Tag Archives: San Francisco

San Francisco Impressions

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On Thursday we hit tourist country, heading out for the Cable Car Museum – and continuing into China Town for a bit of a wander and a dumpling lunch. I made my way back on foot – staying on Mission Street for most of the 7.5km, taking in the ever-changing vibe from SoMa to 29th. Dinner was at a Mexican place in the area as well.

I was already heading back on Friday, so there was not much time – and we stayed local in the valley, making it up to Billy Goat Hill and Walter Haas Park for some final views of town.

All in all another action-packed few days at the bay … with great food, drinks and company – leaves me to say thanks – and until next time.

Back to Alameda – Craft Beer with a View

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Public transport was the name of the game today … bus and Muni light railway got us to the ferry building – and a quick ferry ride later we had crossed the bay and had made it to the Alameda Seaplane ferry pier.

Today was a leisurely day – checking out some of the craft beer places in the former navy buildings of Alameda island. This time we were focusing on Faction Brewing, which we kind of had missed out on during previous visits. The tap room of this one not only features some good beers, there are also amazing views over the old air field across the bay – today even including a blimp.

Of Peanuts and Wine …

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Today we were heading North, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County and then on to Sonoma County and Santa Rosa. First stop of the day was at the Charles M. Schulz Museum.

Charles M. Schulz was the creator of the Peanuts, introducing the world to Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and their friends. He spent the last four decades of his life in Santa Rosa, California, where he lived, worked and drew the strip until his death. Up to today Peanuts are an important part of Santa Rosa’s identity – and the legacy continues through the museum, ice-rink and and Peanuts-themed landmarks around town.

After lunch in the Warm Puppy Cafe we took the route towards Sonoma with a stop at St. Francis Winery & Vineyards for a quick wine tasting (featuring one of the best Merlots I ever had, as well as a super-smooth Zinfandel); more wine followed at Walt Wines in Sonoma proper – this one providing a great selection of close-to-perfect Pinot Noirs.

Around the Pacific … and back to the Bay

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On Saturday we made a trip up to Marin Country and Agate Beach at Bolinas to meet a meetup group for a bit of tide pooling (with plenty of mussels, snails, algae and anemones to look at – plus the occasional hermit crab 🦀) and a short hike for great coastal views. From here it was back to town for a museum Sunday around the Golden Gate Park – incl. the Paul McCartney photo exhibition at De Young Museum.

Monday and Tuesday were easy days … essentially preparing for the next part of the trip (laundry, re-packing etc.) – followed by a walk to Bernal Heights for some great city views. More views were coming up on Tuesday during a tour of some of the more arty stairs around town.

Overall another great couple of days in and around San Francisco – just without the wine and no cioppino … thanks for a great time – and until next time.

Back to the bay – with flowers in my hair

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My more regular readers may remember that – over the years – I have done (more or less) regular visits over to the San Francisco/ Oakland bay area, to visit Lisa, who I had met back on my first trip to Antarctica – and whom I have stayed in touch with ever since. During Covid visiting was (obviously) out of question – but as things were clearing during the year, we decided to go ahead and I got myself a ticket to the bay for a week in late September/early October.

During Covid Lisa had moved from Oakland to San Francisco – so there was loads to explore: from house and garden to the neighborhood – with steep roads and the one or other viewpoints out to the city and the bay – and businesses around (incl. a newly discovered seafood place just a few bus stops away).

In San Francisco we covered the Exploratorium after dark (i.e. in the evening and kids free with easy access to all exhibits and experiments) and the De Young Museum (incl.  the exhibition on Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs).

We also did the (meanwhile customary) trip down to wine country – heading South for Santa Clara county and the area around Hecker Pass – with stops (and tastings) at three wineries. My favorite here was (once more) Hecker Pass Winery with its Italian-style wines, family-tradition and a philosophy, giving the wines more time than in other – more commercial – wineries. Just down the road, also Sarah’s was convincing, especially the superb selection of pintos (which to me felt overpriced, especially compared to what is available in Europe).

No trip to San Francisco is complete without a trip out to the bay. We used the ferry, to make it over to Oakland and Jack London Square for another bit of wining – with the focus now on (mostly) Zinfandels at the tasting room of Rosenbloom.

Otherwise there was plenty of time, to catch up on things, enjoy the great food, San Francisco has to offer (incl. a to-die-for-cioppino), some (more) wine – and (re)meet Lisa’s family and friends. Needless to say, it’s been a great trip and time – a great THANKS to the host.

Disclaimer: there were no flowers in my hair – due to a lack of the latter.

Oysters in San Francisco

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We took it easy today and had a leisurely start of the day. Around midday we made it down to Oakland’s ferry terminal, to catch a ferry over to San Francisco and a late oyster lunch at the Hog Island Oyster Company outlet right in the Ferry Building.

After lunch we enjoyed a walk along the piers from the ferry building all the way up to pier 41 with various stops on the way (including one at pier 39, to catch a glimpse of the sea lions). From here it was back to the ferry and across the bay to Oakland.

In retrospect this has been a nice week over in California – again with great food, great views, interesting excursions and drinks to try on the way – plus of course perfect company and hosts – THANKS Lisa and Harry – it’s been a great time (again)!

California Wining

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It had been some time since my last visit to the San Francisco bay area, so it was about time to return – with the main driver really being to see Lisa – my old pen pal, who I had originally met on my first trip to Antarctica – and to finally get to personally meeting some of her family.

So on this Saturday I was handing myself over to Delta Airlines to get me across the pond into Detroit (my favorite US airport) and then on towards San Francisco. I made it into San Francisco in the late evening (around 22:30) after two uneventful flights (good thing). Lisa and Harry did pick me up and we made it over to Oakland.

Sunday saw me sleeping until about 10:00 (not unexpected, given how timezones work). Over breakfast we looked into the planning for the upcoming days – to then head for an easy day of wining around the more local wineries.

We first made it over to Treasure Island – straight in the middle of the bay and straight in the middle of the Oakland-SF bay bridge – for a visit of The Winery SF (or simply W). We made our way through a number of wines. Not being a fan of Chardonnays (anymore), my focus was on the reds here – all were nice, though the Pinot Noir really outstanding.

On the way out we had a stop at the coast for a view over to San Francisco – before making it back into Oakland and a stop at Dashe Cellars to try some great Zinfandels. After a late lunch, we had a final stop at Rosenblum Cellars for a further tasting. Dinner was at home with a home-made Korean-style ox-tail soup.

Overall a great and easy going day – and a good introduction to California wines (which over here are still somewhat seen in the ‘mass-production’ and ‘nothing-special’ category) – and even better preparation for the following Monday.

Monday saw us driving up to Napa; Harry had secured tickets for the wine train – i.e. a train ride through the Napa valley, accompanied by a great lunch. With the train marketed as ‘wine train’, we somehow had expected the trip being themed around wine, e.g. with a proper tasting, some wine backgrounds etc. – but that was not the case, it was really more like a restaurant on tracks (with an extensive wine list though). To make up for that, we had another tour around the valley – after we returned to the train station. We also did two more tastings – one at the Whitehall Lane Winery and the other one at the Grgich Hills Estate.

So – two wining days … with many great wines – in other words two winning days 😉