Wednesday October 3

Monday was a hot day, with a clear blue sky. Sue went off to UCSF as usual, while I did some domestics. Because it was hot Sue finished early, and I suggested we go to Buena Vista Park to take advantage of the clear air. We caught the N-Judah in to Cole Street, then started our walk up-hill, along Carl Street, then Clayton Street and finally up Frederick Street. This neighbourhood has some very fine houses through it, and we marvelled at the designs and paintwork on many of them.  

The views from the park were astounding, although we could only catch a glimpse of the towers of the famous Golden Gate Bridge.

Another outstanding feature from here was St. Ignatius Church, on Fulton Street, 3 blocks past the "Panhandle", a small park extension of Golden Gate Park.

On the other side we had a clear view over downtown San Francisco, and across the Bay towards Oakland.

We then went back to the Studio for a dinner of Clam Chowder with bread from Boudin Bakery.

Tuesday was again very warm. I did some banking on-line, then headed down to the Arizmendi Bakery for their lunch pizza and a scone. Then I stopped in at the Beanery ( 1307 9th Avenue ) for a coffee, half of which I drank sitting on a chair outside. However, as the coffee was still quite hot I headed down to Golden Gate Park with a view to take either a bicycle or a Segway tour. I cut across through an area called "Big Rec" which had 2 baseball diamonds set out. I then walked around the back and north sides of the California Academy of Sciences building (Entry fee $39!!) (recently reconstructed) and sat reading the paper in the sunken area where the musicians play (not today ). After a while I went across to the MH de Young Museum which had a display of Rudolph Nureyev's costumes. I bypassed that and found where the bicycles and Segways tours start. After checking them out I decided that it was too hot to do either, so I headed back to the shops, in particular the Mucky Duck for a couple of beers. Dinner was again Clam Chowder with different bread from Boudin's of Fishermans Wharf.

Wednesday was still fine, although not quite as warm as the previous 2 days. However, I shouldered my camera and headed down to the Park to seek out the Segway tour ( see http://www.facebook.com/SFsegwaytours ). It was expensive ($70.00), but this included about 1/2 hour training and a guide for about 2 hours. Riding the Segway was easy - just stand on it looking ahead, then lean forward slightly to go, tilt the handle to turn, and lean back a bit to stop. There was only an older guy along his daughter visiting from Israel and myself. We covered most of the eastern half of the park - a bit under 500 acres - learning the history and background information. Although we had two rest breaks, one at the AIDS Memorial Grove and another at the boathouse on Stow Lake, I could hardly walk at the end. I needed a five-minute rest in the park before heading up to the Arizmendi Bakery on 9th where I had the daily pizza slice and a coffee. I then bought a scone to take back to the Studio to eat while I put up my feet.

The daily paper had a fair bit about the upcoming Presidential election (November 6), mainly because tonight is to be the first of 3 debates between the incumbent President Obama and his opponent Romney. We'll watch the beginning of this before heading out to dinner.