Best Trip to San Francisco Ever

2004-11-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

Here we are with our fellow guests at the Chateau Tivoli: Boyd (who took this great picture), Laura, Rob, Christine, Christina (the chef), me, Jennifer, Paul, and Tiffany.

2004-11-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

We spent Saturday morning at Fort Mason, which now hosts theaters, restaurants, galleries, and nonprofits. The view is to die for.

2004-11-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

We had lunch at Fort Mason in Greens, run by the Zen Center. Someone told us later that it is one of the leading vegetarian restaurants in the country.

2004-11-01T17:59:00.000-08:00

This Day of the Dead Tree of Life includes a pianist (brand of the piano: Linares) and opera singer.

2004-11-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

Since it was our 20th anniversary, we decided to rent an expensive room. This was the Luisa Tetrazzini Suite. Luxury beyond the dreams of avarice, including a Presto-Log!

2004-11-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

The bed in our room once belonged to Charles de Gaulle. Really!

2004-11-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

This is part of the ceiling of our bedroom... incredible custom-printed wallpaper. The former owners spent over $1 million renovating this house.

2004-11-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

Laura and Boyd are from Edmonton. They both come from small towns. They rented bikes and rode all over Golden Gate Park and over the Golden Gate Bridge. Boyd took a lot of pictures and I'm sure they are much better than these!

2004-11-01T17:50:00.000-08:00

Tiffany and Paul are from Sydney. She is what we would call here a dean of students at a university, and he is an archeologist who often goes to Lebanon on digs. They are squinting at the flash. We went out with them to a pan-Arabic restaurant and later to Halloween on Castro.

2004-11-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

We went to the Palace of the Legion of Honor to see a wonderful Mayan exhibition.

2004-11-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

There is an incredible Holocaust memorial there including this sculpture by George Segal.

2004-11-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

They have added space underground and have a pyramid poking above ground, just like the Louvre.

2004-11-01T17:43:00.000-08:00

It seemed that the entire population of San Francisco came to Halloween on Castro. It's very different from the old days, where it was just the gay community. Now the police block off the streets and check everyone for alcohol and weapons. The organizers ask for a donation at the entrances, and they have many corporate sponsors, including Viacom and Clear Channel.

2004-11-01T17:41:00.000-08:00

There were quite a few people who came costumed in groups. These were dressed as Team America.

2004-11-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

Christine and Rob are from Vancouver. She is a dancer and is going to be working in New York for a couple of months. Here they are at Halloween on Castro dressed as half of ABBA.