| I’ll Start from the Beginning… |
What a month it’s been! And six whole weeks since my last blog post, I should be ashamed. Luckily I have seen or spoken with many of you faithful readers during that time, so a lot of you already have some idea of what I’ve been up to. I just wanted to drop in and say hello for those of you who I have not been in contact with recently, and also to post some pictures!
Five weekends ago, my darling parents decided to drop into the lovely state of California for an extended weekend and to say hello, which they did, and more! We gallivanted all over the Bay Area, spending Saturday checking out my digs in Sunnyvale and then having a fabulous afternoon hanging around Union Square in San Francisco. We checked into the prestigious Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Square, which my parents are big fans of, and got comfortable in our 28th floor room with a lovely view of the northern neighborhoods and the bay, along with the fog-enshrouded Golden Gate Bridge. We had amazing sushi for dinner at Umi in Potrero Hill and then enjoyed a nice quiet evening in the hotel.
The next morning we wandered down Market Street to catch views of the famous once-a-year San Francisco Bay To Breakers footrace and the ensuing drunkfest/parade extravanganza which follows along the same route. This is really an event which should be experienced firsthand if one is truly to grasp how crazy the whole party really is. My parents and I stood at Market and Ninth and watched for over half an hour while mostly drunken revelers marched by, clad in all manner of costume and for that matter, lack thereof, and pushing everything from children in baby strollers to shopping carts loaded with beer kegs down the street. Spirits were high among all, including law enforcement, which supervised the peaceful affair from a safe distance. Open container and indecent exposure laws, which by and large tend to be pretty liberal around San Francisco already, were basically nonexistent around the area of the parade, which made for a few moments of minor shock and surprise for my parents and great entertainment for me. I posted a bunch of photos below for your enjoyment!
We wandered back over to SOMA and had a pretty delicious Dim Sum brunch near the Moscone Center, and then headed back to the hotel to get our belongings. We took the Bay Bridge over to the East Bay, where we have some relatives in Concord with a very cute newborn baby and a very big dog, one of the ones with a huge tail that knocks stuff over and swats you in the calves. After we visited them, we headed north towards Napa valley, into new territory for me and my parents alike. I studied my California maps and munched on kettle corn in the comfy backseat of my parents’ rental car as we drove.
Before I forget, let me give you the... ...and let me say that you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to look at them! My apologies for not featuring them in with the text as I typically do, but I took a lot this time around and I wanted to include them all, which would have taken a while doing it the usual way. Back to the blog...
We settled into our cozy bed and breakfast in Napa in the late afternoon. I was in awe of how perfect the weather was, basking in the perfectly temperate breeze and golden sunlight as we wandered around the quiet downtown area. I was expecting things to be a little busier, but we had arrived on a Sunday afternoon when most of the traffic appeared to be heading back towards more populous regions to our south. I am not much for crowds anyway, so I was not terribly disappointed. We dined at a homey Italian place and sipped on perhaps a bit too much of a nice California red. That evening as I lay awake, I experienced my first California earthquake, which was pretty minor but recognizable nevertheless. I fell asleep surprisingly early and slept like a baby, waking on my own around 8.
After a leisurely breakfast, we headed to Del Dotto Vineyards and received a guided tour of their barrel cellar, which is a pretty sweet tunnel dug deep into the ground with dirt walls. The tour wouldn’t have been complete without a few glasses of well oaked reds, of course. One such wine smelled and tasted shockingly close to bacon, to the point where I had to question its kosher credibility! My parents bought a few nice bottles and we headed up to valley for lunch and a few more sips of Napa Valley wine at the well known V. Sattui winery. Satisfied with our productive tour through the famous region, we headed down to the North Bay and wandered around the famous Muir Woods Monument, the site of a big cluster of redwood trees made easily accessible by some very well crafted paths and boardwalks through the woods. We strolled among the gargantuan and unbelievably ancient trees, breathing their fresh smell and appreciating the serenity that is found deep in the forest.
After we had had our fill of walking, we hopped back in the car and cruised across the Golden Gate Bridge, through the west side of San Francisco, and back to Silicon Valley. My parents, Dan, and I had dinner at Garden Fresh, the tasty vegetarian Chinese restaurant in Mountain View which I’ve mentioned in this blog in the past.
My parents stuck around for another day, falling in love with Carmel and the Monterey Peninsula while I went back to work. They left to go check out their place in Montana on Wednesday morning, and I flew out on the red-eye to Rochester on Wednesday evening.
My reason for traveling to New York was to surprise the majority of my graduating friends by being around for their final days as undergrads at RIT. My plan went pretty well, with one particular friend of mine actually trying to crash through a locked door while screaming at the top of her lungs just to hug me. I was surprised and touched nevertheless!
I had a leisurely two days in Rochester, enjoying the sight of my school in spring, which is really my favorite time to be there during the year. I was able to attend the academic convocation, which I found to be surprisingly inspiring as a student not yet but very nearly graduated (about another year). Our own outgoing provost, Stan McKenzie, gave the big keynote address. Last year’s speaker was Bill Clinton, so he had some big shoes to fill, and to be honest I wasn’t really sure he was up to the task. To my surprise and great delight, he gave an entertaining and moving speech that far surpassed my expectations. I felt so happy when the whole thing was over and I got to stand outside while all the happy graduates exited the building, looking around for their families with big smiles on their faces.
I flew out of Rochester on Saturday afternoon, headed for JFK airport in New York City with butterflies in my stomach. I was to be leaving for ten days in Israel on the Birthright program through Hillel, an experience which some say is life changing! After having come back from the whole thing, I am not sure I would disagree with them. In a few more days, after I have finished percolating, I will sit down and do my very best to express what those ten days were like. It is going to be difficult to put a lot of the feelings and emotions into words, but I think I will manage.
Since I got back from Israel ten days ago, life has been just as jolly as ever. It was a little rough coming off the high of being on a bus with 40-50 amazing individuals in a place as wonderful as Israel for a week and a half, but I survived it. I definitely have a new respect for jet lag, which required almost an entire week to recover from.
Dan and I enjoyed the last few days before he graduated and headed back to the east coast for some engagements of his. We spent last weekend in San Francisco, which we basically love being in together. He tells me where to drive, and I drive, and just love all the sights. It’s fun. We explored some of the city’s parks, stayed in the Westin St. Francis (fancy!) Hotel in Union Square, and had really nice food and a fun evening together.
Work is good, and plenty busy as we prepare to bring more and more innovations to market! It is exciting and eye opening. The San Francisco Gay Pride Festival is next weekend and I am pretty excited to participate in the festivities, whatever they may be. This is my first gay pride festival experience and my very dear friend Marc is flying in from Philadelphia to experience it with me and some of our friends, so I am rather pumped for the whole thing. The whole festival is bound to be even more exciting since recently California made the very wise and sensible choice to support equal rights and legalize gay marriage, with the first ceremonies being performed earlier this week around the state. This past weekend was Stanford’s graduation, so I had the honor of meeting Dan’s family, who came in mostly from the east coast, and experiencing the whole affair with them. It was bittersweet, since the occasion was a joyous one but also full of heartfelt goodbyes. Anyway, life goes on, and so does this eye opening California summer of mine.
I apologize for being away so long, but as you know sometimes time just flies. I hope you enjoyed the photos and will keep your eyes open for my forthcoming Israel post and accompanying pictures! |
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