san fran bliss

The name of this blog may be "Big City Bliss" however I have decided to temporarily relocate and write about my experience here in San Francisco so far.

It feels like I have done so much since my freezing cold hands were wrapped around a steaming cup of hot cocoa on the plane ride from Chicago to San Fran. I am here in San Fran with my mother, and I will be working for her at a conference here. She owns a publishing company in Buffalo, NY and publishes two magazines, one on Bipolar disorder and one on depression. The websites are: www.bphope.com and www.hopetocope.com. I am really proud of her because she is doing such great things and helping to disperse of the stigma attached to depression.

Anyway, we arrived in San Fran and the emperature was a mere 68 degrees, but it didn't really matter. I was enthrawled with the ights srrounding me on the drive from the airport to our magnificant hotel. The homes are on mountains and the water is sparkeling and crystal clear. There is a warmth in the air, despite the cool breeze in this city. Its amazing. It could be that I am overwhelmed by being in Calforinia in general, as his is my first time, but I have been to a lot of amazing cities and countries and so far, San Fran is still equisite.

We stepped into our hotel and our eyes widened. We are staying at the Westin St. Francis, right downtown in Union Square. The hallways are wide and beautiful, with tall ceilings and old chandelers. This building, as we learned on our cable car tour today, is the only one in the area that was not ruined by an earthquake in the early 1900's. It has a glamours, 'old- Hollywood' type feel to it, and as I sit here and type, I am in awe at the size of our room, the old antique handles on the doors, the marble countertops in the washroom and the old-feeling bucket bathtub. It is such a beautiful hotel. I am never disappointed in a Westin, however this hotel takes the cake with the old-glamour vibe.

We walked around the city yesterday, had a nice lunch at "Max" down the street from our hotel and set up for the conference. The conference centre is massive and spilt up into three different buildings. On our walk back to the electric Union Square we did some shopping. It really is a shopping centre. Everything from Tiffany and Co., Prada, and Saks Fifth Avenue to Macy's, Ross and Bloomingdales.

We headed to the Cheesecake Factory above Macy's for dinner and have a great rooftop view of the city. We shared grilled articoke and a pizza and I ordered an awesome tropical martini that was delightful as soon as the blended drink his my lips. We stopped at Borders on the way ack to the hotel and passed out quite quickly, tired from our long day.

This morning we woke up and headed to Alcatraz. We preordered our tickets, which I really recommend doing bcause it sells out quite fast. I have friends that are also i the city right now and they went last night on a Friday) to try and get tickets to Alcatraz and they were told that all the tours were sld out until Sunday. And they leave every hour! Goes to show how popular the tours are!

We grabbed bevies after a brisk walk to "Peets Coffee," apparently a Calfornia favourite. It was attached to a sourdough bread place, and that is when the realization struck that San Fran'ers are obsessed with sourdough bread! We grabbed a bun and headed on the tour.

I have wanted to visit Alcatraz ever since my parents visited San Fran in 1993 and brought back a pen that had a moving image on the end of it. The image was a prisoner being chased my a shark, with Alcatraz in the background. So I was so excited to finally visit this egendar prison. It was a great experience starting with a 12 minute ferry ride to the island. The Island of Alcatraz is actually a gorgeous island, with lush trees and white capped waves crushing against the island outskirts. Once a month, the youngest correctional officer to have ever worked at Alcatraz prison comes and speaks to the tour groups before they begin their venture into the prison. He publishes a book and we actually ended up buying a copy and got it signed by him! He was fascinating.

The views from Alcatraz are beautiful and this was one of the first things we noticed as we trekked p to the top of a steep hill to the actual prison. We grabbed our audio guide and, as my mom said, we were "never bored once." The guide features 4 inmates, 4 officers and a woman who actually lived on Alcatraz as a child. It was fascinating!

After the tour and a bit of exploring, we headed back to mainland San Fran. We headed to Pier Market restaurant for lunch and sat outside, directly in the sun. (Let me tell you- I need to get rid of this terrible t-shirt tan now!) I had wine, diet coke and amazing Dungeness Crab. I love cracking cab, unveiling each tender piece and dipping it in hot butter. Oh and I love wearing a bib and getting away with it! y mo had a crab salad. I was so content after that meal!

We then decided to grab a cable car tour through San Francisco. It was a 2.5 hour tour and was phenomenal. We went everywhere- the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, Chinatown- to name a few. Our touruide even took us the the Full House house. I have wanted to see it up close and personal since I was young watching Full House.The house is so cute, and actually a lot smaller than it looks on Full House. It was very exciting, all the same!

After the tour, we did a little shopping and headed to a wne bar and sampled some wine. I sampled 3 chardonney's, and two of the three were quite good, however I think they helped my migraine progress, unfortunately!

We went to check out a Mexican restaurant and that was a complee bust, so we hopped on a streetcar and headed back to the hotel, stopping in Rite Aid on the way. I showered and noticed the severity of my burn and flinched. It's really bad, and I need to fix it somehow- asap. I won't be able to even it out though, as we start working at the convention tomorrow.

As I nursed my migraine, we ordered roomservice and relaxed. All in all an exciting, educational day!

It's still big city bliss, just in another city. And an amazing city it is.
Goodnight and until next time...