into the city (v. 2)

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.

a life full of little stories

Bean-to-Bar artisanal chocolate factory by the Bay // Samples of dark chocolate from white bowls // Appreciating the inherent flavors of cacao // Choosing treats from the shelves of chocolate // Scream Sorbet, pistachio // Mountain View Cemetery, first experience with Palm trees in graveyards // Our darling Arthur, who has no head // Neglected graves crumble // I spy the distant city

Good weekend, full weekend

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.