November 30, 2004
Finally!
Okay! It has taken too long, but I am finally done with posting my vacation pictures.
Go... Look... Fawn...
All the pictures from the trip are under the SamerFest link. You can also see all the pictures for each city (San Francisco, Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver), each state (California, Oregon, Washington) or each country (USA, Canada). We slice, you decide.
Posted by Samer at 11:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 23, 2004
Cascades Service
I've completed the train part of my trip. I've travelled on the Starlight Express from San Francisco to Eugene, and from there on the Cascades to Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. I'm pretty impressed.
The Starlight Express starts off in Southern California and goes right up the coast. It is a slow, lumbering train, that often gains a lot of delays on the way up. LVH and AB both warned me that it would likely be late and just get later. But the train left Emmeryville just about 10 mins late and, almost 15 hours later, arrived in Eugene.
Yeah, 15 hours is a long time to be sitting in a seat. But that's just one of the great things when you compare Amtrak to flying. For one thing, you don't have to sit in your seat: you can get up, walk around, go to the dining car or the lounge. The views are spectacular, even in the fog. Your seat mates are sometimes a fun bunch, and sometimes just crazy. Oh, and there's no long security lines or annoyances that make flying a pain in the ass.
Here's a shocker for those used to dealing with Amtrak's NE Corridor and big city staff: the staff on the west coast are just amazingly nice people. They were all helpful, even to the annoying people on the Starlight Express.
There's decent food at not too high a price, the seats are comfortable, and did I mention that there are no body cavity searches? If time is on your side, what's there not to love?
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November 16, 2004
The Coast Starlight
I took the train from San Francisco to Eugene, OR. It really was a cool experience and not one that seemed as dreadful as you might expect from a 15 hour overnight train trip. Much more comfortable than flying ever will be.
I also learned, but to no useful purpose, that the sleeper cars can be had for considerably less if you buy on board, rather than before your trip. Of course, you may not be able to, as the sleepers might be sold out. No matter, really... The seats are comfortable enough to sleep in.
And, it turns out, all the crazy people in the world ride the train, especially through Oregon. You should be well entertained.
I highly recommend the train.
Posted by Samer at 12:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 15, 2004
Odd Town
San Francisco has an odd aura about it. It is a great fun town, with a lot to do and see, but it is very quirky.
Other cities, big cities like New York and London, all have their quirks, their oddities. But in most of those places "odd" is an undercurrent. It pops up here and there, like in Soho in London, or the Village in New York. But for the most part you only notice the odd when look for it.
Not so in San Francisco. "Odd" not only seems to be in the mainstream, it seems to be work like a badge of honor. And it makes for a great fun city. What's so odd about San Francisco? Well, let's begin:
On a typical day walking through downtown you will run into hundreds of possibly homeless people. I say possibly because you can't really tell in this town who is and who is not homeless. People walk around, shabbily dressed, talking to themselves. Constantly. Some sing, some have conversations, but most are just nattering on about something or the other to an uncaring audience.
On one day, on one bus ride, I saw a dozen people try and sneak onto the bus by getting on at the back door. The best part of it all was the bus driver. He's wearing the MUNI brown uniform and it looks a bit like a communist state military outfit. He's also of Asian origin and was wearing huge "Blu-Blocker"-style glasses. He looked like a caricature of the North Korean leader. And he would get up and yell at these people, and they, in turn, would try and haggle with him. That was a fun bus ride.
Another oddity about the city is that in the heart of its tourist center, all the bars seem to close at midnight. Well, all the bars that you want to drink at, that is.
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November 14, 2004
One thing
If there's only one thing you should do before you die, well, I'd highly recommend putting walking across the Golden Gate Bridge up there.
I took a bus to Golden Gate Park on Saturday. Hopped on a different bus and wound up at the foot of the most magnificent piece of architecture and design, all in one. To see this monster of a bridge spanning across the Golden Gate is almost as moving as seeing the aurora. A living, breathing monument to what we, as a people, can do when we decide we need to. The whole thing was built in 52 months. It opened in 1937. 1937.
