visiting anahita in san francisco

I decided to take advantage of the fact that I have a little time off before starting my next job to go visit my very dear college friend Anahita who now lives in San Francisco. Anahita planned an amazing weekend of fun and the best part was just seeing her in her element and catching up with her.

I arrived and discovered that Anahita lives in the cutest apartment!

Her place has lots of character and is beautifully decorated.

The first morning Anahita made a Mexican breakfast before we headed out on an adventure.

The view from Anahita's place.

On a walk with Anahita's dog ChaCha. The view was spectacular!

The three of us.

ChaCha was so happy to be at the beach.

ChaCha running around.

After a well-deserved nap (Anahita had to pick me up at the airport at 1 am...) we walked around Ahanita's new neighborhood and she showed me where she now works. The neighborhood is really cute with lots of people walking around with dogs and/or kids.

Having a drink at a wine shop in Bernal Heights.

That evening we went to see a flamenco show which was in a small art house. It seems like San Francisco has lots of distinct neighborhoods many of which have a lively arts scene.

Another delicious breakfast!

On Sunday we went on a hike with several of Anahita's friends that leads to this lake.

Having a picnic.

Before swinging on this rope swing into the lake.

The water was refreshing and the view beautiful. When you look up all you see are trees and sky all around!

Then we hiked out with our floaties!

Wet and happy.

Deflating this raft is way more work than one may think!

The entire group. Anahita's friends were really nice and it was refreshing to hang out with non-lawyers. I feel that in DC almost everyone I meet is a lawyer. Here, I was the only one. The others were 2 nurses, one engineer, three people working in NGOs and one I can't remember. As a result the conversation was very diverse and, interestingly (I think it's a west coast thing but maybe just this group) often had to do with mental and physical wellbeing.

On the way back.

Ana, Anahita, and Jackie

More stunning views! I love that the mountains fall right into the Pacific in California.

Driving home over the Golden Gate bridge.

Monday morning I awoke to this scene in the kitchen. Anahita has two cats - Mr. Nichols (pictured) and Delila - and somehow I was able to stay at her house without my allergies being too severe. It was such a breakthrough discovery! I guess those shots worked in the end.

Driving through San Francisco Monday.

Before we got pedicures. It was very relaxing!

Driving through the Castro. This is where Harvey Milk's office was located.

At the Benzinger Family vineyard in Sonoma.

Grape vines.

The guide explained that this vineyard is biodynamic (another west coast thing... if I understood correctly, it's organic with the added benefit of several spiritual aspects). The cool thing is that the vineyard grew these other plants pictures in the foreground to attract the insects that would otherwise eat the vines. I'm so happy California and other parts of the country are using more traditional farming methods.

In the wine cellar.

Our guide Anthony explaining the wine making process.

Anahita and me on the tour.

After tasting great wine we went to downtown Sonoma for dinner. It looked just liked a Latin American city to me with the city centered around a big park.

Anahita trying to buy movie tickets from this mannequin!

Yesterday Anahita had to work so I visited downtown San Francisco. This is Chinatown.

Alcatraz.

The sea lions at pier 39.

This must be the boss!

Then I walked down to this indoor farmers' market Anahita told me about.

Inside was amazing food - much like DC's Eatern Market - and no tourists (they were all at pier 39....)

It seems like some parts of San Francisco have lots of French influence. This Hotel des Arts had a cafe that could easily have been in Paris.

And here's a French Tabac sign...

Union Square was also very pretty.

After my self-guided tour I joined Anahita at her work for a few hours. She recently started a new job with an NGO that works with at-risk youth on gang prevention, workforce development and other issues. Anahita has a staff of about 5 people and it was incredible to see how much they respect her and how well she juggles everything that's thrown at her.

I also spent a lot of time observing the differences between DC and San Francisco and came up with a few observations which may be completely off base because I was there for such a short time but that I thought I'd not before forgetting them completely.

1 - California is way ahead of the country environmentally. Everywhere you turn there's a sign about conserving resources and everyone is required to compost.

2 - People seem much more in tune with their emotional and physical well being in California - often talking about the latest cleanse they're doing or some new meditation they've discovered. I think people in DC also care for themselves but it seems to be more of a topic of conversation in San Francisco.

3 - The Bay Area seems much more enforcement-minded on traffic issues than DC (which I already thought was bad). For example, no one jay walks because the police actually tickets for doing so and I hear the tickets for making a right on red without coming to a full stop is $400 and two points!!!

4 - San Francisco outside of the touristy downtown area often feels a lot like Latin America architecturally and has fewer trees than DC. I really liked that the city expands out and seems to have many distinct neighborhoods with very different feels (hippie, yuppie, latino, asian, gay, etc) - maybe DC has this too and I'm just used to it by now... but it seems that San Franciscans live in their own neighborhoods more - kind of like in NY.

5 - In some ways San Francisco kept reminding me of France. The Eucalyptus and Poplar trees smelled and looked just like my summer vacations used to and the shopping area around Union Square reminded me of the Paris neighborhoods near the Galleries Lafayette - with similar window displays and layouts in the mall.

In any case, I loved San Francisco and especially liked seeing Anahita-joon and would move there in a heart beat if France weren't calling my name!