San Francisco sunset

I love to watch the sunset, even if it's only from the back garden. A sunset in a far away place is all the better, add the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge and it's perfect. These pictures were taken from Municipal Pier, which is close to Fiserman's Wharf. It's a great spot for seeing the bridge at sunset. You get a good perspective and don't have to battle with huge crowds for that all important vantage point.

Wonderful Sausalito

Sausalito is easy to get to from San Francisco. You can drive over the Golden Gate Bridge or take a short ferry ride from the Ferry Building or Fisherman's Wharf. Driving in San Francisco isn't much fun for the tourist (see a later post), but a ferry ride is relaxing and you get great views of the San Francisco skyline. The Ferry Building is the best departure point. Fisherman's Wharf has lots of souvenir shops and mediocre restaurants which are overrun with tourists. The Ferry Building on the other hand has a range of interesting shops, a good range of restaurants and is worth seeing in its own right.

In the 1960s Sausalito was something of a hippy and bohemian enclave and many people lived in houseboats. The houseboats are still there, but very wealthy residents have taken over. It is hard to imagine anyone but the well heeled, being able to buy anything in Sausalito today, even a houseboat. It is sad that many ordinary people have been priced out, but fortunately the arty alternative feel to the place has remained.

It would be easy to spend a few days in Sausalito as well as, or instead of the city. The views of the San Francisco skyline are great, there are good range of quality restaurants and a choice of places to stay. The Inn Above the Tide is a small hotel, which as the name suggests is right on the waters edge. Unfortunately it isn't possible for non residents to go in for a drink.

The wealth of the town is obvious, not just by the property, but the size of some of the yachts in the marina.

A couple of hours is enough to get a taste of this lovely place, staying for a night or two would be even better. It is the top of my list of what to do while in San Francisco.

In Search of Blossom Hill

Discovering the Napa and Senoma regions on a wine tasting tour is an easy day trip from San Francisco.

Tourists have a range of options including a wine train trip, large coach tours, private tours in a limo and small group tours. The large coach trips sound horrendous. Sixty people on a coach visiting a limited range of vineyards and getting sloshed on Californian plonk. Not my idea of a good day out. The private trip in a limo seems an odd way to do a wine tasting trip. The train option didn’t really appeal either, it offers the opportunity to see lots from the train, but the chance to experience where you are visiting is limited.

To my mind the small group tour offers by far the best option, allowing interaction with other tourists, the guide and offering an opportunity to influence the vineyards visited. Choose the right trip and you can also include a gourmet meal. We were lucky to have a foodie couple on the trip, restaurateurs from Canada. They were fans of Gordon Ramsey. I sang the praises of Nigel Slater and made some book recommendations to them.

The vineyard which we will remember most was Arger-Martucci. The wine was good, but what really made it was the host. If you were to invent someone to do this sort of job, you’d be hard pressed to do better than this guy. He had a sardonic disarming wit and described each of the six wines he served with enthusiasm and knowledge. He also served the most delicious olive bread to go with the wine.
http://www.arger-martucci.com/arger-martucci/index.jsp

As well as including visits to several vineyards, the trip we chose included lunch at The Brix in the Napa Valley. This was without doubt the food highlight of the whole holiday. The Brix is in an idyllic setting, the service is attentive without being oppressive and the food sublime. Surprisingly the usually reliable Trip Advisor has mixed reviews about this place.
http://www.brix.com/

We were amused that no one we spoke to knew about Blossom Hill, a characterless Californian blend which is ubiquitous in the UK. Our guide said that lots of people from the UK mentioned this wine, but he hadn’t got a clue where it came from. I guess it is the leftovers from various vineyards, blended together by the guiding principle of not offending anyone’s taste buds and sold to UK pub chains and supermarkets.

The Napa and Senoma lack the dramatic beauty of somewhere like Paarl and Stellenbosch in South Africa, but this was a great way to spend a day enjoying a tipple, some great food and meeting some interesting people. We used Extranomical Tours and I recommend them to others.
http://www.extranomical.com/HTML_PAGES/WINE_COUNTRY_LOVERS_ITINERARY.htm

The Royalty of Jazz are at the Rrazz

I get regular emails from the Rrazz Room, a jazz venue in Hotel Nikko on Mason Street, San Francisco (just a few blocks from Union Square).
I see that Cleo Laine and John Dankworth are performing there for the next few days. It was a great pleasure to see them at the same venue last year. The years have done nothing to curb their enthusiasm and enjoyment of performing.
The most memorable song was of all things 'Tea for Two'. As a general rule, I really dislike this song, but Cleo made it sound good.
The Rrazz Room isn't my favourite jazz venue and is somewhat lacking in atmosphere, but this pair of octogenarians liven up anywhere.

A walk around Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights is home to some of the wealthiest people in San Francisco. At the lower end of the market there are homes costing a few million dollars, at the uppper end you're talking many tens of million dollars. Residents include wealthy business people, lawyers and celebrities.

It is interesting to walk around, look at the homes, enjoy the public parks and take in the views of the ocean.

Some streets in the area are enclaves for the mega mega rich, but the area is more varied than its image suggests and it does include some more 'modest' homes. 'Modest' needs heavy qualification and means the merely large rather than palatial.

As we walked along we were amused to be asked the way by someone. We wondered whether we looked like millionaires or domestics?

It is possible to go through the area on a tour bus, but it is limited to a certain route. Do it on foot it is much more fun.

China Town, San Francisco - Best enjoyed with Linda Lee

Many cities across the world have a China Town. San Francisco has one of the larger ones, it can be easily explored and is safe, but it is much more instructive with a good guide.

We were lucky to have Linda Lee, a Chinese American who really understands the Chinese community and China Town. She runs a tour called 'All About China Town', meets you at a prominant point and takes you on a walking tour in a small group. She runs trips for tourists and school groups.

Her experience of dealing with silly children was an asset. One of the people in our group had a short attention span and was showing off by trying to make smart comments at Linda's expense. The deftness with which she dealt with him was a joy to behold and almost worth the price of the tour in itself.

On the tour you see where many people in the Chinese community learn, worship, meet, shop and live. You learn about the history of the Chinese people in San Francisco and how they live today. The tour is authentic and gives as good a feel for the 'real China Town', as is realistic to expect on a short trip.

Some may find certain parts of the trip too authentic. The visit to the fresh food store, selling live frogs, fish and poultry was an eye-opener and definately not something for the faint-hearted. But you get plenty of warning and and can of course opt out of this particular option.

A food shop everyone will enjoy seeing is the fortune cookie factory. I'd always wondered how they got the message inside the batter and now I know because I have seen it done. Nimble fingers and manual dexterity are a plus. Not sure about the hygiene standards though.

A delicious way to end the trip is to enjoy some Dim Sum. Follow Linda's recommendation and you won't go wrong.

You can find out more about the trip on http://www.allaboutchinatown.com/