San Francisco!

I am officially in San Francisco! I flew in yesterday afternoon, which was a good time to fly in because I had almost an entire rest of the day left to explore, etc. My friend John picked me up from the airport and we drove around San Francisco for a bit. I LOVE the architecture here. Almost all the houses I have seen are two stories high, very narrow and long, and pushed together. And a ton of them, their walls and trim all painted up on bright colors, remind me of the dollhouse I had when I was younger.

We went up to Inspiration Point (or something like that), where we could see the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge (which I thoroughly plan to walk across while I am here).

We also went to the Golden Gate Park, where there was this awesome flower conservatory that was built in 1895 or something like that. We are going back today so that I can take some pictures.

Then in the evening, we went to see David Bazan in concert, which was a fun end to the evening. He played in between two bands that we didn't know much about (and didn't end up liking), so we had to sit through the first band (of seven guys with greasy hair-- one guy's long hair and beard make him look like he was pulled straight out of the Civil War) to hear him sing. After he played, we decided to give the last band a try but then split after just one song of being blasted by heavy metal. We were tired and not up for that.

After the show, we explored the area a bit before John dropped me off at my friend Beth's apartment (we met in Cannes), where'll I'll be crashing while I'm here. I love her apartment. It's close to downtown, has cable cars running on the street below, and is absolutely tiny. There's just a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom (which contains a bed, desk, and little kitchen table up against the bay window). Judging by her appliances and sinks, it's probably a pretty old building too, which makes it wonderfully quaint.

And her decorating skills-- lots of Andy Worhol and George Rodrigue (she has a collage of Blue Dog paintings on her front door)-- makes me feel right at home. I want an apartment like this when I get out of school.

Overall, it was a great first day in San Francisco. And now, while both my friends are being grown-ups and working today, I am going to go explore downtown San Francisco!