Monterey to Pismo Beach

Wednesday 19th August.  Guess who we meet at breakfast downstairs? Yep, Greg and Cinti his sister. Greg is good company if you meet him once a year and he is a bit loud. The other guests slink out into the other room while he and Cinti regail us with family tales of growing up in Buffalo NY. Nice enough though and an excellent breakfast - complementary. After a brief walk around the Fisherman's wharf area of Monterery, where we observe sea lions sleeping and huge swirls of bait fish, we have a coffee at Lou lous.  There are people catching fish from the pier, so we stop to look and see what all the excitement is about. Some are catching two and three fish at a time, but when they tell us the 300 mm long fish are Mackeral, well, we feel like Texans - "That ain't no Mackerel, man, where we come from they're three feet long." We head for the coast road down the Big Sur towards our next overnight at Pismo Beach. The drive is stunning as promised, with very high hills dropping sharply into the sea. Sort of like the Great Ocean Road in Victoria on steroids. A fair bit of traffic, but as we are heading south, the pullovers and scenic spots are on our side of the road, so photo opps are easy, if not busy.

 The scenery at first is parched, brown earth but when we get to Big Sur proper, a small township with accommodation houses, camping grounds etc we are surrounded by lush towering Redwoods. No sign of any water though, at least not fresh water in rivers and streams. About half way into the journey, the Bitch quits. She just turns off and won't start. Looks like we will be back to first principles for the trip into Pismo Beach. A stop for a club sandwich and a beer at Whale Beach cafe proves to be worthwhile - Lady P maintains she sees some whale splash and we enjoy a shared club sandwich.Further along the Coast road amongst the brown paddocks once more we get to see some great big Elephant Seals frolicking on the beach, as if Elephant Seals can be described as frolicking. And then we roll into San Simeon and the turn off to the famous 'not to be missed' Hearst Castle. Previous members of the Anzac tour party had reported waits of an hour upon arriving at the Hearst Castle visitors centre but no such delays for us. We walk in the door at 1.50pm and book our Cottages and Kitchen tour for 2pm! Flashy is suitably impressed and our guide further impresses with plenty of historical facts mostly relating to the many notable visitors to Hearst Castle - including David Niven who lamented the lack of alcohol served by the Hearsts and noted that the wine poured 'like glue'. We roll down the hill and head off to Pismo Beach which Lady P finds easily without the aid of devices and we settle into our room directly on the beach. Lady P finds the ice vending machine and with the aid of our little esky we chill the gin and tonic and settle in to watch the spectacular sunset - Lady P from the beach front balcony and Flashman very unromantically from the shade of the lounge room - precious! An American diner is located for dinner and we share a hamburger and chili cheesefries. Both are excellent and Californian in size, i.e. normal not gigantic. Back to our room to pull down the Murphy bed from its hiding place in the wardrobe and a comfortable night before departure in the morning for LA.

On the road to Monterey

Tuesday 18th August. Packed up the car and cleaned the cottage this morning for our departure for Monterey. In keeping with the solemn nature of the event, SF's fog rolled in and the morning was cool and cloudy. We head up to Solarno Ave for the last time for a coffee at the famous 'Peets Cafe', top up the tank with gas and head north. Yep, Monterey is actually south, but Lady P wants to go over the San Rafael and Golden Gate Bridges, through the downtown SF and out to the 101 South to Monterey. 

