Week 50- Part 3 San Francisco and Heidi's Graduation

On the plane on the evening of Wednesday 27th June, I almost read the entire ‘Into the Wild’ book cover-to-cover, with about 20 pages left by the time I landed in San Francisco. I found the read absolutely enthralling and it definitely made me think about what I need and want to be happy in the future. When I landed in SFO it took about 15min to find the baggage claim but soon I connected with Bridget (from New Zealand) and she and her sister Kelly collected me from the airport. I was given half a burrito and was driven to their home in Oakland. Bridget very kindly gave up her bed for me and it was probably the most comfortable sleep I had in the past year!

I had some cereal on Thursday morning and chatted with Kelly. When we were ready at about 10:00 we took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) into SFO. Bridget and I walked to the ferry building (Kelly went to the dentist) and saw Alcatraz Island. I just enjoyed spending the morning chatting with Bridget. We walked down the water edge to Pier 39 which is very much a haven for tourists. Essentially the area is built around a sea lion colony that live there but there were just two there when we arrived (Admittedly, one of them was massive). We passed through the shops and restaurants, walked under the Bubba-Gump shrimp company sign before stopping into some vintage video games.

Boudin is the famous sourdough bread in SFO and apparently the secret is the bacteria on the baker’s hands. They have a window where it’s possible to watch the bread being made. It was fascinating, until we noticed one of the bakers had a cut on his finger. We pointed it out and after washing his hands he was very thankful (though not enough to give us free bread though!). We went into the shop itself and discovered that we are both Walnut bread when we did the ‘What bread are you?’ quiz. I got a free sample and found the automation of the bread making mesmerising. Our next stop was Ghirardelli square (a favourite spot of mine from my last visit to SFO). We got a couple of free samples each before continuing our walk.

We headed out onto a pier and I was talking about the corrosion effects. We ended up going all the way to North beach which everyone kept telling us was a long way to walk. At about 15:00 we bought lunch at a Mexican-Indian fusion place where a young guy from Tipperary was working. We walked all the way back to BART, got one more Ghirardelli chocolate on our way, before Bridget’s dad collected us. The BART itself was pretty stuffy. Back at their home we played Younif before helping to bring in the shopping and beginning to cook dinner. Bridget made delicious salmon and I had bought some bread from Boudin. The five of us ate together and then when Kelly went to study for the BAR the rest of us played hearts. It was a competitive game and I nearly won, only Bridget’s mum got exactly 100 so we decided she should go all the way back to 50.

Friday 29th June, I woke early again and it was another beautiful day. As we were leaving, I saw a deer right by the house, apparently, they’re quite common. We went to do the ‘Butt Hike’. It was aptly named as it was quite steep and gave the glutes a good workout! It was very enjoyable despite it being quite warm out. From there we went to Bridget’s university in Berkley. The campus is quite pretty with Mediterranean style architecture. I got to go into the massive football stadium, picked up some coupons and saw the Berkley tower. We collected Bridget’s friend Grace (also Bridget's housemate) and drove to lake Merritt. We bought Thai food for lunch and then walked the three-mile loop around the lake. From there I was taken to see Bridget’s home for when she’s in school where I met her other housemate, Alisha. She’s a frisbee player and was going to pick up that evening and I was asked to join. I had to be very cautious but I was so glad that I played. We quickly nipped home to shower and I had a ‘TV dinner’ before going to a frisbee trivia night. Most of the questions were about American Pop culture so I felt fairly useless in my ability to answer them.

Saturday 30th June, another gorgeous day in Oakland and we left to collect Eleanor (she studies law in Queens, Belfast) to walk up through the cemetery. It was less morbid than it sounds and actually quite pretty. After the walk we went to Fenton’s where I had a massive ice-cream sundae. Buzzed on sugar, we dropped Eleanor home and then Quinn was there waiting for me. We said our goodbyes and then I was headed to Napa to stay with Quinn, Heidi, Sabine and Donny, for the next stage of my adventure.

When I arrived, Quinn and I had to ‘test’ the chicken for Heidi’s graduation party the next day, to make sure that it was edible, before Sabine cooked up a stellar lunch. Jack and Aidan Dolinar (family friends of Quinn) came around in the afternoon and we had a meat themed dinner before walking the dogs and discussing gun laws in the USA. Later on, Quinn and I went off to do a short hike with his friend Alfred. It was pretty spectacular as we could see the smoke from the fires across the valley. Once we got down we went to Jonah’s house, hung out for a little while with Quinn’s friends and then played ‘The Bean Game’ which was won by Jonah’s little brother Micah!

Sunday 1st July, It was Heidi’s graduation party that day so it was all hands on deck. After a delicious signature Sabine breakfast, Quinn and I were put to work (after trying to watch some men’s tennis and of course the soccer world cup). We were cooking vegetables, moving tables and cleaning. It took a remarkable length of time (including a break for lunch snacks) and after we had twice gone to get ice, I took a quick shower and Quinn and I put on our matching shirts for the party. Guests began arriving and I met some important people from Heidi’s life. It was wonderful to get to see Samantha again (as she had previously stayed with us in Ireland). She introduced me to her parents and I had a good time talking tennis and Hawaii. People are always eager to hear about my travels, it seems. Sabine produced an incredible amount of food and desserts- just fantastic. I spent the evening hanging out with Quinn’s friends though I would have liked if they were all a little more proactive with activities! Some of them also decided to tear their t-shirts and shirts which was impressive but also very odd.

You can see all the photos from SFO here.