Ayaklarima karasular indi!

That would be something to scale....

I thought that post title might catch your attention. It literally means, "I have black water in my legs", which really means, I walked around for an insane amount of time today and yesterday and my feet (and calves and thighs and hips etc.) are killing me. It's funny, how living in even the most compact city in Texas, how little walking one does.

San Francisco is quickly climbing up the charts to become my favorite city in the US. I love the fact that one can walk pretty much anywhere. I love the fact that public transportation actually gets you to where you need to go. I love all the different cultures, harmoniously intermingling. I love the food (although my scale in Austin may be shuddering). I love the incredible variety and the freshness of the seafood that only port towns seem to offer. I love the rollercoaster walks that let one clamber up a 45 degree ascent before letting slumbering down a 30 degree descent. (preferably not after dinner though). I love the architecture - it's the only place I've been to west of Austin in the US which conveys a sense of history. I love that I can art-hop and spend an entire afternoon visiting one gallery after another. I love that Saints Peter and Paul Church has a street number of 666 (how many questions must they get on that?). I even, so far at least, love the chilly, windy air with its brief but adamant outbursts of sunshine.

Anyway, let me get a little more matter-of-factly on your collective behinds, since the incoherent musings of a man falling in love with a city, aren't necessarily that high on anyone's reading list...

The King George - famous quotes included

Saturday commenced with a check-in at the Orchard Hotel - a boutique hotel located on Bush Street. It's a nice hotel, with a great gourmet restaurant but I would deem it a little on the expensive side for a weekend getaway - check out the King George, which is where I stayed on Sunday (with a coupon declaring myself a member of the British American Business Council - a budding career move old chap), if you're looking for blingless chic. The King George also features a famous quote from someone of British origin in every room. My room featured a Churchill quote: "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty". Methinks, Churchill would've been a great consultant.

Once checked in I heard an obnoxious groan. I looked around and then realized it was my stomach, informing me that while the 2 hour time zone switch did not present much of a challenge for my phone or watch, it was not going to wait until noon PST to get satiated. So off I took to North Beach for some hearty Italian...