We make it without too much anxiety, although we fail to pay the toll over the Golden Gate Bridge because there is 'No Stopping' and no cash lane. Flashman has visions of being dragged off the plane at LA and spending two weeks in a Federal Prison somewhere. Anyway, we make it to the Interstate and head south for Monterey. Half way there we ignore the "do a U-Turn' from the Bitch and go off the Interstate to a little pit stop at Morgan Hill and get a really good turkey and Swiss on white and a chicken salad from Safeway. Then we continue into Monterey and find the 1887 BnB called Gosby House. We are a little early but our room is ready. We have booked the smallest room deliberately as it is cheap. We get offered an upgrade to the second smallest room and grab it. Very 19th Century but cute. Drop the bags and head to Carmel-By-The-Sea. More cute but with lots of $$ signs on everything. Hotter now, and thirsty work this sightseeing, so a cooling Stella and a diet Coke at a local Italian Bistro and then back to happy hour at our Gosby House. Now, listen to this. At 4.30 to 6.30 each night, they put on free cheese and crackers and wine for the guests in the downstairs parlor. How cute. We made it at 5.30 and yes we did partake. Of course, as you will have guessed, at these sort of functions, you meet other guests; and we meet Greg. A stand up comedian from Las Vegas, en route from LA with his sister to somewhere in the Sierras for a family reunion. What a hoot. Skillfully disengaging from 'travellers' conversation syndrome', we head out in search of cool evening air and a dinner booking at the number one seafood restaurant, 'Passionfish'. This is actually very good. We decide on five appetizers. Two for Lady P and three for greedy Flashy. Scallop on artichoke patty, a wonderful fish stew, crevice of striped bass, tuna carpaccio and a fish taco, were accompanied by a sparkling Gamay, a Californian Chardonnay and a cute Napa Rose (glasses of course, there's only two of us!). We enter into a delightful conversation with a chap on the next table who is probably a famous tennis player, as he has been to Australia and well, sort of expected us to know him. Back to the BnB to discover the wonderful owners have left chocolate cake, cookies and a whole decanter of sherry out for tired guests returning from dinner. Of course!

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.

Earthquake

Monday 17th August.  Awoken today by an earthquake. A 4.1 magnitude at around 3.3 miles deep, centered around Piermont, not far from here in Berkeley. Very short, about 3 seconds, just like a freight train going past. It's all over the news, as if nothing else happens on Earth. There is no damage, but all sorts of crap about waking the dog all over social media. Another 'tick' off the bucket list I guess!  We do a bit of packing for the road trip tomorrow, with all the cold weather gear rolled up at the bottom of the suitcase and fresh summer clothes on top. It's great to have a mid sized car so everything doesn't have to go in a bag and you can just grab an overnight pack for Monterey and Pismo Beach stopovers on the way to LA. Lady P heads off to SF again for the last gasp of shopping and sightseeing while Flashy contemplates a walk to the local wine cellar for an educational flight or two; a beer at Schmidt's Pub and a recce for tonight's dinner reservation. True to form, Flashman does indeed walk up the hill to Solano Ave and have a beer in the pub, a glass of red with a little pasta at Cuginis Italian, then to  Solano Cellars for a tasting of the "Special Monday's poured till there finished, half price" wines. Sitting at the bar with two retired professors, one of whom has taught at Macquarie Uni in the 70's and a much tattooed 30's something gal who claims to be an Adjunct Professor at a dodgy State College, Flashy feels at ease. There are five reds on the tasting menu and you can get then by the glass or half glass and for half price.  Flashy has five half glasses, tasting the whole menu on offer and taking notes; decides on a good one and has a full glass of that one, all the while discussing the Democratic nominations. I guess there was only one Republican at the bar eh? So to the wines on offer.  '14 Chidaine Touraine FR, '13 Castellare Chianti Classico ITY, '14 Dom du Seminaire Cotes du Rhone FR, '12 Hoopla "The Mutt" CS/PS Napa and a '13 Dom du Pelican 3 Crepages Pinot Noir FR. The Napa Valley won hands down at 18.5 on the old 20 point score. So Flashy had a full glass of it just to be sure. Home at 6 pm and still in the high 80's with the sun streaming in through the windows, as Lady P walks through the door.
Swapping notes it appears Lady P has had an equally enjoyable day, firstly traversing the BART system to the city and then a trolley bus to the Golden Gate Park. At 1pm she met up with another of the SF walking guides, a delightful lady called Christine, and a large gathering of like minded people to do a walking tour of the Japanese Tea Garden. 

