Friday Sue went to UCSF as usual. I did some shopping, then had lunch at the Studio. After lunch I checked the AFL website to try and find information about possible Grand Final sites in San Francisco. I found one and rang to leave a message. Unfortunately I didn't read the fine print - the party was to start at 2:30 P.M. Anyhow it gave us a starting point, so we had an early dinner at home, then caught the N-Judah into town. As we neared town it was a slow trip as the bicycle activist group Critical Mass were having their 20th anniversary ride around San Francisco. It had started at 6:30 and was still going at 8:00. Apparently people had come from all over the world to celebrate this milestone, so there were thousands of them. Just glad we weren't in a hurry or trying to drive somewhere.
We headed to the 4th Street Bar & Grill ( http://www.the4thstreetbar.com ), but were told at the door that the show was booked out. They sent us further down the street to Jillian's ( http://www.jillianssf.com/ ) where we were told to go back and try the Marriott Hotel ( http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sfodt-san-francisco-marriott-marquis/ ). At the entrance to the "Private Party" area was a group of young blokes who we approached about getting in. They said OK, so we went and found a couple of seats which we drew up closer to one of the 6 screens. We think that it was the smallest and worst adjusted as had trouble seeing some of the action.
Two people came in after us and started a conversation with us, which they continued most of the match. One of them had been working here for about 6 years, the other 13 years. At half-time the woman in front of me turned around to talk. She and her husband Russell were on a short holiday with their 2 children. They had been in San Francisco about 2 weeks and were heading off Sunday to Las Vegas for a few days. Russell works only 2 blocks from where we live in Ultimo, Sydney!!
In the meantime we enjoyed the game which was fast and furious and a cliff-hanger until late in the final quarter. Commiserations to the Hawk players and supporters. Although the game finished about 12:15 a.m. local time, and we walked directly to the tram station under Market Street, we caught the last N-Judah out of the city at nearly 1:00. A bit of a sleep-in today before heading out to see what the day can bring. GO SWANS!!
No comments:
Post a Comment