Blogs from North Beach, San Francisco, California, United States, North America

After getting adults off to the Fancy Foods we piled the kids in the truck and were off to Lucas Films then the Exploratorium. We had planned to eat lunch with Clayton at Lucas Films but he got busy with work so we just did a little walking and visiting. Fortunately we’d brought plenty of food so we were able to have a picnic. We got to the Exploratorium and for those of you who are thinking of visiting, across the street to the north is a parking lot, maybe a 5 minute walk. When we were there it was free. We found a picnic table close by and set out our food, fed kids then off to the Exploratorium. The Exploratorium is in what was the Palace of Fine Arts; it is an old building ... read more

Jonah Raskin's American Scream: Allen Ginsberg's Howl And The Making Of The Beat Generation was the book I opted for. The obvious, touristy thing would have been to purchase a copy of Howl – we were in City Lights Books after all. Luckily there was a vacant rocking chair upstairs where my friend rocked away while I scanned through every single available item before picking up the before mentioned title. The cashier was too cool for school. He had an assymetrical London haircut and what Britons call NHS spectacles. At the time of writing this he probably is a cashier no more. He looked like the type who lands a design job sooner or later. Bless him. One of the very few customer service people in San Francisco I liked. No over-enthusias... read more

SF is one of our favourite cities. It's where Patricia once lived for a couple of years and where we got married in 1997. It has so much to offer in terms of attractions & sights, and is such an easy place to get around. Our hotel is close to Pier 39, so we did the obligatory tour of that area and watched the seals on the pontoons. We then took the ferry to Alcatraz Island and spent a few hours taking in the history of this former military base and high-security federal prison (only closed down in 1963). We put Katrina & Jackson in the cells once occupied by Al Capone, Robert Stroud ('Birdman of Alcatraz') et al, but they managed to escape, so we had to bring them back with us! It was good ... read more

So.... the last phase of the trip is here. San Fransisco for the final 4 days. The last evening in Aukland was cool - we three went to a Korean buffet; something I haven't tried before. There was a gas ring on every table with a big pan and tinfoil - you help yourself to meat from the buffet and cook it yourselves, and eat along with some side veggies etc. The spicy pork was nice and the marinated beef, and the squid was lovely. But I wasn't brave enough to fry the ckicken gizzards or the chicken feet. But ala in all it was very tasty, even though the Korean kitchen staff all came out to watch us and found it all highly amusing! So the final morning - the 24th August, we had a ... read more

Hab mi so gefreut, dass wir in San Francisco sind und an dem Tag sogar schoenes Wetter war. Sind mit dem Trolley durch San Francisco gefahren, was total lustig is, wei Hanna des unbedingt wollte. Am anderen Ende waren wir in einem Geschaeft, in dem i die ganze Zeit an alle Textiler-Maedels gedacht hab: des haett euch gefallen!! Die Fisherman's Wharf is total schoen. Ausserdem waren wir im Aquarium und haben uns allerhand Tiere aus dem Meer angeschaut und sind durch einen Glastunnel unterm Aquarium gegangen, spektakulaer. Erstaunlicherweise war da ein kleines Schild auf dem steht, dass man die Umwelt nicht verschmutzen soll. Die Heimfahrt hat si dafuer gezogen.... read more

De Albuquerquanen weten duidelijk hoe te feesten. Op aanraden van Cabbie/Maestro Dave belandden we in Burt’s Tiki Lounge, een fancy studentenbar, waar we de eersten binnen en de laatsten buiten waren. Na wat 75-cent biertjes en gayed-up drankjes (Lange again) werden de tongen losser en werden er typische Belgische dansmoves uit de kast gehaald. Met succes. Opeens werd het surreële gehalte van de avond de hoogte ingestuurd toen de bende wat ‘klasse’dames aangeboden werd door de kleinste pimp in de USA. Fin du soirée top en op naar Flagstaff. Na een dagje cruisen door de woestijn met een ongeplande stop in Petrified Forest National Park (zie foto’s) kwamen we laat aan in Flagstaff en werd er een nieuw kaartspel ontworpen. De aanvraag bij het patentenbureau voor ‘Spanish Mind’ is al ingediend. De volgende dag stond er ... read more