26 Jan 2013 ralsina   » (Master)

The Rest Of San Francisco

I wrote about the trip and the segway tour a while ago. But that's not all that happened in San Francisco, of course.

I forgot to mention that on one of the airports there was a display of antique boardgames:

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010149.JPG

Alejandro Cura would have broken that glass, and tried to play while the police chased him.

I didn't know San Francisco had a sign-in-the-hill like Hollywood

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010150.JPG

Not quite as glamorous.

The Segway trip ended in a ... rather scenic place:

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010182.JPG

Old ship... check.

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010183.JPG

Skyline... check.

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010172.JPG

Alcatraz... check.

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010174.JPG

Bridge view... check.

So there I said goodbye to my steel pony, good old seggcrates, and went out for a walk.

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010175.JPG

Argentines-only joke:

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010186.JPG

La foto con la estatua del lobo marino!

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010187.JPG

The sea lion colony at the piers.

We had a grilled cheese sandwich, went to the hotel, yadda yadda yadda. The next day was our last day off. We had a car. So we went to ... Fry's! We got a metric crapload of gadgets, including a tiny USB battery, a powered 7 port USB hub, beef jerky, usb flash drives, SD cards, cables, a sim card, a camera, a Nexus 7, a backpack, and other stuff.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BBdo5ejCAAABehE.jpg:large

Some of the aforementioned gadgetry.

After fighting for two hours to get a phone with a data plan, we sailed off, guided by google maps and EDGE. Yes EDGE. It worked, though!

We had a very vague notion about heading north, into San Francisco, across the Golden Gate into who knows where (ended up being Napa Valley).

So, we started, and found ourselves into (I think) the Presidio Park, which is lovely but the pictures are in Lucio's camera, so it's up to him to post a link to them in the comments. emade And of course, the Golden Gate. Which is a very photogenic piece of iron. So we got off the car, at the parking lot, and saw this:

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010191.JPG

Saved! Ka-ching!

A little walk through a fort...

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010199.JPG

And there it was.

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010207.JPG

Of course I took a ton of pictures. The rest is in the gallery if you want to take a look.

So, we got a cup of ghastly coffee, got back in the car and set across the bridge.

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010210.JPG

Yes, I should straighten it.

Then there are some hills, and this cute tunnel:

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010218.JPG

Nice landscapes, in a surprisingly rural area 15 minutes off the city.

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010226.JPG

Really rural.

Then the infamous homemade jerky incident happened.

nota mental: contarle a mis nietos que no comi beef jerky casero por culpa de @ralsina

— Lucio Torre (@luciotorre) January 22, 2013

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Explicit markup ends without a blank line; unexpected unindent.

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

So, homemade-jerky-less we continued into the Sonoma Valley, and got to the Viansa Winery where we stopped for a taste (Lucio, I don't drink. Also, I don't drive so just a taste).

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010250.JPG

In your face, instagram!

It's a really nice place. Lovely handrails, too.

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010242.JPG

I mean, lovely handrails.

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010240.JPG

This part was closed, boo!

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010262.JPG

Lovely views.

We got some souvenirs, some picnic supplies (salami, cheese, olives, Pellegrino lemonade, crostini), and started off again. We forgot to reset the GPS so instead of going back, we kept forward into Napa Valley. And we got to some vintner's monument which closes at sunset. Right on time.

http://ralsina.com.ar/static/galleries/san_francisco_2013/P1010299.JPG

The images don't capture the scale of the thing. Or the cold.

We got back via Oakland, at night which means there's no more pictures. I was shocked to find out that not only does ask.com still exist, but that they pay for billboards with inane questions in them.

The rest of the trip was basically work, with dinner excursions. We had american (Cheesecake Factory), lebanese (at tannourine ok, sort of boring), and .... mongolian at Little Sheep Hot Pot.

At the mongolian restaurant none thought of bringing a camera, so the only picture that exists is taken with a Nexus 7's front-facing camera. Since the Nexus has no camera app, I had to take it using twitter. I am ashamed.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BA3zabACcAA1fTa.jpg:large

Yes, worst picture ever.

So, what is that? You get a pot of soup which is about 40% garlic, 40% pepper, 20% unknown things, and you check boxes in a menu for things to dip and cook in them. Since we are adventurous nerds, we included:

  • Rice and pig blood cakes (tastes exactly like a rice and morcilla sandwich)
  • Goose intestines (taste like intestines)
  • Assorted mushrooms
  • Assorted meatballs (including beef tendon meatballs (taste like nothing))
  • Assorted seafood
  • Assorted beef slices (looks creepy, taste as beef)

and a ton of other stuff. The bad side of it is that after a while it all has exactly the same taste: hot, spicy soup. The good side: it's fun to eat, and filling.

We had a last shopping spree a few days later, (I got shirts, 24 pairs of socks, a suitcase to put all the things I could not fit in the old one), and I started back alone to Argentina (Lucio stayed).

The return trip was complicated.

  • I forgot the carryon suitcase in the airline's desk, so I had to do the security check twice.
  • I didn't know the checked-in suitcase was headed to Buenos Aires directly, so I tried to check it out and back in, and thought I had lost it. Of course, not lost, but I paid 5 dollars for a cart I used for 5 meters.
  • Dallas->Ezeiza plane got delayed because it was "too full" (WAT?)
  • Forgot my passport in the backseat pocket, so I had to run across Ezeiza twice to get it back, got so flustered and nervous my blood pressure spiked. Not fun.
  • Got stopped at customs because I had not declared my laptop on the way out. Luckily, I talked my way out of it.

But got back, was fun, and very useful in the work-related bits.

Syndicated 2013-01-26 12:22:56 from Lateral Opinion

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