Nataliya and Seth's San Francisco Vacation
We got up late and skipped on breakfast to get to the
Grace Cathedral Episcopal Church.
It was about 10:15 and figured that if we
did the breakfast bit, we'd get there just when mass was about to start.
With that in mind, we aimed to get there around 11 AM. We hopped
onto a bus and then a cablecar to get to this historic church.
When we got there, we discovered that their mass began
at 11 AM - not noontime. Curious, we stayed for the entire service!
The most interesting part of the service was the sermon, which was about
acceptance; that God isn't for Catholics only, but for everyone - Jews,
Muslims, Buddhists, etc. Seemed like a nice positive message, but it's one
that's probably lost to most once they leave the church.
After the service, we picked up some literature and looked around - it's a
very impressive looking church with beautiful stained glass windows - pretty
standard for an older church, though. ... ... ... We hung around for some
snacks after the service - cookies and hot beverages.
We then started back towards Chinatown. We tried hopping a cablecar, but
they didn't stop for us at the cablecar stop. Instead, they stopped about
50 feet past the stop... odd... Perhaps the driver wasn't paying attention
and someone on the cable car said something? Right before Chinatown, we
stopped in some Mexican restaurant, but with the language barrier and their
general attitude, I lost my appetite and left. We stopped at "Cup-A-Joe" to relax as Nataliya gulped down a capuccino. We bought a card for
internet access and checked out email while we were there.
We then walked to Chinatown and did the souvenier bit again, this time
actually buying some things. We also stopped for some chinese food.
We continued our walk through North Beach to some more shops and to walk by
the water. We made our way to the
Embarcadero Center which
has a lot of retail shops, spread out between a few buildings.
Unfortunately, by the time we got there, most of them were already
closing up for the night. (It wasn't that late, but this is San Francisco...)
Then we hopped on a trolley to Fisherman's Wharf - yes... again...
...and back to Ghirardelli Square...
again... for more free chocolate samples and hot beverages.
Then we went back to hotel, finished the remaining postcards, packed,
watched "Sex In The
City", went out to eat dinner at
"Cafe Mason" which was a diner. (Everything else was pretty
much closed and we were left with minimal options.) Dinner was
unsatisfactory - an unfortunate final dinner in San Francisco.
Then it was back to the hotel to get some sleep.
Back ...
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