california road trippin' ~ day 8

you cant visit san francisco without having some clam chowder at fishermans wharf...that is, unless you are allergic to seafood.
today we sampled some new england clam chowder (although i much prefer manhattan style) and some greasy calamari as we worked our way to pier 39. checked out some shops. bought some ghirardelli chocolate. took the waterfront walk and ended our day at crissy field. saw the spectacular view of the golden gate bridge during sunset hour. then it was a very very long walk back to the wharf. we have been walking all day, and it was time for a reward ~ a giant bowl of linguine in clam sauce. :)

california road trippin' ~ day 7

be sure to wear some flowers in your hair, if youre goin' to san francisco...

as much as i love being surrounded by nature, i was grateful to be back in the city. especially when it comes to finding food and great coffee. two must haves for this city girl. before we took the north beach walking tour, we had lunch in chinatown. we decided to have dim sum at a random chinese restaurant. i left a bit disappointed and still hungry. we should have suspected this when we walked in and it was empty except for a group of foreigners. but we stuck to our choice and gave it a go. and now we know...besides, im a finicky eater.


the walking tour, however, was far from disappointing. it took us to through the residential san fran, little italy and some other places i cant remember. coit tower was one of the stops, where you get a birds eye view of the city. we stopped in caffe trieste for some italian coffee (on the corner of vallejo and grant) where your drink is served by a no-nonsense italian barista behind the counter. you wont get a smile or friendly conversation, but you sure get a great cup of coffee! it looked to be a rather popular spot for the local bohemians of another era. and oh, a sammy hagar sighting was announced by a customer stumbling into the cafe. pramin had spotted him earlier in chinatown, and insisted it was the former singer of van halen. i was skeptical though. i thought he looked too old and heavy to be the rock star. apparently, i was wrong.
i should have known by the tall blond walking next to him.









after the walking tour, we stopped in union square for some window shopping and dinner.


later in the evening, we headed to the mission district for the dia de los muertos procession. it was nice that we happened to be in town for the event. i love the festivities for this celebration, especially in los angeles. and well, i guess this was the next best thing to being in l.a. it was a blast hanging out and mingling with the dead. :)





we finished the evening with some homemade ice cream at st. francis fountain ice cream parlor in the mission district.