In which Roz and Layla traverse city forests, drink cocktails and see films

Next morning, I slept till the civilized hour of 8, whilst Layla woke early and checked her emails only to find one which she then stewed on for the next two hours whilst I slept. My awakening was not therefore the most relaxing experience, and I used this as an excuse to suggest we head to the Blue Bottle a cafe for the third consecutive morning (which we duly did - this time we both had poached eggs on toast - desperate times lead to desperate acts) before beginning our day properly. 

Our plan for the morning was to explore the Mission and the Castro areas, both of which have a reputation for being gay and hippy-ish. Our first stop in the Mission was a beautiful coffee shop where we sat and bemoaned the fact that DC (or our bit of DC) doesn't have lovely cafes where you can hang out for hours. We then meandered on, popping into the occasional shop and feeling bemused that the temperature had dropped 15 degrees since the day before. We acquired a small amount of cool jewellery in one shop and then spied a beautiful bike in a shop window. We went in to gawp, and we both lusted over the bikes which had an old fashioned and shiny air about them. We eventually walked out with the address of the owner's distributor in DC (close to our house) and having purchased two beautiful pictures (which are to be shipped to us). After this extravaganza of shopping, we headed over to the Castro, which was very gay and popped into to an Italian deli for lunch where I sneakily charged up my phone a bit behind the counter - sadly managing to give everyone else in the deli the impression I was committing a federal crime, so sheepish and guilty were my looks. It's very convenient having full access to iPhones with Yelp and Google Maps etc when on holiday in the US, but there is no back-up like the Lonely Planet guides we tote around in our handbags in more exotic parts.

After lunch we decided to head to the cinema, and saw the new Almodovar film "I'm So Excited". We got their early and meandered round a mall wondering why people enjoy being there so much until we came across the Ghiradelli store (when we stopped wondering and focussed on chocolate). The film proved to mad and quite fun and was an enjoyable way of spending an afternoon and we returned to the hotel to have a quick free cocktail before our very early dinner reservation at Kokkari Estiatorio. It's one of the best restaurants in San Francisco and it was bustling when we arrived at 5.30. We started with prosecco, and I was enjoying various mezze very much when Layla started to think that she was having an allergic reaction to something. Swallowing an extra couple of mouthfuls of the grilled cheese starter we were sharing (just in case this was a ploy by Layla) I dashed to the local supermarket and acquired some antihistamines. By the time I returned, Layla was feeling better and on establishing that I had actually bought her Nytol (one day I will get good at American drugs) decided to do without. I kindly ate the delicious corn dish that she suspected had given her the allergic symptoms because I am willing to sacrifice myself like that. 

After our early dinner, we dashed back to the Castro Theatre (the trip to the supermarket or the greed over the food having taken more time than we had anticipated) to see a film called Josie and the Pussycats. The main reason we were going there was to actually go into the cinema (rather than to see the film) - it is an old art deco cinema, which shows somewhat forgotten films. It is a truly beautiful place - almost like a church when you look at some parts of it. But in fact the film turned out to be very jolly (and I would recommend it over the Almodovar). After the film we headed to a bar in the Castro called Blackbird to sip cocktails. All in all, the day ended up much better than it started. 

Next morning we decided to break with the Blue Bottle Cafe tradition (reluctantly) and went to a cool place in the Castro called Kitchen Story, where we ate eggs (we must ban all eggs from our diet for the next month after this trip!) and drank mimosas before heading out on an iphone-guided five mile walk which we had been suggested by the girl who had taken us on our hike on our first day in the city. It started off at the Castro Theatre where we'd been before, but then took us through alleyways we would never have discovered alone, up hills (including the Twin Peaks), through a Eucalyptus forest, down staircases that went on for blocks and through a park with concrete slides meant for children but which we both went on (Layla acquitted herself much better than me, but neither of us did as well as the small children who were far too blasé for 8 year olds...). Half way along the hike, we heard about the plane which crashed at the San Francisco airport which was disconcerting and depressing. But other than that, it was a lovely walk but we were more than ready for lunch by the time we were finished just before 3. We went to a fairly nice Mexican place where I had a salad, and we don't talk about what Layla had (eggs!). We then headed to a coffee shop called Philz which had been recommended by a friend and which apparently people will drive for hours to get to. It was somewhat embarrassing that I actually preferred some of the other coffees I had had in the city, but we were pleased to have visited a San Francisco institution. Layla doesn't like coffee, so our next step was to go to a chocolate shop which was somewhat off the beaten track, and entirely deserted. But the salted caramels were nice and we went from there to a neighboring cafe to drink sparkling water and have a read of our books. We then retreated to our hotel to get ready for the evening (whilst simultaneously sampling one of the hotel's free cocktails). 

