Okay, I admit it. My grand plans to sit down and super organize my Spain photos are just not going to come to fruition. So instead I’m just going to start sharing them, generally in the order I took them. For starters, this was the window in our first hotel in Madrid, overlooking Parque del Retiro. The arches were nifty. This page is the hotel’s website and the arches you see on the corner were our room (We blew through a ton of hotel points for that. Worth it.)
Technically this could be part of last week’s San Francisco series, because I did see this while I was out and about walking there. But it’s not that this was in San Francisco – it’s that this was something beautiful that caught my eye while I was out for a walk. I see so many people out walking but with their eyes on their phone or with headphones on and not really looking at the world around them. I think those people probably don’t always notice the random lovely things around them. I do know that at least one person stopped momentarily as I took this photo wondering if this was some landmark. If it is, I don’t know that. I just know I thought it was a beautiful fountain and I wanted to share it with you.
I walked by a number of lovely row houses, but these really caught my eye. The paint was impeccable and the architecture was lovely. These also have a fantastic view. All of this tells me I can’t afford to live there, of course…
The cable cars are another thing people associate with San Francisco. But the reality is, they aren’t just a tourist attraction. I have to think that a lot of locals use them to navigate the hills too.
I really didn’t know much about the local area and was just doing my normal random walking around the city. Imagine my surprise when I ran into the most famous street in San Francisco, Lombard Street! It’s known as the “crookedest street in the world” and I walked up it. The title appears quite accurate.
View as I walked up the hill.
Looking down Lombard after my walk up the hill.
My hotel room did not have a great view – not even close. I looked directly at another building and was on top of most of the HVAC system. However, one of my friends had a spectacular view from her room:
left part of her view – notice Golden Gate Bridge peeking out above the fog. (click photos for larger version)
right part of her view – that’s Alcatraz in the bay.
I was jealous for a moment. Then I realized if I’d had that view I might’ve just stayed in my room all the time admiring it instead of going to the sessions (which were great) and walking around the city (which was also great).
I was fortunate enough to spend a week in San Francisco recently for a conference. While were were in sessions most of the time, I did get out to walk in the mornings and one afternoon. This week I’ll be sharing some of that with all of you.
It’s very hilly around where our meeting site was – so hilly that some streets come with steps!
All those hills of course are what mean around every corner you can be treated to a spectacular view:
I guess that’s one of the reasons why it’s so expensive here….
This conversation just happened:
him: This computer is really bad. (note: he is correct. It is slow and old.)
me: I know. I keep saying I’ll get you a new one. I will.
him: I’d rather have a four-wheeler with a leaf vacuum.
me: And no computer?
him: …with a built-in computer.
I am a fan of simple tasty recipes that also are healthier than the alternative. I’m also a fan of quick. This is even easier than the black bean brownies (yes, you read that right) and is also just two ingredients. Just a box of spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin. Mix thoroughly and then you bake per the instructions on the box. I generally make cakies (cookies that are pretty cake-like) by dropping spoonfuls on a baking sheet and baking the amount of time for cupcakes. But you could do cakes or proper cupcakes too, of course. Enjoy!
My husband and I went out for breakfast at a local restaurant on a recent Saturday. As I perused the menu the grammar errors kept distracting me….
@KellyOSullivan 