Gabriella comes to town

Saturday 26th August
Went to Emilie's apartment to see Gabriella who had arrived earlier in the morning. Set off on a tour of various sights in SF including China town and Haight Ashbury where we stopped for lunch. After lunch we parked near little Italy and walked through China town to Fisherman’s Warf, trying on wigs at the midway point.

Kelly picked us up to save our legs and we made our way back to prepare for the BBQ later that evening. Chicken, steak, salad, veg etc. went well. Tofu didn't. Then back to Emilie's to watch a film, the Wedding Date, before bed.

Sunday 27th August
Emilie plays for a mixed touch football team which she joined through her soccer team. We went to watch her play on a field near Fort Point which is part of a huge disused military base at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge. I think the area is now part of the GG National Park, and as such is undeveloped which is nice.
Regrettably, Emilie's team were a man down and were facing very strong opposition. A brief moment of inspiration saw Emilie bulldozer through the defensive line for a 30 yard QB touch down which gave the assembled cheer squad something to shout about!

It wasn't a very nice morning :(

After the game, we made the short drive to Fort Point to show off the Golden Gate in all it's foggy glory. It's always cool when the towers are shrouded in a mysterious fog, and from a distance it doesn't look quite so high up. Mum was disappointed to hear that I couldn't face the whole walk across as they'd put that on the to-do list when they visit in the spring.


Emilie, Gabriella, Madeline and the Golden Gate Bridge

The Exploratorium was next; I had complained that interactive museums weren't as good as ones which were dusty and in class cases but I take it all back. I walked around in awe, with my mouth open and with a child like glint in my eyes. It turns out America is good at two things; Theme Parks and Interactive Museums. I could have spent hours playing with sand and water in the name of science, but regrettably, the girls had a tea date at 2pm. So after a stroll in the grounds we headed off.


Gabriella and Emilie in the grounds of the Exploratorium

The Exploratorium is housed within the walls of San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in the style of a Roman ruin, mutilated and overgrown, in the mood of a Piranesi engraving.


Gabriella, Madeline and I

So the girls headed of for tea and I went home to watch the end of the golf, a college football program and Extreme Engineering!


How Quaint!

We met up after tea in Dolores Park, it was sunny, there was a rap concert of some kind on and there were many dogs mounting each other.


Emilie and Gabriella in Delores Park

Emilie left to go for a run in preparation for her triathlon next month, so Gabriella, Madeline and I went home to get our bathing suits and playing cards to go for a soak in Emilie's hot tub. After a lengthy name critique session, we met up with Kelly and went to a Mediterranean restaurant; very cheap and nice!

Monday 28th August
We had an early start to get Madeline to the BART station for 7:00am, and then headed straight to Oakland airport to bid farewell to Gabriella. Priority boarding, trece and candy added to the excitement of the morning, and she got away safely. Traffic was good heading home so I set about cleaning the house...

Had my first lecture as a graduate student in Computer Performance Evaluation! Small class, but really interesting and very good lecturer. It's nice to do something completely new to me, and it reaffirmed that I am a geek and do love computers. Pasta for dinner.