On Wednesday I met with the principal investigator of a lab at University of California, San Francisco. After my meeting, I walked out onto Parnassus Avenue and into the sunshine. The sky was clear, the fresh slightly chill air filled my lungs, my blood pumped vigorously through my veins. I felt so elated and overtaken by the beauty of the day that I decided to take a long, meandering walk through the city.
I walked through Inner Sunset, from Upper Haight to Lower Haight {photo 1 & 2}. When Haight intersected Octavia I felt the urge to turn left. I didn't know why my body was pushing me in this direction, but when Octavia met Linden it all became clear. Octavia ends in the neighborhood of Hayes Valley. There you will find a small, lush park speckled with benches and filled with dogs. You will also find the most amazing ice cream shop in existence: Smitten {photo 4}. Smitten combines two of my favorite things: ice cream and science. Right in front of your eyes, fresh liquid ingredients are transformed into ice cream by a special machine that looks like a KitchenAid mixer, but has liquid nitrogen flowing through it. The liquid nitrogen reduces the size of the ice crystals in your ice cream, and so in 60 seconds time you will be enjoying the smoothest ice cream you've ever tasted.
After enjoying my treat (earl grey ice cream with milk chocolate chips) in the park {photo 5} I walked over to and up Van Ness {photo 6, sidewalk art on Van Ness}. I weaved between Pacific Avenue, Hyde Street, and other streets until I reached the neighborhood of Russian Hill {photo 7, view of Alcatraz from Russian Hill}, where I went in search of 28 Barbary Lane (the apartment the characters from "Tales of the City" reside in). The real Barbary Lane is actually called Macondray Lane. It's a quiet, wooded pedestrian path that cuts past several quintessential San Franciscan-style apartments. It ends with an expansive view of the Telegraph Hill neighborhood {photo 8}, and a set of wooden steps which descend to Taylor Street {photo 9}.
From Taylor Street I walked over to Broadway and headed towards the bay {photo 11, Transamerica Pyramid framed by two other buildings on Broadway}. I reached the Embarcadero {photo 12} and ended my adventure with a visit to M. at Tcho.
Ah, this looks lovely! I want that ice cream.
ReplyDeleteIt was such a lovely day! Being unemployed, it is sometimes hard to get myself out of the house, but this was exactly what I needed. It just helped to reinforce how happy I am that I moved here.
DeleteAlso, the ice cream is so good. The first time my brother took me there my taste buds were so excited that after I finished eating I immediately purchased another scoop.
I nominated you for the Liebster Award!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lovehylton.com/2013/02/liebster-award.html
Wendy
Hey Wendy, thanks so much for stopping by and for nominating me for the Liebster Award! I was actually recently nominated for the award by Amy from Life is a Trip Worth Taking, but thank you so much for the second nomination! If you are interested check out my Liebster post here: vicenarianstew.blogspot.com/2013/02/liebster-award.html
DeleteThank you again, and happy blogging!
Earl Grey ice cream sounds amazing! I love your pictures! It makes me wanna travel! Just found your blog through the Blogaholic Network and now I'm following!
ReplyDeleteAryn
Driftwood and Daydreams
The Earl Grey ice cream was amazing! Earl Grey is my favorite tea and I am pretty obsessed with ice cream, so the combination of the two was both comforting and delicious.
DeleteI love traveling too, and when I am not able to traverse to far away places I like to play the tourist in my own city. It is so exciting to discover new things in a place you know and love!
Thanks for stopping by, Aryn!