Reasons I Love SF: More Peninsula Hikes

Windy Hill is a quick drive from where I work but, I didn't even know it existed until earlier this week. A friend and I spent the day exploring its varied terrain, climbing up switch-backs in dense forest growth, enjoying lunch looking over Stanford's campus surrounded by grassland, and tromping down arid hills in the hot sun.

We spoke of our recent trips to Havana and Mexico City and Miami. It was HOT! And, I neglected to satiate myself enough prior to starting up the shaded switch backs. At one point, I thought I may pass out but all I brought along were nuts to snack on... So, once we stopped at the top of the hill, I ate my meager bags of mixed nuts and chocolate covered mangoes, she ate her hefty sandwich, and then we sweated it out, practically running down the steep grade.

Once we reached my car, sitting unshaded in the parking lot, I decided it was time to grab a bigger bite and a beer and we hit up the Alpine Inn, a funny dive-bar beer garden in Portola Valley. Since it was a Saturday evening and over 85 degrees, I envisioned Zeitgeist-like crowds but, instead we were greeted with a band wrapping up its set, a few scattered families, and several gentlemen working on their laptops... We gobbled down fries and Belgian beer, and I chowed on a burger and then called it a day.

Not Moving...

So, it's official. I've been thinking about it for a couple of months but, I'm ready to pronounce it now, I'm not moving to Los Angeles. San Francisco will continue to be my home for the indefinite future. Therefore, this blog will continue to be about my reasons for why I love it here. As usual, there will also be postings on trips to Los Angeles and other places around the globe, as I explore them.

Look out for pictures from West Africa later this year!

Reasons I Love SF: Pirate's Cove in Fifteen Minutes

Spring is officially in session, as I may have mentioned, so it's time to get outdoors with the rest of the Bay Area denizens and explore. Today, one of my best friend's and I drove fifteen minutes from my house to Tennessee Valley, in Marin, and did a late afternoon/evening hike to Pirate's Cove. We were done by 7:45pm, with the sun still shining, and were able to enjoy a satisfying, healthy dinner at Cafe del Soul. I kept saying it on the hike, and I'll say it again, we live in the best place on earth....

Reasons I Love SF: Photography

This afternoon, I left work early and went to visit Pier 24 Photography, an exhibit hall under the Bay Bridge featuring photographs from the Pilara Foundation. Simply by wandering the quiet rooms and admiring some of photography's greatest artists, I was prompted to enter some of my own photographs to be shown at Rayko's Me, Myself and I exhibition coming this summer. In short, Pier 24 is inspiring. The photos speak louder than my words.

Miami in Three Days

While in St. Petersburg for work, I decided to tack on a trip to Miami to experience life in a tropical city. It was fantastic although admittedly my timing was a bit off. For example, the Ultra Festival was going on downtown with 400,000 people descending upon the city. This caused traffic to be worse than usual and made going anywhere near the downtown area and most of the interesting sites difficult. In addition, it was Spring Break for many, which added to the melee. Needless to say, I was happy to be staying north of everything but, it all dissuaded me from going anywhere near the madness. So, I didn't do as much as I thought I would and spent almost one whole day in my hotel room (which was cute but, seemed a bit of a shame).

The Daddy O Hotel Miami

 

When I first arrived, I went straight to the beach while I waited for my hotel room to get cleaned. The beautiful white sand beaches and turquoise water was exactly what I expected to see while I was there.

The second day had me touring the city and its surrounds on a gaudy tour bus run by Miami-Nice Tours. It was a great way to see all of the things I wanted to see from above the crowds and mayhem. The bus was hysterically ugly and our guide was a crazy woman whose patience was tested more times than I could count by the traffic, the patrons, and the rain. However, when she blocked traffic for fifteen minutes, she was the first to tell complainers to back off and give her some time. We drove through Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, the financial district, Calle Ocho, and visited the Art Deco hotels and South Beach.

 

 

At the end of the tour, we took a cruise around the bay and saw the homes of the rich and famous. Here are just a few snapshots of what might be JLo, P Diddy or Ricky Martin's homes, as well as a view of the city.

