s always alive with an eclectic group of dog-walkers, football-players, big kids with remote control flying machines (in this case, a dragonfly), families, artists, pot-smokers and tramps. You can browse the artwork for sale in the south-west corner, join the elderly Chinese folk for a bit of tai chi if you come early enough, or simply soak up the atmosphere and the sunshine. Relaxing there really is one of San Francisco’s pleasures.

In the evening, we went to a housewarming at Dave and Oli’s new flat (two of Jon’s work colleagues). The downside was that it was in Oakland in the East Bay, so it involved a slow bus journey through Chinatown to Market Street, then a trip on the BART to Oakland, and a rather long walk to their place along the banks of Lake Merritt. It was good to see everybody again, though.

Today we awoke to another beautiful day – as clear as yesterday, but warmer still. We started out with our jog to Crissy Field and back, revelling in the stunning views. We then headed for our favourite beach in Marin – Tennessee Beach – for a bit of rest and reading. It was as lovely as ever, but the waves were definitely bigger than I’d seen them before. We were both feeling tired, so fed our caffeine addiction at Caffè Sapore (again!) upon our return to the city, before heading out to meet my friends from Italian class at the Italian School fundraiser. It was held very close to us, at the Italian Athletic Club, which fronts onto Washington Square. We enjoyed the wine and nibbles, and I got to meet Gami’s new boyfriend, Nick. Both Candida and I expressed a wish to go up to the balcony, which was actually out of bounds, but we found it anyway! It was on these rooftops that Clint Eastwood staked out the serial killer in Dirty Harry. To finish the evening, we went for a nice gelato at another of my favourite spots in North Beach.

Back to work tomorrow – yuk! Especially as it’s forecast to be in the eighties on Tuesday! It really is incredible for late October. Something else I noticed the other day: by this time in the UK, all the shops are crammed with Christmas stuff, but there’s none of that here. It’s all Halloween at the moment, then after that it’ll be Thanksgiving. Christmas won’t hit until it’s actually December – how about that?! What a dream!