Running the City & Shopping

View from the 15th floor atop Nob Hill

730am local time.  Visibility nil. What a contrast from yesterday's great views from our room -- although this is the San Fran we expected. Fog is as much a part of this city as the Golden Gate bridge is. No reason to rush out for a run, I'm back in bed.

930am local time. The faint outline of the road below is visible from our window.  Since we're atop Nob Hill I have to assume that we're in the thickest of the fog so I decide to make a break for it. Today' I'm heading to the opposite side of the city towards the Golden Gate bridge.

Julie stalking me from the hotel window.

Shortly in to my run I realize the hills are no better this way.  Grunting my way across California and turn right to tackle to crazy hills of Cow Hollow.  The houses are beautiful but that's not what's taking my breathe away.  After the unrelenting hills of California St I can only make it up half the hill.  Even walking is a serious effort.  I reach the top and am at the edge of the Presidio.  The homes that flank this park are amazing.  An endless sea of stairs await me along with other runners, walkers and even a guy carrying a kettle bell bigger than me.  Finishing the stairs toss me out on to moss covered street, nice and slick and finally into the Palace of Fine Arts. This location was part of the film the Rock when Sean Connery escapes from a haircut at the Fairmont and meets his daughter at the Palace of Fine Arts.

Palace of Fine Arts (from Wikipedia)

I make it down to the bay and know the Golden Gate bridge is in front of me but the fog hasn't lifted yet.  After some better judgment I correct my path and start running back along the waterfront towards the hotel.  With no shortage of other runners and walkers I pass Fort Mason and the Marina District with great views of Alcatraz to end up back at Ghiradelli Square where ended yesterday.  Today I opt for a $5 cab ride up the hills of Russian Hill. End result; 8.5km.  Not bad.



After getting cleaned up we head back to Café de la Presse to test their lunch menu. Julie opts for the onion soup -- good, but we've yet to find one that stands up to Paris (although some in Paris where less favourable as well) and I for the warm goat cheese salad.  Good stuff. We're pleased with this stop and I'm sure we'll be here a couple more times.


We struggle our way downhill to reach Union Square, the central shopping district. We didn't do much research so we don't have a good grasp of the boundaries other than there seems to be shops all over working outwards from the square.  We take a break and grab a latte and espresso and watch the kids skate on the ice rink, in the sun and t-shirts.  Interesting. With shops closing at 6 we make it into a few and I end up with some jeans, sweater and shoes.  Union Square is a fun area that seemed very busy until we realized that tomorrow is MLK day.  Street performers are everywhere and we even saw an operatic performance down an alley way.  The acoustic were pretty great.

Arros caçadora at B44

We're now working the walk down, sometimes with a few uphills, and cab back strategy.  Another $5 and 5 mins and we're back at our hotel without breaking a sweat.  Small tip.  If you're in one of the hilly areas, you don't just walk around for a restaurant.  It can be a painful experience.  So we spent some time online (concierge had a long line) and came up with B44 within walking distance.  This Catalan (Spanish) restaurant had great reviews and claimed a good ambiance.  As we arrived we weren't let down.  With a very Euro feel, hidden down an alleyway with a patio in the middle of the thruway we figured it was a winner.  The owner looked like a sheep-herder from Catalan.  A good sign.  People were bustling in and out and it was a happening stop.  Julie grabbed the potato and leek soup while I opted for an the arros caçadora (chicken / rabbit / pancetta / mushrooms / rosemary / parsley picada). This dish was pretty darn amazing.  After dinner we hiked the up-hill battle back to the hotel to shut it down with a movie -- well one of us did.

Tomorrow we're hitting Union Square again with plans to shimmy over to the Castro and grab a flick at the Castro Theatre.  I've yet to get out with my camera but I'm hoping to in the next day to snap some shots of the areas I've run through.