Musings of San Fransisco, Sacramento and this area

No date in particular. There is now doubt that California is different to the rest of the US. We have been in SF, Sacramento and surrounds for two weeks and enjoyed every minute of it. There is a real multi cultural feel to the SF and Sacramento area. We notice cross race couples, that seem normal or accepted here. Most people in our area are, however, slim white folk and there are many old hippies with long grey ponytails, probably 'professors' or 'academic others', writers or the like, given we are close to the Berkeley University campus. Certainly we are in a predominately WASP area, but there are other nationalities/races here as well. Many work out and seem to love their neighbourhood. No one has said "Where y'all from?" Or "Excuse me sir?" they just seem to get a variety of accents here. Also it's very quiet. No barking dogs or crying kids. The streets we walk are well cared for in a very natural way with no front fences, nature strips all planted with native grasses and fruit trees in some cases and certainly no whipper snipped edges. Its just as if the houses, mostly Mission style cottages have been dropped into the natural environment. The footpaths (sidewalks for the Americans) go up hill and down dale over the roots of large trees and there are lots of uneven surfaces so Grannie would not fare well with Zoro the mobility scooter. There are however an abundance of pedestrian crossings, one on every street corner over a period of a couple of miles down the main street and also similar in the side streets. It certainly keeps the drivers on their toes.  It reminds us of East Malvern in the 70's, or maybe Colonel Light Gardens with hills. There are agapanthas, geraniums, hydrangeas and of course, lovely flowering eucalyptus all around the streets. Berkeley is a nice place and we are lucky to have scored a little cottage in Neilson Street to be our base in SF. 

Neilson St cottage (our Airbnb) is positioned behind a house on Neilsen St, and there is a delightful shared courtyard separating the two. A laden fig tree provides shade and there are herbs growing in planters and fuschias tucked into little corners here and there. It could be my Nana's garden in Auckland. Inside the cottage, Raza, our host, has decorated it with San Francisco pizzaz. The kitchen has yellow walls with a red sparkling benchtop - a nightmare if you are trying to wipe the crumbs away! and there are numerous eclectic pieces of artwork on the walls. Overlooking it all is a colourful witch hanging from the light fitting 

above! The toilet is bright pink with a fluro blue hand basin and water dispenser and thankfully the bedroom, set down a few timber stairs is painted in subdued colours to ensure a restful night's sleep. Skylights abound so everything is bright and light which we love and it has been a delightful home away from home for the sojourn. The only missing amenity in the cottage was an iron (and board) for Flashy to iron his shirts, but this was quickly rectified. It appears that SF people do not iron as was observed during the course of our visits to the local  

shopping precincts. Our table top ironing board and the old iron was pulled from the garden shed where it had obviously sat idle for some time.
Sacramento was likewise very pleasant, clean and green. Very Melbourne in lots of ways but quieter. Sacramento claims to be the capital of the 'farmer to fork' movement, or as we say, 'paddock to plate' and they take it very seriously. Same goes for SF and that's partly why the food scene/philosophy here is so different and so good compared to elsewhere in the US. Plate sizes are generally smaller and all about the ingredients. The coffee has been very good, even the filter coffee is OK and particularly in SF and Sacramento, baristas make espresso from real machines. We had a cappuccino at Noahs Bagel which was very good. So not like New York on our previous visit. The tourist attractions were very well done and well organised, particularly the Ferry to Sausalito and Alcatraz. The walking tours organised by Lady P were fun and professional and all delivered by volunteers. They made such a difference to the understanding of the fascinating history of California, even though we only caught a glimpse of the 19th and 20th century period. To top it all off, we had perfect weather every day from LA to LV and SF. Hot sometimes, but generally a cooling wind and a cold beverage just around the corner.