into the city (v. 1)

On Sunday I spent the night at M's apartment in the city. We gobbled down nachos and were kept abreast of the 49ers Superbowl triumphs and failures by the echos that resounded through the streets. We watched British comedies snuggled under a sea of covers. We were asleep by eleven.

On Monday we went exploring on Valencia Street, starting with a morning pick-me-up at the coffee shop and roastery Four Barrel. Their coffee of the day was bright yet smooth and perfect for drinking black. We took our steaming mugs to the bar at the back of the shop so we could watch the roasters at work {photo 1}. After a leisurely cup we started our walk. We popped into several shops along the way including the quaint Dog Eared Books {photo 4}.

When M. and I felt the tickle of hunger in our stomachs we decided to check out a gastropub we had read about called Monk's Kettle. The beer list there was intimidating and included many styles of beer I had not heard of (I need to brush up on German beers). M. ordered the Indian Brown Ale from the ever-reliably delicious Dogfish Head and a chickpea burger with hop salt fries. I ordered the Peated Abraxxxas a Lichtenhainer Weisse beer from Freigiest (Free Ghost!) Brewery in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. This beer is a wheat beer which lightly mixes sour and smokey flavors. I love sour beers, I love smokey beers, my tastebuds were pleased. For food I ordered the pretzel knot with cheese fondue. The pretzel was buttery (maybe a little more so than I would have liked) and the cheese fondue was so creamy. I think I would have liked it more with less cream and a generous splash of beer {photo 7: beer, food, and M's beautiful face!}.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and reading in M.'s apartment.

You guys, Les Misérables is SO good.