Bonsoir all! I apologize to you, my faithful readers, for I have not made an entry in too long. But now I have news worth sharing! This is in the form of my recent vacation, of which you all shall now hear. Monday the 14th Nicole and I woke at 3am, and by 3:30 we were on the road to the airport. Our flight left at 6:15, and of course we wanted to be there early. Milwaukee General Mitchell (I think). If you fly and are within an hour and a half of that airport, I'd always suggest flying from there instead of O'hare. One, it costs less; two, it's much nicer, and three it's far less stressful. So anyway we fly, and I watched as the rockies passed by underneath and turned into desert then green rolling hills. Very cool. Some people had sat in our seats but we made them move. Dumbnuts who can't read, grumble... So we land and get outside and it's a balmy 69 degrees in sunny San Francisco. Instantly we loved being there. We got to our hotel and took showers, then went out to the streets. We travelled around to Grace Cathedral and St. Mary's. Awe inspiring places there I tells ya. Then we went around China town and got some fruit to munch on. We went over to the Transamerica Pyramid - that's a nice place. Then we walked over to the Wells-Fargo museum and poked around. That is an interesting place. We then walked down to Union Square and found a good place to eat. Oh, while we were wandering I found a restaurant named Beaucoup, literally meaning very much. What a dull name I think. Anyways, we ate at a really nice Italian place and we had spaghetti. It was incredibly good, but it was spicy and it irritated her throat unfortunately. Not too bad, but annoying enough. We came back to the hotel and relaxed for the night. Tuesday the 15th We woke and took the bus out to Golden Gate Park. Before we got there we went to Japan Town and wandered around. I think the Japanese really know how to make things aesthetically pleasing and soothing. They are awesome at it. Then we went out to St. Ignatius Cathedral, another beautiful building. However, a funeral was being held within, so we couldn't enter. So on to the park. It was absolutely wonderful!!! I took a lot of pictures - there were sections with different plants from different parts of the world, such as redwoods and Australian things. There was a flower conservatory with many rare and exotic species, plus an amazing setup, so that was enjoyable. We had a picnic out on the grass under a tree that day, then lay in the sun for only 20 minutes, but I still got burned, lol. I burn easily, but it turned into a tan, so I'm happy. That was was a lot of walking - we also went to the Tea Gardens - very peaceful looking. We took the bus back, and while waiting for it I got pooped on by a pidgeon! I knew that the second I got under one they would do it, and I took pains to avoid them all day, but one just flew over me and dropped a present on my arm. It was rather hilarious, but gross at the same time. Ah well, and then on the bus there was this really creepy cross-dresser. It was a guy with long curly, ratty hair, with a smoker's face and voice, wearing a rough collection of reds and blacks, being a skirt and high boots, some kinda top and a demented berette, complete with purse. Whenever somebody would give him a questioning look he would respond with something witty, but the most memorable one I can think of is "I'm going to entertain the troops." I didn't want to know how or why. Then we walked around some more, going to a huge Macy's, fcuk, and another place Nicole wanted to go. Then we chilled back in our room with Subway and watched some tv, then soaked in a bath for a good time to soothe our legs (mine were hurting well and good at this point). Wednesday the 16th We took the cable car out to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. There's so much out there. First we went to the aquarium where the bottom level is a glass tunnel that is underwater. It was awesome! It felt as though you were there, with fish everywhere and stuff. I loved it. There were tons of sharks and rays, in addition to all sorts of fish and things. The floor above that we were able to pet rays and sharks! The manta ray was cute - it swam between Nicole and me, and everytime it hit the end of a circuit it would try to jump out of the water to get our attention. Apparently they love to rub up against things, and our hands were no exception. It was playful like a puppy! Small, only a baby, it was fun and very soft. Then we went over to the shark tank where two small leopard sharks were chilling on the bottom. They're skin is so neat - sandpaper one way and leather the other. After that we walked around the pier, looking in shops and stuff. We took pictures of the massed sea lions on the docks. That was fun - they all started making noise for fighting over some piece of land. We then went over to the wharf and took pictures of the USS Pampanito (WWII submarine) and the USS Jeremiah O-Brian (WWII Liberty Ship). Interesting stuff there. I also snapped a shot or two of Alcatraz (plus I got a hat, yay) We went back to the pier and ate at a seafood place called Dante's. I had fish! I'm no fan of seafood in any sense, but the red snapper sandwich I had tasted pretty darn good. At least the first half did - it was a big sandwich and the second half started getting not so good. The fries that came with the sandwich were enhanced with cajun spicing, which I found curious. We then took the cable car back, and our conductor poked fun at a family from Texas, what with their accent and all. We all laughed. When we got back we went up to the 36th skyview floor of the Hyatt Hotel, where at the restaurant there a plate is $50. Crazy. But since it wasn't yet open we wandered around taking pictures from way up there. After that we travelled over to the Yerba Buena Gardens, a beautiful park somehow crammed into a city. It was really peaceful there, we loved itThat night we walked around, taking city pictures at night, quite fun I say. Another warm bath for our legs - really hurting by now. Thursday the 17th Not too much interesting here, as it was our return flight home. Although we did wander the city once more, as we both got up early. In a park we saw two Japanese men practicing their kata, so that was cool. Otherwise, landing in Milwaukee was the only other fun thing I remember. It was snowing bad style, so when we landed the back end of the plane swung out to the left. We fishtailed in an airliner! That was certainly an experience, and we decided the pilot deserves mad props for getting that landing. When we got home a good soaking in our hottub felt really really good, then we had some hot chocolate and went to bed. Overall, I miss it very much. The city has so much to offer, and we are definitely going back sometime. Entirely worth it, although now I am really poor. Haha, it happens. I think this was one of the best spring breaks thus far.