A very incomplete list of memorable moments from my San Francisco trip:
- Eating swoon-worthy pizza in a little North Beach cafe.
- All those coffee shops. San Franciscan cafes know how to make lattes and cappuccinos that go so far beyond just good that they’re almost a religious experience.
- The view of the city after walking to the top of Telegraph Hill.
- Being driven down the crooked part of Lombard Street.
- The nerd party, which was probably as close to the classic silicon valley tech scene as it’s possible to get.
- Drinks at a somewhat sketchy but simultaneously awesome bar in The Castro. Had a mojito, which was fabulous, and something called a “royal flush”, which was suspiciously awful.
- The daily wine hour at the hotel, where the bartender told me to “have as much wine as you possibly can — it’s free!”
- Walking up the hills, and the way each one seems steeper than the one before it.
- Riding the cable car: I was standing at the very front of the car, clutching a pole like my life depended on it every time the car headed down another hill.
- Trying escargot for the first time at a French cafe and being surprised by its tastiness.
- Seeing the Chihuly exhibition at the De Young museum.
- Walking from Fisherman’s Wharf to the beginning of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is even more impressive in real life than it is in the photographs.
- Wine tasting in Napa Valley, and the most decadent picnic ever, consisting of ciabatta bread, olive tapenade, gouda cheese, smoked salmon, fresh fruit and vegetables, white chocolate, and an entire bottle of wine.
- The convertible sports car, and all those fantastic curves and hills along highway 1.
