San Francisco, CA
April 21, 2007
Well, clearly the honeymoon is over, but I still figured this was the most efficient way for me to share our trip with everyone. Dave and I just returned from San Francisco. We were only there for a few days on what was meant to be a business trip for Dave. Since I had never been to the city, I decided to tag along.
We arrived on Monday night, a day before Dave’s business colleagues, in order to squeeze in some sightseeing before he headed off to his meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. We arrived at the absolutely lovely Ritz-Carlton. I don’t normally endorse hotels, but this is one I feel perfectly comfortable recommending any one of you stay at in the case you find yourselves in San Francisco. Everything was clean, orderly, and efficient. And the price for our hotel room was significantly lower than we had paid in the past for a Ritz-Carlton. Our hotel was merely a few blocks from Union Square, and so we dropped our luggage off and headed out in search of dinner. We found ourselves at a sky high Cheesecake Factory above Macy’s. We didn’t even mind the 30 minute wait (at 8:30 on a Monday night; can you believe it?) as we enjoyed the scenic view. As always, the food was delicious. After dinner, we called it a night, but woke up the next morning to get some work done before we headed to prison for the afternoon.
When Dave first suggested we visit Alcatraz, I wasn’t too sure of the idea. Yet, as I mentioned our trip to San Francisco to people as it drew near, I kept hearing that we just had to visit Alcatraz. So, we boarded a ferry and headed over to the tiny island. The secluded prison had absolutely stunning views of the Bay area and was also a wildlife sanctuary. It may surprise many of you (as it did me) to learn that Alcatraz is now considered a national park. The most fascinating part of the tour was the trip to the cellblocks. We were guided with an audio tour, aptly awarded one of the best in the country. While most audio tours seem dull, this one was fascinating and full of interesting stories from the guards and prisoners themselves. The audio tour explained several elaborate jail breaks while guiding you to notice where the specific events took place. I was glad we had used the afternoon to visit this interesting historical sight.
After taking the ferry back to Pier 33, we wandered a few piers down to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch. We perused several of the tourist shops (my favorite being the chocolate shop) and then stopped in at Boudin for their world famous sourdough bread and clam chowder. It was a delicious and relaxing afternoon meal. Rather than take a taxi back to the hotel, we decided to take the slow-moving but inviting cable car. It was a fun experience. Neither of us had ridden on a cable car before.
We arrived back at the hotel, worked for several hours, and then met several of Dave’s colleagues for dinner at Café Tiramisu, an upscale Italian restaurant in a row of charming restaurants in an ally not too far from our hotel. I played it safe with some fresh salmon, but Dave braved the meal with gnocchi and wild boar meatballs (which tasted similar to sausage).
The next day, Dave had several meetings and I set out to explore the San Francisco shopping districts. I found myself in a mix of upscale and trendy boutiques and tiny thrift stores. Dave met me for lunch between meetings. I enjoyed walking around the town exploring, but I am certainly glad I wore my tennis shoes! The hills in San Francisco are insane, to say the least.
After Dave’s meetings, we met up with several of the men he is working with to attend the San Francisco Giants – St. Louis Cardinals game. For those of you who don’t know, sliding the Coke slide at PacBell, now AT&T Park, has been a dream of mine. If you only get the chance to visit one stadium in your lifetime, I would recommend this one (although the only other stadiums I have visited are Fenway and the Metrodome so I am hardly an expert). Two of the four sides of the diamond look out into the Bay. We ended up with nosebleed seats (literally the second to last row in the entire stadium), but felt we were fortunate as this seemed to be the best view. Around the fourth inning, Dave and I ventured over to the Coke slide where I finally fulfilled my dream of sliding down. It was great! The Giants ended up winning the game in extra innings.
Our last day in San Francisco was spent outside the city in Mountain View. Dave had a meeting set up with Google which I was fortunate enough to attend. If you haven’t heard much about the Google Campus, it is a fascinating place. Google is ranked the number one place to work in the United States and rightly so. The offices are set up so that around four people work in each office. They are named after different international cities. Colorful decorations adorn the entire complex and at times you feel more like you are in a preschool than an office building. One cubicle was tented in diaphanous, sparkly pink fabric. Another office had bright yellow tinted windows. The meeting rooms looked like large tents. Scooters and bikes were placed in each lobby for Google employees to travel from one building to another. Doors opened to nothing and elaborate pinball machines were scattered throughout the buildings. One office bragged of a pool table and a ball pit. Each office also had its own coffee and snack bar – everything free of charge. In fact, Google employees do not pay for meals. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served on campus for free in many of Google’s cafeterias. And they are good meals. All the lobbies stock coolers of free Naked juice. Visiting Google was definitely an interesting experience.
We also visited Electronic Arts’ studio. For all non-gamers (which is the majority of you), EA makes big titles such as Madden, Tiger Woods Golf, The Sims, and many more. They are the largest video game publisher currently. Their offices were also interesting to see. A large, dark lobby filled with large screens boasted EA’s games when you arrived. Just behind some blue doors was a lobby adorned with artwork done by EA employees, an arcade, and a Starbucks. A large cafeteria had an SUV in the corner redone so employees could go inside and play video games. This was our last stop before heading to the airport and coming home.
If you want pics, shoot me your e-mail address, and I will send them to you.
