Before we left on our two hour drive from St Ives to Tintagel, we consulted trusty Google Maps for directions. While it did give us the most direct route, the first two miles also happened to be along a typical Cornish road. We don’t have roads like this in the U.S. so I’ll try to explain. Four inches of space on either side of the car, if you’re lucky. Beyond these eight collective inches is usually a vertical mass of assorted greenery: flowers, climbing vines, stinging nettles, grass. Behind this layer of plant matter–and I mean right behind–is a solid rock wall.

Arrived at Chysauster Ancient Village just in time for a violent rainstorm. After sheltering in what was left of the Iron Age homes, we made our way to Mousehole (yes, that Mousehole) for lunch. We finished up the day at St. Michael’s Mount, where it was very windy. My mother thought the horse’s head with a fancy filigreed bridle on display was real. It wasn’t. However, they did have a full set of samurai armor in the weapons room for no apparent reason.

In England for the next couple of weeks. More specifically, the lovely seaside town of St Ives in Cornwall for five days. Today was full of hiking coastal paths, taunting seagulls, discovering local restaurants, getting caught in sunshowers, and making friends with stray cats.

Cartoon Art Museum and photo adventure with Topher in Golden Gate Park. Strawberry ice cream in the evening from Ghirardelli.

Okay, so I’m cheating a bit. Today was full of shopping in Japantown, an advance screening of “Watchmen”, and very few photo opportunities. But since I took nearly 300 photos yesterday, I’m going to use those. As always, more on flickr.

A few hours on Alcatraz, then to Chinatown for lunch and Eve of Justice, an anti-propostion 8 rally, in the evening. Much, much more on flickr.

Ate spaghetti for breakfast, then visited the Museum of Modern Art, followed by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Returned to Haight to explore more thrift stores, then ended the day with Fellini’s “Amarcord” at the Castro Theatre.

Second day of San Francisco trip. Started off with food from Boudin at Fisherman’s Wharf, then chocolate from Ghirardelli. Explored the city some more, ending up at Haight-Ashbury, where I purchased a delightful rainbow argyle sweatshirt. More photos on flickr.

First day in San Francisco. Asian Art Museum in the morning, followed by lunch at Orphan Andy’s in The Castro. We wandered towards Haight-Ashbury, but got sidetracked by Buena Vista Park. And then Corona Heights Park, which actually had a better view. Walked down Broadway at night past the strip clubs and aggressive bouncers, who tried to lure us in with promises of illicit underage strippers. Then Pier 39, where we listened to grouchy slumbering sea lions. More photos over at my flickr page.