Christmas Tourism...

Last Saturday (X-mas eve), we hosted a couple of our friends (Erin and Robert) from Long Beach for a day of touring in San Francisco. We were originally supposed to go to Erin's family's house for X-mas dinner, but the cost of a hotel and not wanting to wake up anywhere but our apartment on X-mas morning were factors in us deciding on other plans, not to mention the 3 of us beginning to feel under the weather.

The day started off at Fog City Diner. After a great brunch there (including Mimosas and a Scharfenbereger Hot Chocolate for Hylah), we then went on a tour of San Francisco. We started at my favorite spot on Broderick and Broadway then through the Presidio over to Sea Cliff and the Palace of Legion of Honor, then by the Cliff House, then through Golden Gate Park and finally ending up at the newly opened DeYoung Museum. This (abridged version of my) SF tour is one route I take through the city whenever people visit. I shortened it for Robert and Erin due to the amount of time we had - they had to be in Santa Cruz by approx. 6-7pm.

The DeYoung looked great and Robert, who has an interest in architecture and design and had been following the architect on this project (I can't remember his name right now), was very keen to see the completed building. We arrived just before closing. So, we weren't able to go inside, but the architecture and landscaping was very interesting and quite a departure from it's classic old 'spanish-influenced' look. It seems like they are overhauling that whole section of the park and, although currently gutted, there seems to be a lot of potential for that space. I do hope that the museums and attractions that were once there return after the renovation as it was such a fixture of my childhood.

We parted ways with R and E at the park, but we decided to go look at the SF Christmas Tree in Union Square (at Hylah's request) and wound up staying to enjoy the tree, the people gathered around it on X-mas eve and also the Horn (or Wind - however it's called) Quartet that was playing nice seasonal music. All in all, it turned out to be a spontaneously great way to spend X-mas eve.

Final Thought:
I have to give credit to Erin for something. For the second time in as many visits with her, she definitely had some interesting things to share. Last August, when we stayed at their apartment, she had us try some Schezuan Peppercorns which were very interesting. I described their taste as a 9volt lemon, because they tasted citrusy and electric (that's the best I could come up with), but they are strong and could be scary if you don't know what you are trying (especially in quantity).

This time, she gave Hylah snow as a Chrismas present. I know what you are thinking: "How could someone give snow as a gift?" That's what I thought too, but this stuff is synthetic. Now, this stuff looks like detergent when you first look at it, but when you add water, the granules expand and get soft and, if you give them some time they are actually cool to the touch and look like snow. Erin said that after approximately 1 month, it loses it's moisture and returns to it's original form (detergent) and can be re-constituted over and over again. Pretty cool. Needless to say, Hylah's been playing with it every day since then.

So, for the 2nd time in a row, Erin gets the prize for most interesting shared item. She must've rocked at Show and Tell in school.