days twelve and thirteen: san francisco

at the deYoung Museum, Golden Gate Park


In Santa Cruz we stopped for a decadent Italian lunch at the home of our friends Jody and Terry. We sampled delicious olives, bread, and soup, surrounded by Terry's beautiful collection of blue willow china in their cozy dining room. We ate figs and apples from their garden. Afterward, we visited Terry's studio where she is working on drawings of apple boughs. It was great to see some of her most recent landscape paintings and drawings in real life. We felt so at home, and it was hard to leave! What a warm welcome to California.



San Francisco is a beautiful, moody city where each neighborhood not only has distinct shops and street life, but its own weather. We couldn't wait to meet up with Nick's oldest brother, Cody, at his Potrero Hill restaurant, Lingba. Since our last visit he renovated the bar and restaurant, and it looks fabulous! He continues to experiment and update the Thai menu, with luscious results. Our favorite thing to do in SF is hang out at the bar and sample something spicy.

These photos are from our visit to the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. The photo above looks across the plaza at the not-yet-completed earth science museum. On Saturday, we spent the whole rainy afternoon in the cavernous galleries and twisting observation tower of the city's newest architectural adornment. The space is perfectly suited to their current exhibition, the sculptures of Louise Nevelson.


Famished from looking at art, we went to a Japanese mall for noodles, soup, and hot tea. And to watch crazy hordes of teenagers dressed up like cartoon characters. There were several Totorros. Totorri? Cody treated us to a sumptuous feast at Oola, the restaurant he is a partner in, later that night. By Sunday morning he practically had to roll us back to the rental truck -- we were stuffed!