It wasn't long before we were back out in the Misson area. The main plan for the evening was to go to Foreign Cinema, a cool restaurant that screens films silently during dinner and which was showing The Artist that night. But our reservation wasn't till late (for us - 8.30) so we went to the adjoining cocktail bar which was vaguely Russian cosmonaut themed and consumed cocktails and truffled popcorn. Dinner proved to be fun, if a little chilly (though they did have outdoor heaters). When Layla declared she had a headache, I resigned myself to hunting for a chemist / supermarket but was saved by a kindly waiter who gave her Advil and told us not to tell anyone... 

And then it was our last morning. We are often not good at last mornings (we both feel so depressed at imminently not being on holiday any more) but we did rather well on this occasion. First, there was breakfast in an area called The Haight - one of the only areas we hadn't visited yet - in a place called the Squat and Gobble which was good if somewhat deserted. It's the original epicentre of the hippy universe, apparently, and looks it. We then meandered round the Golden Gate Park, seeing pretty bits we hadn't been able to see on our bikes. I then suggested we go on the carousel - Layla adores them - and this proved a very jolly end to our park experience. As a reward for taking Layla on the carousel she suggested we return to the Blue Bottle Cafe for one final coffee for me. Alas, the queue proved to be too long to acquire coffee and catch our plane, but I appreciated the thought. And that was it - the end of our mini-break to San Francisco. A brilliant city, that I can't wait to come back to. 

Books read whilst on holiday:

Roz - Archipelago (Monique Roffey); No Fond Return of Love (Barbara Pym); Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Demin (David Sedaris) and the very beginning of the epic A Suitable Boy (Vikram Seth).

Layla - Tales of the City (Armistead Maupin); Specimen Days (Michael Cunningham). 

In which Layla and Roz cycle across Golden Gate Bridge and explore some science

The next morning jet lag woke us early again but this time, Roz had a plan. The hotel let us borrow two beautiful Dutch bikes and before breakfast we decided to get into our running gear, leap onto our bicycles, head to Golden Gate Park, and go for a run. This was an excellent 7.30am plan, except that the park was further away than anticipated... And it was up some of San Francisco's famous hills. As I heaved my bike up near-vertical slopes, I dreamed of the breakfast I had not yet had. Eventually we made it to the park, which is beautiful and large. We cycled past museums and flowerbeds to get to Stow Lake where Roz ordered me off my bike.

Off we went for a jog round the perimeter of Stow Lake, then the perimeter of the island within the lake. It was a glorious sunny morning, and extremely scenic with ducks and Chinese pagodas galore, so I was almost not resentful. But I was glad when it was time to get on our bikes and we decided to explore the rest of the park - so off we zoomed up and down hills, past bison paddocks, to the beach at the Pacific Ocean. And then back again. Turns out it's bigger than Central Park and the 5th most visited park in the US. By the time we eventually got home, we'd cycled 14 miles and run 1 or 2 - not to mention scaling giant hills. We had earned our breakfast!

After returning to the hotel to shower, we went to the lovely Blue Bottle Cafe for a repeat order of yesterday's superlative breakfast, and concocted a plan to cycle across Golden Gate Bridge. Now, having done our giant cycling holiday to Burma, we assumed we were just as fit now as then. And misreading the map, I cheerily deemed my little sundress appropriate cycling garb for a few miles...

Soon we were cycling around the Embarcadero (marina), past parks, boats, beach, sculptures, Ghiradelli Square (stopped for ice cream, chocolate, and paddling in the bay), and past yet more park. This was further than expected! And since it was the 4th July, also insanely busy. "The Golden Gate bridge is up in the sky - how would we get on it?", asked Roz. We were soon to learn. The bike path followed the water, on and on, up a horrible giant hill until we eventually made it to the start of the bridge and its lovely cycle lane. 

Shrouded in mist, the cycle across the bridge was very cool: chilly and windy and brilliant, with the stylish red girders making the bridge really beautiful, the water raging far below and the cityscape giving way to pretty hills as we eventually hit the other side. A fab experience. We then followed a path and then a road all the way to the pretty coastal town of Sausalito, facing San Francisco across the water. We had a delicious lunch (and beer) at a very pleasant Italian restaurant, while musing that we had cycled about 25 miles that day and were completely exhausted. When it was time to stand up, we found we almost couldn't! But we wobbled towards the pier and caught a scenic ferry past the island of Alcatraz and homewards. We wobbled the final mile home and returned our bikes gratefully before heading upstairs to collapse on the bed. 

