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Landing in San Francisco was like a re visiting an old friend….it was only a year ago that we were here last here and everything was reassuring familiar.


The flight was impeccable, it was a full Air New Zealand service of which we flew Premium Economy for the first time. Extra leg room, extra elbow space, great seat recline and foot rests, menus, cutlery, glassware, goody bags, side lockers by your chair for extra storage, two seats side by side in a wee curtained off corridor of only 8 rows and you are next off the plane after business class so Rosie could beat the hordes of economy rabble to the immigration line – brilliant!

It is ‘Conference Season” in SF at the moment and hotel rooms were thin on the ground and pretty hard to come by.  We like to stay in the Union Square area and it was nearly booked solid, rooms were being booked in front of Rosies eyes on the internet.  In a panic Rosie booked one of the last remaining rooms in the area without checking online reviews like she normally does……The Touchstone Hotel is a little 2 Star on Geary Street and it certainly lived up too the excellent Tripadvisor reviews Rosie red after the booking fact.  It is a small family run hotel and we arrived at the front desk at 1230……check in is not till 4.00pm…..Rosie put on her best ‘I am so excited to be here in this lovely city so far from home voice’ and it wasn’t even needed!  They welcomed us and checked straight away to see if our room was ready.  Brilliant!  Nothing like a hot shower when you get off the plane, sucks having to take to the street all grimy.

The room was basic and of an older style but was extremely clean and tidy, the hot water and pressure was brilliant, we have paid double the rate in SF for the same size room in the area!

We only had a couple of hours in SF before hitting the hay and rising early to catch a flight to New York, we had done all the sightseeing we wanted to do last visit so we planned on doing abit of shopping and revisiting some of our favourite bars and restaurants from the last trip.  First up was Lori’s Diner on Powell Street.  Walking down Powell Street one year on was a little sobering……there were alot of closed shops and signs in the window saying shops had moved to another area……this main drag was pumping a year ago.  Further evidence also in the Tram Que….the line used to go around the block and around the street, today it was very short.  Lori’s Diner has 4 sites around the city…..a big sign was up outside saying the Powell Street Diner was closing at the end of the month….alot of the memorabilia had gone from the walls, the little jukebox’s from the booths were gone….it was a little sad, speaking to a dude in a bar later on that night it is all about the economy, nothing has gotten better, domestic tourism is well down and the locals are not spending.  Its up to Rosie and The Operator to kick start the economy and start spending some money……shame our budget is not very big, we will do our best to help out though.

Rosie needed a hairdryer, hers did not work last time in the US and it was a wasted bag space taker as we trekked around.  Rosie still does not get it….we have ‘the plug’ but plug in the hairdryer and it just made a sad whirring noise and expelled a gentle puff of air.  I know, I know….every hotel has a hairdryer but they are more like hairfryers than dryers.  The Operator tells me its not just about ‘the plug’, the US has a different voltage….well, how does the computer work smarty pants?  It has a voltage converter built in….my GHDs for example have a built in converter (there is a God) so Rosie was on the hunt for a new hairdryer.  On every street corner here is a Walgreens….its kind of like a pharmacy but sells groceries and everything….$26.99 bought me a new beauty.  The Operator then went out to the Post Office and bought the entire stock of postcard stamps, we spent so much time looking for post offices on our travels, we are prepared.  By that time it was happy hour!

We went straight to Farallon and their Oyster Bar – everything is $6.  Half a dozen Oysters, glass of bubbly and the most beautiful skinny shoestring fries you have ever tasted, they have shaved Parmesan and truffle oil on them…….they are Divine and Delicious!

Three dozen Oysters later, two bowls of fries and a couple of bottles of bubbly……$6 bucks kind of adds up, we had a great night and spoke to a friendly local who gave us his business card with an Oyster Bar address in New York that we just ‘must’ go to.  On the way home we stopped into Lefty O’Doulls for a beer at the bar and a chat with the locals about sports….we didnt contribute much….but we certainly got the low down for our up coming ball game!

Back to the Hotel and Rosie and The Operator were out like a light for the night….only to be rudely awakened at 3.30am to get up and go to the airport for a 7.00am departure to NY.  We got to the airport and our flight was delayed for 5 hours……hence these sensless ramblings from an overtired Rosie.  Catch up with you all in The Big Apple!