This five acre feature is but a drop in the ocean of the total park area of 845 acres but it was a fascinating walk through the oldest Japanese tea garden in the USA. Christine, a retired 7th grade teacher, was passionate about the Japanese philosophy of 'enlightenment' et al, especially given that her 32 year old daughter had recently converted to Buddhism, giving up her 'family name - Rebecca' for her new name of Vera. It was another wonderful free San Francisco experience and a fitting way to end my last day in this effervescent city. The Park of which I had only a taste, had so much more to offer so it's on the 'to do' list for next time.
Home on the BART - busy at peak hour which was to be expected but sanity was restored when I exited the El Cerito Plaza station and the saxophonist was pumping out some restorative tunes to aid the 20 min walk home. Yes, you guessed it, Lady P has absolutely no issue with the public transport system - on a daily basis it would be somewhat of a chore but on holiday its just part of the fun. Putting aside our differences with public transport, we walk up to our little neighbourhood restaurants and decide to start a sampling/grazing dinner at Fonda Restaurant, which we observed was absolutely pumping on Sunday night when we were across the road at the Laundromart and is similarly frantic tonight. So much so we are seated at a bar directly opposite the open kitchen, so get to watch the two chefs making the dinner for a very busy and almost full restaurant. So, settled in with a Pisco Sour and a Sangria, plus the live entertainment, we watch our dinner of fish and duck tacos prepared and delivered. We are enjoying the theatre of the kitchen so much, we decide not to leave and order some calamari and a wonderful dish of fried plantain with mole and black beans. Then home for an early, last night in Berkeley.

Berkeley and more shops

Sunday, the 16th August; and we walk up to our local neighborhood and turn left for a change. Walked past some high end restaurants and on to Noah Bagel, where we had a breakfast of a Noah Lox Special and two coffees. Accustomed to huge American serves, we decide on one Noah Special and a plain bagel, so we can share. Opps we forgot we are in California and SF to boot - the home of the "foodie" scene. The coffee is organic, fair trade, low food miles and surprisingly, really good. The lox bagel is smeared with cream cheese, not 1/2" thick like New York and just the right amount of capers, Spanish onion, tomato and cucumber. Hard to share. Lady P gets this strange look about her and you can almost hear her thinking, 'I'm not gonna give Flashy any salmon.' She's nice, and she does give him a little to go with his plain (but delicious) bagel. A very nice breakfast. Onwards and upwards and downwards on foot to the local Kensington Farmers Market not far away. 

My goodness, it could almost be France. A small suburban street closed for about 30 stalls selling the most amazing, organic, free trade, low food miles, non caged, dog friendly, Californian, hippy stamped, high - no very high - quality produce and food stalls. Buggar, we could have forgone the bagel and had a Big Boys Fat Bits rib ends or a paella or lots else. Too full though, but we do need hydration, as it's getting into the 90's. Luckily, we find the local pub, Kensington Circus and have a shandy and a pint of IPA. Flashman did not have the shandy. We could have been in a local corner pub in the middle of London except the barmaid spoke with a delightful Californian drawl. What a wonderful but very WASP suburb and market. We return to our cottage, literally 10 minutes away, deposit our goodies into the fridge, grab 'the bitch', (our navman)  and then head to the shopping malls out of town. It's now 105F. Flashman reluctantly accompanies Lady P as he would like a new pair of walking shoes. We discover Walmart in the burbs and buy $3 t-shirts and some undies and stuff but no shoes. We also try the discount store at Pleasant Hill and a Target at Walnut Creek but no bargains to be had. We do discover a Zachary's Chicago Pizza and being a little peckish, stop in for a slice of Pepperoni and a Stella; the driver has a mint tea. Head along the freeway and down the hill into civilisation, the Bitch doesn't miss  a beat thankfully, as we negotiate a spaghetti junction type freeway connection at Oakland.  Oh, well, there's always LA to finish off the shopping. Home to laundry and admin and a dinner of lamb kofta, yoghurt, mint and cilantro dip and salad, courtesy of the market stalls and the local supermarket. 'Drink the red,' she says, 'Save the whites for when we get together with Tas.'  Who am I to argue.

