Last night we met up with a friend that used to work with/go to uni with Adrian in Wellington, Johnny. He had since moved to San Francisco to he with his partner Duc. They took us to Maven, a cocktail restaurant close to their house, for dinner and drinks. They have small meals which they pair with cocktails. I had thai-style calamari with a coconutty cocktail and Adrian had gnocchi with a chamomile cocktail. The calamari was exceptionally good - usually it is a bit boring but what they had done and paired with the cocktail was great. We finished with more drinks, dessert and good conversation. Then we walked over the road to Toronado, a beer bar. I tried pomegranate cider. We had a great night and a wonderful start to our holiday.
Early this morning Adrian and I got up and walked to Cafe de la Presse for breakfast. We then hurried on foot to pier 33 for our 8.45am (earlybird) sailing for Alcatraz. I only reserved tickets on Tuesday this week, and a lot of people have been saying we were really lucky to get tickets that close. I only reserved them because a colleague, Erin, came to see me in my office; we got talking about the holiday and she said that I'd better get on to it! Thanks so much, Erin! Alcatraz was amazing - such a beautiful day too. The decrepit buildings were interesting and the audio your was really well done. The falling down Warden's House was oddly beautiful with the blue sky behind it, and California Gulls (like black backed gulls) nesting in its still-standing chimney. They were nesting in a lot of places and we saw a couple of their very cute grey spotted ball-of-fluff chicks.
This afternoon we have boarded the Grand Princess at pier 35. We are on deck 8 with an 'obstructed view' of life raft rigging a and such. Considering how much less expensive it was than the standard outside view, we are absolutely fine with seeing riggings! We can still see everything 'through' them. We await our bags to be dropped off, and we will go for a little walk soon. Days at sea tomorrow and Saturday, then Sitka, Alaska on Sunday.
A wonderful start to our holiday!
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