Day three was all about visiting Bal Harbour and the infamous high-end shops. Only steps away from my hotel, it was a nice afternoon browsing the likes of Trina Turk, Versace, and Dolce and Gabbana. Honestly, it did not appear that anyone was really shopping but, I don't doubt that folks staying across the street at the beautiful St. Regis hotel spend time there on a regular basis. It was a bit off-putting after catching most of the documentary A Place at the Table, on HBO the night before. Especially since most of the employees of the high end stores were drinking coffee and eating pastries or lunches brought from home during their lunch breaks.

Day four was supposed to entail the Wynwood Art District but, ended with a multi-hour stint at the airport where I wrote most of this. It seemed an unwise choice to leave after arriving and waiting in the very long security line. It just means I'll have to come back... after much research on what is happening at the time of my visit. It will not be Memorial Day since it is Hip Hop Weekend, which my Super Shuttle driver claimed is the busiest weekend in Miami. Duly noted....

Mexico City in Meals

And, as promised, here are some more photos. This time focused on the amazing food we ate. We only ate Mexican food and I will probably never eat Mexican food in the United States ever again... Especially because, on our third night, we enjoyed one of the best meals I've ever eaten, at Quintonil. There is not any photo documentation for this meal but, it was amazing!

As our first meal, my colleague and I indulged ourselves at Dulce Patria, the restaurant attached to our hotel (super shi shi) that came highly recommended by a friend who recently visited Mexico City.

Check out how pretty the plating is

 

Every morning, my colleague and I ate breakfast at the hotel before heading to the office or Teotihuacan, in the case of Saturday. We spoke as much Spanish as possible (my colleague moreso than me) and our friendly waiter served us fresh fruit covered in coconut milk and honey. Delicioso!!!

 

 

We would then arrive at the office and eat Pan Dulce and more fresh fruit...

 

On the second night in town, one of our colleagues based in our Mexico City office hosted seven of us at her home and made the BEST carnitas and tortilla soup I have ever had. Ever. Not only is she really good at her job but, she is also an amazing chef and a talented artist. Who knew!?

 

Look at our colleague's cute hairless pup, Lola

 

As I mentioned, Quintonil was an amazing restaurant. We weren't very hungry so only ordered appetizers and flan for dessert but, ended up with five or six dishes served to us including a palate cleanser of salted cactus sorbet that I wanted more of... My "perfect egg" appetizer over a Mexican style risotto was truly perfect. And, the meal ended with a delicious conchita and a traditional fermented corn drink.

 

On our fourth night, after hitting up Lucha Libre, we had (more) tacos and nopales at El Califa in the Condesa neighborhood, where two of our other colleagues live. They were good tacos. And, we were not the only ones partaking of them at midnight. We sat outside with what felt like hundreds of other revelers enjoying a lovely, warm Spring night in Condesa.

 

 

On our last night, we wanted to go back to Quintonil but, they were hosting a private party. So we tried another recommendation from our restaurant guru colleague, La No. 20 but, they were booked. As a last (but not least) resort, our hotel concierge secured us a reservation at the family restaurant Villa Maria. We didn't realize we could have eaten some traditional dishes, instead opting for some of the restaurant's famous margaritas (mango for my colleague and tamarind for me) to complement mole and meat. We topped it off with corn cake.

 

 

Needless to say, I might still be full. A week later... 



 



Mexico City

Last week, I was super stoked to visit the Mexico City office of my organization. While there, my colleagues and I were able to explore some of the "finer" aspects of la Ciudad. We ate well, we stayed up late, and we worked real hard. More photos to come but, here were just a few snaps of the social and cultural activities we did.

Plane view at night

View from Edificio Omega in Polanco

Lunch-time trip to the Anthropology Museum

Teotihuacan Rooms

Coatlicue in the Aztec Rooms

Chac Mool in the Maya Rooms

Zocolo at Night

 

Lucha Libre on a Friday Night

Pyramid of the Moon

Pyramid of the Sun

Panorama at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun

Diego Rivera painting at the Museum of Modern Art