The Fairmont Hotel

Today, Saturday 15th August we are to do a tour of the famous Fairmont Hotel and it will be Flashman's last ride on public transport. Yes, he's had enough. SF has the best public transport system. It's fast, efficient, friendly, usually on time, clean, no graffiti and is a mix of high speed rapid transport trains, suburban trains and trams, trolley buses (trams on wheels) and of course, the well known cable car. There's even clean taxis. Mobile phones even work in the tunnels. You get this Melbourne Transport? But it's public. Full of people you'd not want to invite home to dinner, yet alone have a conversation with, and sometimes it's full to standing point. Then there's the stairs up and down to the platforms, the 20 minute walk to the station, the waiting and the silly announcements and having like to like listen like to the like stupid like conversations that the stupid like teenagers like have like with their stupid friends. Obviously, 'like' is the new um and it grates on one as eloquent as we seniors.(Read Grumpy Old Man - Flashy!) I think the inside of a train carriage looks like something from another planet with all alien beings connected by their thumbs to little portable screens. Then there's the stupid costumes they wear and the bloody pushbikes jamming up the isles. That's it. No more. Last ride to town this morning, then it's limos for Flashy. Phew that feels better. Well, it gets better. 

 



Lady P's well researched and booked free tour of the Fairmont Hotel (San Francisco Walking tours - likened to Big Apple Greeters in NYC) was excellent - eventually. Lady P secretly gets her own back at Flashman's tirade on public transport by making him walk three blocks up SF's steepest street (well he thinks it was but it was only a 30% grade and others are closer to 40%) from the BART to the hotel. "It's only one more block", she says. Must have been three bloody miles. There are nine of us on the tour and PJ, the volunteer guide - a 60'ish slim, softly spoken gal was borne and bred in SF. The others are three youngins from Boston; two Kiwis - well one Aussie married to a Kiwi, and two gals from SF who just like walking tours; and of course Flashy and Lady P.The outside of the hotel tour was conducted in the high 80's - about 30C, so despite the incredibly lavish, French inspired 1890's architecture, we were glad to go inside. The Fairmont does not disappoint in any way, with gilded everything and just so OTT. There is one bar that looks like a Circus, complete with platinum, nickle and gold based paints used in the extensive murals painted by a couple of SF girls (nudge, nudge) back in the 30's. The murals are apparently worth millions. There's also a function room - the Tongan room, where we observe thatched roof bures around a swimming pool (all indoor) and then as PJ snaps her fingers, water pours form the ceiling around the perimeter of the pool - yes you guessed it, a tropical downpour. The jewel in the crown is, however, the 'Crown Function Room' on the top floor of the hotel. Perhaps not one for any forthcoming family celebrations at $25,000 a night (room only) but we are lucky enough to enjoy the most stunning 360 degree view of San Francisco from the windows all around and it was the most magnificent day so it was truly breathtaking.

