Yosemite

Yes, it's official - we've run out of superlatives. Yosemite defies description and it's all on such a huge scale that - well, words fail us.

A bit of background - we're at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls, which is a bit motel-like but perfectly comfortable (and the restaurant was brilliant last night). We drove from San Francisco, made more complicated and slightly slower than it might have been as the Bay Bridge was out of action (a cable snapped, or something - looked a bit Hollywood). Having negotiated worse-than-usual traffic in SF to reach the Golden Gate Bridge, we eventually hit the various freeways and it was nice to see that they're having the same problems with roads that we do in London....dreadful, they were.
















We finally arrived slightly later than advertised yesterday and after dinner, the wine and altitude got to me...hence no blog.

However, back to normal today, and we were out nice and early to investigate the options for riding, star gazing and the like. We found to our disappointment, that all the rides were booked solid for a group of New York hoodlums and that star gazing happens on Wednesday nights - from 4.30pm.... so we're going to see if we can ride at Monument Valley.

So today, we walked a bit and then got on a bus to go to Glacier Point. We've said that words fail us in this wonderful place...so here are the pictures instead.

food, glorious food!

As many of you know, Fiona is a foodie. But even she was a bit taken aback at the sight of a giant pumpkin, which squatted at the front of a restaurant in the Ferry Terminal Building like a bit of a mistake from a bad episode of Dr Who...

There were nice things there, of course. Fabulous cheeses, peppers and wine, honey and chocolate and even more of the ubiquitous pumpkins, a wonderful shop which described itself as selling "salty bits of pig" and coffee shops by the dozen.
Were we happy? You bet your bippy.

Next stop was the Yerba Buena Gardens, which was almost completely concrete and modern and in the shadow of the contemporary art gallery SF MoMA. This was a bit of San Francisco neither of us had seen before and it was lovely and peaceful. The 50ft waterfall in the gardens is dedicated to Martin Luther King.

Feeling refreshed and knackered at the same time (well, it IS San Francisco, after all), we wandered home via the Castro to take tea and wine with other guest house residents. Our hotel has a tradition of a small get together from 5.30 to 6.30pm, with wine and nibbles and Karen brought her own tea bags to guard against disappointing tea experiences, so all were happy.


Armed with a map of the local MUNI network (and thanks to Fiona's Dad and step mum Jackie for the MUNI passports) we set off for the ball park, where the SF Giants play baseball in the season....which we'd just missed. Which was probably a good thing, because otherwise we'd never have got a reservation at the oddly named ACME Chop House.

Our thanks for this treat go to Sabine and Vic - and special mention should go to Vic because her is completely vegetarian and the ACME Chop House didn't get its name by accident.

The place was a bit art deco in style, and to Karen's delight, we ate in a booth....

And not withstanding local snobbery, we still find it a bit strange that the wine from France costs less than the wine from Sonoma, Napa and Washington. Never mind, we soldiered on.

and so to church....

Having sat nursing our coffee and weak tea (really dreadful, I can't describe it!) for as long as decently possible, we paid a visit to the aptly named Grace Cathedral, built in the sixties. Multi-faith, it welcomes everyone and we admired the truly beautiful stained glass windows and the labyrinth on the floor (being walked by a woman holding her pet dog, which was a bit surreal) for some time before remembering that the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Terminal building was only on until 2pm.....

Tales of the city

Tuesday, 27th October:
Well, yesterday we managed to stay awake after our flight until about 8.45pm - and then almost fell asleep in our pizza.

San Francisco had welcomed us with a bright afternoon and balmy weather when we staggered off the plane, and the following day dawned clear and sunny - but a lot colder, said our hosts. It felt like the tropics to us, but we sympathised....it's nice to know that the British aren't the only race to have the weather as a key topic of conversation.

Thanks to Neil and Angela for the perfect start to our trip (well, after the weather!) - breakfast at the Top of the Mark. The hotel is the Mark Hopkins and breakfast on the 19th floor on Nob Hill (and the higher you are in SF, the better the neighbourhood, apparently) was truly a treat. Shown to our table by a maitre d' who frankly could have doubled for Sydney Poiter, the view is fabulous - even the Golden Gate Bridge was visible!

Getting ready to go

Well, we've just come back from Ray and Charlotte's and church! Yes, it's now official and Miles Fenton Holden has been baptised. On the way back we thought it would be good to write a diary of our trip - of course blogging is the modern alternative so we can share with you all as we go...

More to follow