========
I will say, as much as I love Europe, it's really convenient to hop on a plane and arrive in your destination in an hour. The irony of that is the taxi from the airport in Oakland to my bnb in downtown San Francisco cost more than the one way flight. Ah well. But I woke up in L.A. And had lunch in Chinatown. So I can't complain.
My adorable bnb the golden gate hotel is perfectly located, has an ancient elevator, and a vicious cat that tried to bite me when I was checking in. My room is small but lovely, very European style actually. To save money I booked a room with a shared bath, but I got lucky and got the one shared-bath room they have that has a shower in it anyway. After checking in I walked the couple short blocks to Chinatown. It's an interesting mix of touristy kitch and authentic daily life. It's probably the only place I've been where it doesn't bother me that every souvenir is made in China and the streets smell of gross fish something or other. After wandering around for a while I settled on an early lunch at the awesomely-named New Woey Loey Goey. It's slightly off the beaten track so a bit less touristy. Had a delicious bbq pork wonton soup and spicy salty garlic chicken wings.
Set off a couple blocks further, and all of a sudden the language on everything changes from Chinese to Italian and the lampposts go from pagoda-style to beating the Italian flag. Trippy. Wandered around North Beach, the Italian section. Had a delicious combo of chocolate, burnt caramel, and coffee at gelateria Naia. Spent too much money on a beautiful handmade silver necklace in a shop of gorgeous handmade jewelry by a Russian artist. I knew I was in trouble when I saw the stuff in the window.
Kept wandering around and hiked to the bottom of lombard street. Hiked back down and made it to the waterfront on a perfect, sunny, breezy 70 degree day. Took a breather in Ghirardelli square and can't believe how many people were eating there and buying their crap touristy chocolate.
Walked back and got all the touristy stuff like fisherman's wharf, pier 39, etc. There were no sea lions out on the decks. I heard someone say they're migrating? There was a shop for lefties that sold mugs with a hole in the side a righty would drink from. I didn't buy one but it's my new favorite thing. Sat and people watched for a while before meandering through the financial district to get to cotogna early since you have to have a reservation or you hope to sit at the counter. It's fascinating watching the cooks operate the wood oven. The girl just threw out a pizza because she didn't get it out properly. That must suck that people are watching you do that! She was taking time to chat with us at the counter too. What a sport!
In addition to my wine and focaccia, I've gotten gnocchi with mushrooms and rosemary. I was eyeing a dessert on their website but they must have changed their menu because it's not there anymore. Aww geee I guess I'll have to go back to Naia and try more gelato flavors. Had dark chocolate and peanut butter chip. Yum.
And back to the bnb early because I'm freaking exhausted. According to my fitbit I walked 28,670 steps, 11.4 miles, and the hilly equivalent of 74 flights of stairs. Yikes!
1 comment:
Sounds like a good day! And I do even remember some of it! Pictures, as usual, are great.
Post a Comment