Well, clearly the honeymoon is over, but I still figured this was the most efficient way for me to share our trip with everyone. Dave and I just returned from San Francisco. We were only there for a few days on what was meant to be a business trip for Dave. Since I had never been to the city, I decided to tag along.
We arrived on Monday night, a day before Dave’s business colleagues, in order to squeeze in some sightseeing before he headed off to his meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. We arrived at the absolutely lovely Ritz-Carlton. I don’t normally endorse hotels, but this is one I feel perfectly comfortable recommending any one of you stay at in the case you find yourselves in San Francisco. Everything was clean, orderly, and efficient. And the price for our hotel room was significantly lower than we had paid in the past for a Ritz-Carlton. Our hotel was merely a few blocks from Union Square, and so we dropped our luggage off and headed out in search of dinner. We found ourselves at a sky high Cheesecake Factory above Macy’s. We didn’t even mind the 30 minute wait (at 8:30 on a Monday night; can you believe it?) as we enjoyed the scenic view. As always, the food was delicious. After dinner, we called it a night, but woke up the next morning to get some work done before we headed to prison for the afternoon.
When Dave first suggested we visit Alcatraz, I wasn’t too sure of the idea. Yet, as I mentioned our trip to San Francisco to people as it drew near, I kept hearing that we just had to visit Alcatraz. So, we boarded a ferry and headed over to the tiny island. The secluded prison had absolutely stunning views of the Bay area and was also a wildlife sanctuary. It may surprise many of you (as it did me) to learn that Alcatraz is now considered a national park. The most fascinating part of the tour was the trip to the cellblocks. We were guided with an audio tour, aptly awarded one of the best in the country. While most audio tours seem dull, this one was fascinating and full of interesting stories from the guards and prisoners themselves. The audio tour explained several elaborate jail breaks while guiding you to notice where the specific events took place. I was glad we had used the afternoon to visit this interesting historical sight.
After taking the ferry back to Pier 33, we wandered a few piers down to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch. We perused several of the tourist shops (my favorite being the chocolate shop) and then stopped in at Boudin for their world famous sourdough bread and clam chowder. It was a delicious and relaxing afternoon meal. Rather than take a taxi back to the hotel, we decided to take the slow-moving but inviting cable car. It was a fun experience. Neither of us had ridden on a cable car before.
We arrived back at the hotel, worked for several hours, and then met several of Dave’s colleagues for dinner at Café Tiramisu, an upscale Italian restaurant in a row of charming restaurants in an ally not too far from our hotel. I played it safe with some fresh salmon, but Dave braved the meal with gnocchi and wild boar meatballs (which tasted similar to sausage).
The next day, Dave had several meetings and I set out to explore the San Francisco shopping districts. I found myself in a mix of upscale and trendy boutiques and tiny thrift stores. Dave met me for lunch between meetings. I enjoyed walking around the town exploring, but I am certainly glad I wore my tennis shoes! The hills in San Francisco are insane, to say the least.
After Dave’s meetings, we met up with several of the men he is working with to attend the San Francisco Giants – St. Louis Cardinals game. For those of you who don’t know, sliding the Coke slide at PacBell, now AT&T Park, has been a dream of mine. If you only get the chance to visit one stadium in your lifetime, I would recommend this one (although the only other stadiums I have visited are Fenway and the Metrodome so I am hardly an expert). Two of the four sides of the diamond look out into the Bay. We ended up with nosebleed seats (literally the second to last row in the entire stadium), but felt we were fortunate as this seemed to be the best view. Around the fourth inning, Dave and I ventured over to the Coke slide where I finally fulfilled my dream of sliding down. It was great! The Giants ended up winning the game in extra innings.
Our last day in San Francisco was spent outside the city in Mountain View. Dave had a meeting set up with Google which I was fortunate enough to attend. If you haven’t heard much about the Google Campus, it is a fascinating place. Google is ranked the number one place to work in the United States and rightly so. The offices are set up so that around four people work in each office. They are named after different international cities. Colorful decorations adorn the entire complex and at times you feel more like you are in a preschool than an office building. One cubicle was tented in diaphanous, sparkly pink fabric. Another office had bright yellow tinted windows. The meeting rooms looked like large tents. Scooters and bikes were placed in each lobby for Google employees to travel from one building to another. Doors opened to nothing and elaborate pinball machines were scattered throughout the buildings. One office bragged of a pool table and a ball pit. Each office also had its own coffee and snack bar – everything free of charge. In fact, Google employees do not pay for meals. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served on campus for free in many of Google’s cafeterias. And they are good meals. All the lobbies stock coolers of free Naked juice. Visiting Google was definitely an interesting experience.
We also visited Electronic Arts’ studio. For all non-gamers (which is the majority of you), EA makes big titles such as Madden, Tiger Woods Golf, The Sims, and many more. They are the largest video game publisher currently. Their offices were also interesting to see. A large, dark lobby filled with large screens boasted EA’s games when you arrived. Just behind some blue doors was a lobby adorned with artwork done by EA employees, an arcade, and a Starbucks. A large cafeteria had an SUV in the corner redone so employees could go inside and play video games. This was our last stop before heading to the airport and coming home.
If you want pics, shoot me your e-mail address, and I will send them to you.
posted by Lindsay | 2:56 PM
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