Saturday, September 24, 2022
Inna planned a weekend trip to San Francisco for my birthday, staying at the Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel downtown. She also pre-purchased tickets for To Kill a Mockingbird at Golden Gate Theater.
In the afternoon, we drove to Marina Boulevard and parked there. We noticed a few people going out wing foiling. I did not expect any wing foiling in late September. The wind looked light on the water, and there was lots of fog, but many wing foilers could pump onto the foil.
For lunch, we decided to try a new restaurant. She suggested Montesacro Marina, a newly opened Italian eatery. After sitting down outside and looking at the menu, we ordered the following items:
- Ponte Mammolo Pinsa
- Eggs Benedict
I enjoyed the Ponte Mammolo Pinsa (pizza-like flatbread), but cutting the Prosciutto took a lot of work. I prefer the pizza in Napizza (nearby). The Eggs Benedict was excellent, but nothing special.
After lunch, we stopped by Walgreens to pick up a box of tissues. My allergies were acting up, and I was sneezing non-stop. We stopped by Cafe Reveille, where I enjoyed a delicious mocha with a small pastry.
We walked to the Palace of Fine Arts to look at the birds. It was pretty crowded, and we saw a few weddings going on. We saw a few birds (night herons), but less than usual. We returned to Crissy Field to enjoy the fresh air (as it was a scorching September). The air was much more relaxed by the bay.
At around 5:00pm, we drove to the Clift Hotel downtown. There was a lot of traffic, and we needed help figuring out how to park our van in the valet (as there were no pull-ins for parking). Eventually, we dropped off our car and checked into room #616.
I rested a bit, as I was tired of sneezing so much. Later, at around 7:00pm, we headed to the Golden Gate Theater to see To Kill a Mockingbird.
I reviewed the play in my blog post here. After returning home at around 11:00pm, I took a shower, hoping to clear up my allergies (which helped), and went to bed. I was too tired and exhausted from the allergies.
Sunday, September 25, 2022
I woke at around 8:30am, took a shower, and shaved. My allergy symptoms were much milder, and I felt much better, although I did not sleep well (due to all the noise outside the city).
Inna woke a bit later, and we packed our suitcases and put them into storage. We ate lunch at one of favorite French pastry shops nearby - One65. After walking a few blocks, we went inside and ordered the following:
- Boris: Pastry with Strawberry and rhubarb, Yuozo cake, Mocha
- Inna: Croissant with Eggs Benedict, Latte
The pastries were amazing! They were as good as in Paris!
After breakfast, Inna and I walked to Union Square and shopped at Macy's, picking out a few polo shirts and one t-shirt. We returned to our hotel to drop off our bags and walked to Union Square to browse Tiffany's, Cartier's, North Face, and a few other stores.
From there, we walked to Salesforce Park, where we spent some time relaxing outdoors.
After resting for about 30 minutes, we walked to the nearby Ferry Building for a light lunch. After browsing all the shops, we purchased two empanadas from El Portano Empanadas. We found a table outside to eat them. Inna also stopped by to buy some freshly made hot chocolate. It was heavy but delicious!
I suggested playing miniature golf at Urban Putt, and we had to decide how to get there. UberX and Lyft were expensive, but Google suggested using public transportation. We had never used San Francisco's subway before and decided to download the Clipper card to use it.
A lady at the Ferry Building explained how to use the Apple Wallet to purchase credits for use on the train, and we loaded $5.00 per phone.
After walking to the subway, we were confused about how to use the Clipper card app (installed on our iPhones). One uses the iPhone double-clicking for both entry and exit into the subway. We were unsure how to tell the train's direction but figured it out.
We took the train heading to Daly City and got off near Urban Putt (after 5 stops for $1.05/ticket). We purchased two golf tickets for $28.00, and I picked out the golf clubs for Inna and me.
We had a delightful game of miniature golf. It was busy, and we had to wait our turn a lot of the time.
After the game, we walked to the nearby Foreign Cinema restaurant, where Inna made dinner reservations. After looking at the menu, we ordered the following:
- Appetizer: Bread, Calamari
- Boris: High Fidelity (Margarita Cocktail), Sesame Chicken
- Inna: Colleen Cocktail, Sesame Chicken
- Dessert: Butterscotch Pot
We loved the Calamari and the Sesame Chicken! Everything was delicious, and the waiter service was excellent.
After dinner, we walked to our BART subway terminal in the sketchy neighborhood. It was a bit unpleasant to see so many homeless everywhere. We had to wait to catch the next subway train headed downtown, but it was only a few stops. We arrived at our Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel and picked up our suitcases from storage.
The valet was extremely slow, and even though I ordered my car ahead of time, it took about 45 minutes for a valet lady to return it to us. It was very annoying.
San Francisco Review
Highlights
- Eating pastries at One65
- Playing miniature golf at Urban Putt
- Eating dinner at Foreign Cinema
- Walking around Crissy Field and watching wing foilers
Lowlights
- Horrible allergies on Saturday
- Waiting for 45-minutes get my van out of Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel valet
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