Well, for about 15 minutes! We had an appointment with the Exploratorium - a cool science experiment hands-on type museum on the waterfront, which was delightfully grown-ups-only that night, with drinks and all manner of interactive fun. We spent a happy hour playing with all the experiments and sipping wine, before grabbing a cable car to dinner - a tasty Indian restaurant called Dosa on Fillmore because it was on the lovely, posh-but-hipster Fillmore Street. As we caught a cable car home afterwards, we heard the booms of Independence Day fireworks exploding all around us. But, alas, we couldn't prop our eyes open long enough for a proper look - we are very much out of our Burma shape!

In which Layla and Roz celebrate Roz's birthday energetically in San Francisco

Roz's birthday is the day before Independence Day in America, so with that day already a holiday, it would be churlish not to turn it into a birthday mini break. And thus on the eve of her birthday did we take to the skies. Destination: San Francisco. Roz had been there overnight for work, and I'd never been. But we'd both read so many books about it that it felt like we knew the city, and we were prepared to fall in love. We were told July is always cold and foggy, so armed with cardigans aplenty, we disembarked.

Our attempt to take public transport to our hotel was foiled by a strike, but a quick taxi later, we were at our hotel, checked in, and off out to a nice wine bar near Union Square for some wine flights... And bruschetta flights... And cheese flights... And chocolate flights. We went home feeling very pleased with our first hour or two in San Francisco.

Up early thanks to jet lag, it was time for Roz's birthday to commence, with the opening of 15 presents I'd brought with me, including a vibrant new handbag and a photo book of our adventures in the last year. Suitably inspired, we headed out for breakfast at the excellent and funky Blue Bottle cafe, where we had delicious poached eggs, and yoghurt, and Roz had fancy coffee - it's like a science lab for coffee! Afterwards, we caught a famous San Francisco streetcar to Levi Plaza (home to the HQ of Levi Strauss) where we met the tour guide we'd booked to take us on an 'urban hike' of the area featured in the book series Tales of the City - Telegraph Hill and Russian Hill, and the Marina. The first thing we learned was that Levi Strauss was the investor rather than the inventor of jeans - but got all the credit. Poor Jacob Davis got nothing (except, presumably, money). We saw an array of jeans dating back to the 1880s - they looked remarkably similar to current jeans. Then we set off in the blazing sunshine, up massive steep sets of stairs with quaint and charming little lanes coming off them, entirely inaccessible to cars. A strange sight in America! There were amazing flowers and plants and hummingbirds too - it was like being in the tropics! We wound round to Coit Tower, and to the crazily steep Lombard Street that has 8 hairpin bends in it so cars can drive round it, and to the Chinatown, and the Italian Quarter, and most excitingly of all, the real Barbary Lane (Macondray Lane), home to the characters in Tales of the City. The whole area was quirky and charming and pretty, and alarmingly hilly - in one place there are steps built into the pavement as it's so steep. And the many neighbourhoods parks are essentially vertical. 

We had a lovely time and afterwards had to dash home on the F cablecar to change out of our jeans in view of the scorching sun... And then had a quick lunch in Town's End restaurant, mainly because it was next to the kayak place. roz and I love kayaking in Washington, but San Francisco is another story - and not just because it was over three times the price (this is NOT a cheap city). It's on the bay so it's seawater and there are waves. We pottered down a little channel that passed by the baseball stadium and many houseboats, and under lots of bridges, and returning to the hotel afterwards by underground, we delighted in what an excellent time we'd had - even if we had an unfortunate level of sunburn! 

That night we headed out to two extremely cool reservations. The first was Wilson and Wilson, which is a speakeasy inside a speakeasy! We gave our password and were shown into the main speakeasy, then brought through a secret door to another. Wilson and Wilson pretends to pose as a private detective agency and the menus are disguised as case reports. All good fun, and some excellent cocktails, mixed very precisely by a pleasant bartender. 

Afterwards, we decided to walk the 40 minutes up a giant hill past cool little bars and lots of houses to Gary Danko. Gary Danko is San Francisco's best restaurant, and it is hard to get reservations. When Roz let it be known that she would like to dine there on her birthday I dedicated myself to trying to get a reservation, and the previous day, hooray! At last I had been successful. We entered with much excitement and had a 4 course tasting menu of deliciousness, culminating in a happy birthday cake for Roz and so much cheese that it actually, unbelievably defeated us. Jet lag kicking in, we sipped our last drops of wine and decided to head for home. Rather than a taxi, we waited for the cable car, which turned out to be much different than the one from earlier - old fashioned and beautiful, we sat on a little outdoor bench as it trundled up and down impossibly steep hills and we giggled and shrieked and deemed it the perfect end to a birthday.