Had a painless flight from Dubai to San Francisco. Emirates have changed the lounge rules so I couldn't take Richie in the lounge - so I went in and raided it instead!
We had no problems at all with visa on arrival - the visa guys was really friendly - so different from what I remember from fifteen years ago. Jay met us at the airport and drove us to his house about 25 minutes away - all too easy.
Jay shares his flat with a slightly eccentric Jewish scholar called Andrew - I think Andrew has got pretty sick of sharing his space with couch surfers but we have met the seal of approval. Both Jay and Andrew have been such delightful hosts.
Jay took us to Palo Alto on the Monday - we visited Stamford Uni - what a beauty and how much money does that Uni have - I mean really! Admired their collection of Rodin sculptures - especially the Gates of Hell.
We went to a Passover dinner in the evening with a very charming lesbian couple and their friends and children. Was a marvelous evening we all had to take part in reading from the service - Richard got a huge long passage - I only got a short one - we had fun pronouncing the Hebrew words in our worst Australian accents!
Jay lives in the Castro - which is the gay centre of San Fran - it's very cool and has a nice atmosphere if somewhat political. We spent quite a bit of time hanging out with Jay and Andrew in the kitchen just talking.
We visited the SFMOMA which was interesting and had a great shop; The Jewish museum - pretty poor, caught the ferry to Sausilito - small and pretty place - saw a guy balancing rocks on the shore line.
We also caught up with Herb, another couch surfer for drinks near Height Ashbury - great people watching spot.
Finally we bought an Mac book air - it's very cool - a bit hard to get used to but will have fun learning how.
We have hired a car and are now in Santa Rosa staying at our first Airbnb place - nice people, really comfortable bed and our own, very small bathroom.
Drive from San Fran was a bit difficult at first - Richie is doing a great job - it's pretty hard on the left with the
traffic and narrow lanes. Went to Russian River brewery yesterday - apparently the beer was impressive but place was quite small and really crowded. Oh no one celebrates Good Friday here and everyone works - very strange! But handy for us :-)
We had no problems at all with visa on arrival - the visa guys was really friendly - so different from what I remember from fifteen years ago. Jay met us at the airport and drove us to his house about 25 minutes away - all too easy.
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| Andrew and Jay - such great hosts! |
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| Contemplating Rodin Gates of Hell - Stamford U |
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| Jay and I and our new friends - Stamford U |
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| Our first Seder |
We went to a Passover dinner in the evening with a very charming lesbian couple and their friends and children. Was a marvelous evening we all had to take part in reading from the service - Richard got a huge long passage - I only got a short one - we had fun pronouncing the Hebrew words in our worst Australian accents!
Jay lives in the Castro - which is the gay centre of San Fran - it's very cool and has a nice atmosphere if somewhat political. We spent quite a bit of time hanging out with Jay and Andrew in the kitchen just talking.
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| Let the food fest begin! |
We visited the SFMOMA which was interesting and had a great shop; The Jewish museum - pretty poor, caught the ferry to Sausilito - small and pretty place - saw a guy balancing rocks on the shore line.
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| Jays house - The Castro San Fran |
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| Artwork - Sausilito |
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| Herbs for dinner - southern style - is that Dame Judy? |
Finally we bought an Mac book air - it's very cool - a bit hard to get used to but will have fun learning how.
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| Jessie - our first ever Airbnb host - Santa Rosa |
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| Airbnb Santa Rosa |
Drive from San Fran was a bit difficult at first - Richie is doing a great job - it's pretty hard on the left with the
traffic and narrow lanes. Went to Russian River brewery yesterday - apparently the beer was impressive but place was quite small and really crowded. Oh no one celebrates Good Friday here and everyone works - very strange! But handy for us :-)
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