Most of day four was spent on a couch at our hostel, getting some design work done. I escaped just in time to see clouds covering up the sun and realize that the Asian Art Museum was free the previous Sunday instead of Tuesday. Whoops. We trudged back to the hostel and discovered that the Oscar-nominated shorts were playing just a short walk away at the Lumiere Theatre. After watching the live-action shorts, we took the bus to Ghirardelli Square, bought a large back of assorted chocolate squares to split, and then finished the day at our favorite Indian restaurant.

On day three we followed a painted truck into Japantown, visited every thrift store in Haight-Ashbury, ate surprising pasta, and made it back downtown in time to see something very San Francisco: a protest.

Took the tram to The Castro, explored, ate our traditional lunch at Orphan Andy’s, climbed the hill in Buena Vista Park, endured very windy weather, and watched a bizarre hilltop ceremony.

We started off the day with bagels at our hostel on the edge of the Tenderloin. Wandered into Chinatown for the New Year street festival, then ended up at Ghirardelli for ice cream and free chocolate. Watched the sunset over the bay and played in the sand.

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.