7/14 (Sat) got up @ 6, went
out walking and did ½ of the Nob Hill/Russian Hill walk in Fodors. Lovely views of the bay from the tiny park at
the top of the Valejo steps.
Alex & Aaron were to meet
me at the Ferry Bldg for breakfast, but were running late (Alex taking care of
her family’s dog – she loves dogs—while her father was at Bohemian Grove ) (per
A, all these R men peeing on trees), and we met around 10:30 & had fancy
breakfast burritos, eaten out back, overlooking the bay. Waited in line for some Bluebottle Coffee
(vg but they didn’t have the decaf beans Louise wanted). Went inside to the main stall, where they did
have the coffee.
Alex took 4 yrs of Mandarin
at Pton.
A dropped Alex off to work,
and took me to Berkeley, where it was lovely – sunny and 70 degrees. We ate at an Indian place then went to find
the Museum, but it was closed L so we went & walked
around the Botanical Gardens (which were lovely). A asked Alex to make a resv for dinner (which
she did), dropped me off, and went to Alex’s to take a nap).
I lay around & read,
thought of changing but I’d only brought 4 shirts & 4 prs pants/crops. Thought of putting on sandals, but I had to
walk down Powell, which is VERY steep, so just put on my sneaks & strolled
down. They seated me, no problem, though
I was clearly under-dressed. Alex
appeared maybe 10 min later – A had been refused entry because of his shorts
& flipflops, and had gone off to buy long pants & a pair of shoes. Alex & I ordered a bottle of wine (I asked
her to pick – she & her parents have gone to a bunch of the vineyards in
Calif). She ordered merlot & we
drank & talked.
She’s broken 9 bones over the
years – she was a v. active little kid – impaled her leg on the tusk of an
elephant statue and had to get stitches. I asked her abt being a deb – said I wanted a
picture. We talked abt families – her Dad’s
family came out at the Gold Rush and were farmers until her grandfather went to
Styanford & got a business degree & got to know Mr. Packard (of HP). One of her F’s brothers is v into
genealogy. Their family came over on the
Mayflower & fought in the Revolution.
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| Ferry bldg farmers' mkt |
 |
| View from twin peaks |
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| Berkeley botanical gden |
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| View from Livermore mus, Berkeley |
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| view from my hotel window, with signal booth |
Conv turned to child-rearing
& jobs – she mentioned an
article by Anne-Marie Slaughter that I hadn’t read. (Did read it this morning – made me think of a
friends’ comment when we started bemoaning our fates at work – “we complain at
a high level”).
Anyway, A showed up around 8
in jeans & shoes & was admitted. He thawed considerably after the waiter
brought a beer. I felt so guilty – I’d
been wearing shorts & sandals, too, and no one gave me grief. The food was vg – Alex teased A about never
asking for help in stores. They were
driving down to Alex’s parents’place in Atherton for the night – I begged them
not to be late in the AM (the van for the wine tour was coming @ 8:30), and
they said not to worry – Alex had borrowed her Dad’s parking pass for the Union Pacific club,
just up the street from the hotel. A
& Alex started joking about relativity (clocks traveling at the speed of light)
and how they’d measure the time it took Alex to put on eye makeup.
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