I walked across the bridge and took some good pictures, and when I got to the other side, I climbed up into the Marin County Headlands. I stood there, with most of the bridge beneath me. One of the most beautiful and amazing sites that I've ever seen.
Posted by Samer at 04:02 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Magnolia
One of the great things about traveling is that you get to taste a lot of good stuff that you would not normally have access to. Beer, mostly. Magnolia is a great little brewpub up in the Haight, close to Ashbury. Yeah, that selfsame Haight/Ashubry that was once the mecca of the counter culture but now has a GAP and a brew pub. Go figure.
I stopped into Magnolia after my little walkabout Golden Gate Park on Friday. I was thirsty and hungry. The other good thing about traveling is that you meet the nicest people. The bartender here, just as at Toronado, was most helpful in picking out food and drink.
First up was a nice cask conditioned bitter. This was the first time they had brewed the Pearly Baker's Best Bitter, and it was really nice. Resiny, with a noticeable hop aroma and profile, this dark straw colored beer was very smooth and enjoyable. Quite the thirst quencher.
I followed it up with the Cole Porter, a very dry, quite roasty porter that was very enjoyable after lunch. Lunch was an excellent beef brisket sandwich with horseradish mayonnaise. Another great suggestion from the bartender.
I managed to get Ben the brewer to show me around the very small brewery underground. The pictures, when they get posted, will show you just how tiny the place is. He had just finished wrapping up the third brew that week.
Ben also gave me a taste of the 7% abv Proving Ground. This beer has a 100 IBUs and is pretty well balanced for having so much hops in it. Shame it was only mid-day and I had an entire afternoon and evening ahead of me, as I'd have liked a pint or two of that.
Posted by Samer at 02:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 13, 2004
Toronado
Went to Toronado last night. It wasn't what I was expecting, but I'm not sure why not.
A grubby, dive-y kinda place located on the Haight. You enter through the front door, which is split so only the bottom is closed. There's a long bar to the right and a bunch of tables to the left. There's a small seating area in the back.
Immediately you notice all the freaking taps. Holy hell, they have a lot of beer. But they also have tons of taps adorning the walls. To say this place has character would be an understatement: The bartenders are all colorful and very informed. I was quite happy to let them pick the beers for me. All I asked was that they be somewhat local. Of course, that means I missed some great beers, but they have so many it would be hard not to.
First up was the Speakeasy IPA, a nicely hopped strong IPA which really hit the spot. Then I had the Russian River ESB, and that was smooth and really nice. Vinnie, the owner of Russian River, is at RFD for a couple of days, so I'm sad to have missed his beers there. Lastly I got a pint of the El Toro Duce, a very hoppy, flowery double IPA. Quite strong, too.
They don't serve food at Toronado, but there's a sausage place next door that will let you order and take food in there. Zagat says of the Sausage Grill: "They do one thing and they do it perfectly." Who am I to disagree? Their Hungarian smoked was very tasty and wonderfully smoked -- next time, I will try it alongside the Alaskan Smoked Porter which they had on tap. The Italian hot was fantastic. Hot enough to feel it, but not hot enough to overwhelm every other taste.
Posted by Samer at 04:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 11, 2004
Rainy Day
Got to San Francisco this morning and it was raining. Took the shuttle from the airport to downtown, it only set me back $30, which is better than having had to navigate the BART and go up Powell Street with my luggage.
The hotel is nice, though they lack internet access in the room. The Crowne Plaza is among the dozen or so hotels that have locked out their janitorial staff over the latest contract. Apparently the hotels want a five year deal, which is what it always was, but the union wants a three year deal.
The city is great. The buzz of this town is kinda cool. Even in the rain, it has an energy that seems pretty unique. I stumbled on the Apple Store here, and Union Square is kinda nice, even if it is filled with the same cookie cutter shops like Starbucks and the Cheesecake Factory.
I think I'm gonna head to the Haight and try and have a few beers at Toronado.
Posted by Samer at 10:34 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack