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).