Rooms with views...

Over the past two weeks, I've hopped from hotel to hotel in my recent string of business trips. The most recent stop was in Seattle...back at the Westin...but on this visit, a very nice view of Lake Union and a sliver of a peek at the Space Needle.

The prior week, I was in Southern California, checking out several hotels for an upcoming meeting. I spent one comfy night at the Four Seasons Aviara...a fantastic room with over-the-top service. The second night was at the Ritz Carlton in Orange County...the hotel perched high on the seaside cliffs of Dana Point. Both hotels were quite nice, of course, but really more hotel than I need...or no what to do with.


Well, I wouldn't mind if every hotel laid out free supplies for an evening margarita :) The Four Seasons certainly treated me right.

Beware of the blind taste test...

Chris joined us for dinner tonight, so we kept it simple and ordered takeout Indian food. I tried a new dish...some sort of lamb skewer thing. What arrived...for lack of a more tasteful description...were little scattered ground meat turds.

Oddly...or frighteningly...the lamb reminded me of the animal scat I had found near June Lake last month on our Yosemite trip. You decide which looks more appetizing.

Honestly, you surround that animal poop with some onions, and you wouldn't know the difference!!

Photos from Italy...day 10...

Our warm, sunny spell in San Francisco is quite reminiscent of our sunny days in Tuscany. Here we reach day 10 finally...including a colorful festival in Siena and one of our favorite dinners.

Met a couple from Greensboro, North Carolina (two NC duos in our short stay) over our final breakfast at the Badia B&B. Packed and said our goodbyes to our fine hosts Bruno and Frank. A short walk through quiet Sunday-morning streets to pick up our car from Avis. Royal blue diesel Kia Cee'd...not at all sure what this car is named for.

Emily got a new memory card and is now "aware" of Italy. She did a great job guiding us thru the many winding roads and confusing signage. We reprogrammed her voice to Italian for kicks...much better than her British pronunciations of Italian roads.

The weather was beautiful for our drive south into Chianti. Stayed clear of the autostratas and twisted through the countryside. Stopped for a quick walk in tiny Inprutetta... famous around the world for its terra cotta creations...but not on Sunday. Not a single shop open.


Moved on to the town of Greve in the heart of the Chianti wine region. Still very sedated, but enough people for restaurants to be open in the central square. Ate on the square...pastas that hit the spot. Jeff had a celebratory glass of Chianti.






Emily's alter ego Patrizia guided us south past vineyards and olive trees. Long wide valleys...lush green dotted with red poppies in every nook. Hilltops capped by old towns. Swung around Siena and arrived via a southern entry...the Porta Tufi. Parked at one of the large city garages that sit at the old walled city edges.


Walked the last 15min to our little B&B...the cozy Palazzo Masi situated right in the heart of medieval Siena. Greeted by grinning Daniela and her husband, who welcomed us back for our second visit.


At 7pm, Daniela directed us to a special treat, a colorful celebration in advance of the city's signature festival...the Palio in July. Today, the city announced which of the city's neighborhoods would compete in the Palio. At the Campo, last year's victors marched in with drums and flags and uniforms of green and red...their neighborhood colors. Brass trumpeters played from above, and neighborhood flags were hung in a ritual we only vaguely followed. Rival neighborhoods chanted and sang. A lucky glimpse of Siena's rich history.
















Dinner at our favorite Sienese restaurant...Trattoria Papei...which seems to draw locals and visitors alike. Tuscan fare is very meat-centric (yay for me :) Jeff's spaghetti al ragu di carne and my wide noodles with wild boar were both amazing. Our main dishes were equally flavorful: a rich chicken cacciatore and a tender beef fillet. (Mom...you would have loved the beef...VERY rare in the middle.) Finished the meal with capuccini and a decadent lemon cream torte topped with almonds and powdered sugar...YUM!




A long after-dinner walk up to the Duomo...our favorite church in Italy. Winding streets. Unexpected whimsical fountains.


As I write this entry with weary eyes, we can still hear the revelry on the Campo.

An omen of some flavor...

Sure, I have lots to catch up with here...the long weekend (which seems ages ago)...not one but TWO hotel windows...photos from Italy Day 10...tales of wonder and whimsy.

But no...I'm more in the mood to ponder the significance of this seagull staring at me through the hotel window. We know that bluebirds are harbingers of happiness. Ravens are the opposite. But what about the goofy gull?

He has now moved closer and is peering at me dead on. You just can't stare at them without laughing. Maybe he is a seagull of silliness. Or he intends to pounce on me and scoop out my eyes like a beached seal.

Oh dear. Now he is "laughing"...or calling in reinforcements. Oh my...now there is a second.

Back to work. Send help if you don't see another post soon!!

The way my brain works...

Today I Googled "pudding course"...probably the oddest phrase I've ever searched for. I heard it referenced in a video about state dinners at Buckingham Palace. [minute 1:10] Honestly, anything with "pudding" makes me giggle.

It helps to hear it in a wonderful British accent. :)

Oooooo look...color...

Some days, it doesn't take much to perk up my mood :) With this shot, I just really like how the colors jump off the screen. (If you're curious...the shot is from Ocean Beach on Sunday.)

Wow...

My goodness...reading that last post with the benefit of a morning latte high, I noticed a touch of anger seeping into my blog :) So, let's lighten things up with a photo of a seagull bathing.

Of course, if I were to pan back, you would see that it was bathing in run-off from the Ocean Beach parking lot.

But let's giggle at nature.

Target takes its toll...and yes, I use the s-word...twice...

Some days, you just regret leaving the house :(

On Sunday afternoon, Jeff and I decided to venture into South San Francisco to pick up some items at Target. I mean really, who can resist those hip, colorful, Beatles-driven Target ads.

After we patiently navigated the parking lot of lost souls, we approached the store's glass sliding doors...unaware of the chaos within. The doors parted and we entered Back To School Hell. Screaming children everywhere. And more Chinese-made shit than anyone could possibly need. (To be fair...Target has AWESOME Chinese-made shit :)

We tried to seek respite in a store in the adjoining mall, but the slow walkers and teenage slackers were out in force, and the diversion only made moods worse.

We left without buying anything at Target. Nothing, nothing, NOTHING is worth that pain.

To make matters worse, a rock was kicked up off the freeway on the drive, and I now have a crack gleefully making its way across my windshield.

Sigh...I could have bought razors at Safeway.

Under attack...

On Saturday, Jeff and I did some native plant habitat restoration at Inspiration Point in the Presidio with about twenty folks from my company. Our primary activity was clearing out dead grasses from a hillside that was home to an endangered plant...the Presidio Clarkia...which has a delicate pink flower...sometimes. This time of year, the plant is brown and dry (pictured above).

About halfway through the morning, we moved to a different work area to dig up an invasive weed called Sheep Barrel, which has tiny, bright red leaves. Unfortunately, while we were digging in the dry soil, my dear colleague Susan happened upon a yellowjacket nest :( The way those nasty yellowjackets swarmed around her reminded me of all those summers growing up when Cliff and I would inevitably run over a nest with the lawn mower. Susan took a couple of stings for the team, but kept in good spirits.

We finished the work project with wonderful sanwiches from Freddies...many thanks to ailing Anders for organizing the day. Later in the afternoon, Jeff and I worked in our own garden...including extracting our own infestation of Sheep Barrel, which had taken over a pot. As the light dropped, the afternoon colors caught my camera's eye.



Oh and this morning, I did a quick spin through Bayshore. I liked these lonely corners.