A look at the hotel herb gardens and beehives on the first floor concludes the tour, one and a half hours later. Flashy and Lady P adjourn to the Fairmont bar for a refreshing cocktail. After all, it's 12.30 pm and hot. We have a Fairmont Plunge and a Lavender Bramble. These use infused herbs from the rooftop herb garden, Cool eh? Flashy's has 12yr old Elija Bourbon, ginger syrup, lemon juice and mint, decorated with two cherries. Lady P has gin (of course) blood orange liqueur, lemon juice, blackberry puree and lavender syrup. We also decide to have crab cakes and deviled eggs.
Wonderful. The waitress recognises the accent and then informs us that she (a USA gal), has just married a Kiwi. Bloody hell, they'e everywhere - and won the rugby - Bledisloe Cup- last night as well. After feeling well refreshed, we head down hill (thank God, says Flashy) to Union Square and a great kitchen shop, where we discover a young SF guy promoting and giving us a sample of aperitif wine from Somoma, who - yes you guessed it - married a bloody Kiwi. On the way out of the store, we sample a little taco from the bloke who is promoting the taco seasoning he has invented. "Where are you all from?", he says. "Australia', we say. "Where?," he says. "Cairns", we say. "I've ... don't tell me he's going to say he's married to a Kiwi. I can't stand it. No, thankfully, he's only been to Aus and knows where Cairns is. Phew. Macys is across the road and Lady P leads Flashy into the store on the pretense of finding him a cheap gold watch. No go, unfortunately but we are thirsty again. So off to a little bar near Embarcadero station for a couple of Ibuprofen and a beer then home via the supermarket to top up on salad and chicken for tonight's Caesar salad and one of those Placerville wines.

Desperate Shopping Expedition

Friday 14th August. We awake to another stunning day in Berkeley. Every morning has been practically the same - it's either overcast with warm blue skies by lunchtime, or like today, clear blue skies and temperatures rising into the 80's. A relaxed start sees us updating the blog and photos and some serious shopping planning by Lady P. She departs for SF and Flashman sits around, does a bit of ironing and shuffles the maps and brochures, before deciding on a late BART to SF and the Wells Fargo Museum, before meeting Lady P at the Hilton.
Lady's P's expedition, 'sans shadow' (read Flashman) is extremely successful. As she walks to the BART station, she hears loud music approaching and notices a group of children, about 6 years of age, all dressed in matching green YMCA. The leader obviously had a booster speaker in her back pack and it is pumping out 'The Eye of the Tiger' and yes, you guessed it, all the children following are singing at the top of their lungs. They are obviously heading for the local Aquatic centre which we are passing - a somewhat 21st century version of Mother Goose and an omen for the day ahead. Desigual, one of Lady P's passions just happens to be on the first street corner so she disappears and doesn't surface for at least 30 mins, only to be followed by a visit to H & M and then of course there was Macey's. It was their One Day Sale so the opportunities just jumped out and she got two pairs of shoes (already reduced by 50%) for the price of one!! Yes the full price was $140 and they only cost $35 !! Win win!! The back pack loaded, and the Desigual wheely carry on luggage bag under one arm she headed off to meet Flashy at the Hilton for a much needed cooling G & T. 

The efficient tour guide, Lady P, then escorted Flashy through China Town to catch the No 30 trolley bus down to the foreshore of the Bay and Fort Mason. This is about when he declares he is 'over Public Transport' - more in tomorrow's blog.This seemingly non descript collection of wharfs and buildings is humming and alive with the establishment of the 'temporary pop up food truck'  "Off the Grid" food scene. Every Friday they gather and the locals come out to wine, dine and seemingly celebrate life and the end of the working week. There are families with children darting in and out of the crowd, Gen Y'ers meeting their friends after numerous texting 'likes' and putting out their BYO picnic rugs on the pavement as the chairs run out. They even bring their own food in Safeway bags but no one seems to mind. Beer, wine, cocktails you name it, nothing is missing, so we have home brewed beer, followed by Sangria - Lady P, and then a couple of good Californian wines with our dinner.




Too many choices for the later but Lady P watched the Boneyard food truck with an evil eye as she fancied the 'Burnt Ends special'. And Flashy helped her consume that whilst watching the line up move ever so slowly at 'Rocko's Ice cream Tacos' . The music played, the people danced and the crowd grew until it was almost standing room only. As the sun set, we departed up the nearby stairs for some sunset photos before a cab ride to the Embarcadero station for Flashy's favourite ride home on the train.What a great, truly San Francisco experience !!