Foodie tour of America?

Before I start today's blog, forgot to mention a story in yesterday's. As we were walking to catch the ferry to Alcatraz, we were making our way along the very wide kerb and I was on the right of Ros. It didn't seem strange that whilst all the street lights weren't decorated with shrubs, that the one we were approaching did have a very large shrub at its base. When we were about oh... 20 cm away from it, the shrub opened up and yelled "boo" at us. scared the living bejesus out of us!

I fully expect that we will appear on "America's Smile, You're on Candid Camera".

Also, Ros says she has learnt something about me. That I am not a morning person. I have learnt that Ros asks a lot of questions.

And today we found out that the 'seedy' area where we got off the bus yesterday is called "Tenderloin". It is one of the poorest areas of SF, but it sits right beside one of the richest. Giorgio Armani sits on one corner and literally one or two blocks away is Tenderloin. The contrast is obvious to the average observer.

So, today we got up (again after another night of not sleeping for me) and had the same breakfast as yesterday. After breakfast I went for a walk while Ros got ready. I wandered into Giorgio Armani and Ghiradelli (and got a caramel chocolate sample - yummo!)

Then we made our way to the bus stop for the hop on/off tour. When we had booked our tickets, the kind gentleman had strongly recommended we stop off at City Hall. So we did, and I'm glad we did. Such a stunning building, and the dome at the top is the largest outside of Washington. We walked all around that building and even witnessed a wedding. (The dirty stop-out was preggers!)

The next stop we actually got off at was little Italy, and we had the best pizza and a tomato salad. I hadn't had a pizza like that since I was in Italy! And the tomatoes are obviously in season here, and they were heirloom tomatoes. The best!

We drove past Lombard Street (the crookedest street in the world), but didn't get off. It was too hot, and uphill all the way (not sure why the bus doesn't just drive to the foot of that street).

The next stop we got off at was Pier 39. This had great zany shops, and excellent views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge (although, haven't seen it absent of any fog the whole time). And also saw about 50 seals all huddled together.

We got back to the hotel and started to get organised for our departure tomorrow. We have a 7.00am flight and the grumpy concierge reckons we need to leave the hotel at 5.00am. Personally I think it is a conspiracy, he doesn't like any of his guests and this is just a game he plays. I am sure. However, we thought we should go out for dinner early to try and get to bed early.

We had decided we would go to "Little Saigon" for dinner if we could find it, but my sense of direction was failing me, and I couldn't seem to get us back to the area where one of the guides had told us about. As we were walking along, discussing our options, a less-than-desirable looking man, with missing teeth asked us what we were looking for. He pointed us in a direction and added "but it's expensive". Given we couldn't find anything else, and Vietnamese food was on our brains, we decided to check the place out. All I can say is WOW! It was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. The restaurant was called "Le Colonial"' and in 2009 had been awarded Michelin approval. The meal took me right back to the meals I had eaten in Vietnam. Stunning!

I can honestly say that I was expecting to be disappointed by the food in America. But for two nights in a row we have had exceptional meals and I am loving it!

The weather was magnificent today, apparently we are very lucky!

I heard about the earthquake on the East Coast today...this doesn't fill me with joy... Is this La Nina at work again?


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