Day 19: San Francisco

Thursday December 12, 2013

We planned today as a walking day. We wanted to get to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, and whatever else struck our fancy.

With a late start to a leisurely morning, we walked from our hotel and headed for the famous Cafe Trieste. Along the way we passed an iconic landmark of the San Francisco skyline, the Transamerica Life building:

Then to Cafe Trieste for a couple lattes and pastries.

As we left there, this chap spotted Brian wearing his Winnipeg Jets golf shirt. Turns out this guy - Tony - is from Winnipeg and is now working in the financial services industry in San Francisco. He grew up in River Heights, and began a series of consulting gigs a dozen years ago. To no one's surprise, he does not miss the cold winters at all.

We then decided to walk through the North Beach neighbourhood toward Telegraph Hill. There are some really nice houses and apartments here.

The view from Telegraph Hill is spectacular:

That's Coit Tower just behind the tree. It's closed until spring 2014 for maintenance and renovations.

Down the hill toward Fisherman's Wharf. Hopefully this picture gives you an idea just how steep these hills are:

Once on Fisherman's Wharf, as usual I got scared again by the Bushman. This guy has been scaring people for 35 years. He's even mentioned in the CAA/AAA travel guide:

Lunch was clam and crab chowder in a sourdough breadbowl. And yes, authentic San Francisco sourdough bread cannot be beat.

Following lunch we jumped on a cable car to take the Powell-Hyde line up to California Street.

 

And little cable cars

Climb halfway to the stars.

- Tony Bennett

The clatter of the wheels, the clicking of the cables beneath the streets, the sound of the bell, all these are unforgettable sounds of San Francisco. It really is a most beautiful city. Yes, we once again left our hearts in San Francisco.

Got off the cable car and walked down California to Chinatown for some shopping:

Anyone recognize the brown building on the right of this picture?

It's the Bank of America building, better known as The Towering Inferno. Yep, this is the building used in that 1970s disaster movie.

Chinatown:

Back at our hotel, we asked the concierge for a recommendation for seafood. We ended up at George's two blocks away. Some scrumptious oysters for an appetizer:

Crab season opened just over a week ago, so we each had a Dungeness crab:

Paired with a great California Savignon Blanc, it made a truly memorable evening for our last dinner in San Francisco.

Tomorrow: check out of our hotel then head to the airport for our flight home.

It was +15C and sunny for our entire stay in San Francisco. We certainly are not looking forward to -27C in Winnipeg, but it will be good to be home.

Day 18: Napa and Sonoma

Wednesday December 11, 2013

Today we went on a wine country tour. We booked it last night after consulting with Lex, the very helpful concierge here at the Omni San Francisco. The deal was a bus from Tower Tours picked us up at our hotel, took us to their head shed on Fisherman's Wharf where we paid the fee, then we jump on their bus to take us on the tour.

It was really cool. First we drive across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland. There are two segments to this bridge. The first from San Francisco to Treasure Island:

After driving through a tunnel, we're on the segment that takes us to Oakland. This is the new part as the old one had to be replaced because it could not be brought up to current earthquake code:

Many hundreds of millions of dollars must be going into this new bridge. It is impressive.

Our first stop was Madonna Estate in Napa Valley.

Maurice was our host and he gave us a brief talk on the history of the winery.

Those are grape vines in the background. The growing season is over, but they will bloom again sometime in March. These folks have been around since the early 1900s, so they certainly pre-date the pop star.

He took us into the cellar. In front of us were barrels of wine that are aging.

Then came the fun part.

We got to taste five different varietals, but the Pinot Noir really impressed us. So we bought a bottle.

We then went to Yountville for lunch. We stopped at this wonderful little shopping area and ate at the Napa Style Grill.

Sutter Home was our next stop:

After sampling a half dozen of their wines, we went over to Sonoma valley for our third and final stop at Sebastiani:

Our host gave is a fascinating summary of the history of the winery, then she had us sample five of their wines.

The name Sebastiani sounded very familiar to us. As it turned out, their Cabernet Sauvignon was on our list of favourite wines that we've been compiling for the last several years.

Back on the bus, we returned to San Francisco via the famous Golden Gate Bridge:

What a day!

Day 17: San Francisco

Tuesday December 10, 2013

We awoke early this morning to the Grand Princess arriving in San Francisco. Check out the sunrise that greeted us this morning:

That's the Bay Bridge.

We met this nice couple from Modesto, California at breakfast. We were chatting and they recommended three restaurants in downtown San Francisco. We made careful note of them because we're sure we'd have a chance to visit all of them.

U.S. Customs clearance was a little different from what we're accustomed to in Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. Rather than presenting our customs card to a CBP agent in the cruise terminal after disembarking, the crew had us complete the card a couple days before the end of our cruise. They gave these cards to CBP on our behalf. On disembarkation day, we went to the Crown Grill on board ship, cleared U.S. Customs with a very friendly agent, and that was it. Once we left the ship, we simply picked up our bags in the cruise terminal, jumped in a cab and went to our hotel.

We checked in to the Omni San Francisco earlier than we expected. Even at 11:30AM, they had a great room for us.

So we dumped our luggage off, and went for a walk through the Financial District.

We went into the Ferry Buildibg to do some shopping. This place is a foodie's heaven:

We had dinner at the Tadich Grill, a famous seafood restaurant just down the street from our hotel:

After dinner we wandered up Market St. It was amazing to see so many people out and about downtown on a Tuesday evening.

We ended up at Union Square. Check out the beautiful city lights:

Tomorrow: a wine country tour through the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.

Day 16: At Sea

This was the last day of our cruise before we arrive in San Francisco early tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. The weather was sunny, temperatures between +11C and +12C, with winds of 19 knots giving 5 foot waves. We had a tailwind, so that coupled with our reduced cruising speed of 16 knots produced just a light breeze on Deck 14. It have us a chance to enjoy the sunshine.

A number of of emotions go through us on the last day of this cruise. A tinge of sadness that this incredible journey is almost over. Immense gratitude that we are able to do this. Awe and wonder at the sights we have seen. Joy when we think about the wonderful people we have met - passengers as well as crew members. Optimism when we know we'll do another cruise someday, meet more amazing people and see more fascinating sights.

Earlier today we attended the culinary demonstration in the Princess Theatre. Chef Francesco and the Maitre'd showed us how to cook Fettuccine Alfredo, Shrimp con Diablo, and how to make Black Forest cake. Halfway through the Shrimp recipe, the smell of the sautéing garlic, chili peppers and other spices drifted up to us in the 17th row. It was heavenly!

Following the cooking demo, we were given a tour of the galley attached to one of the three dining rooms on board Grand Princess. Lots of stainless steel, but it was all so spotless.

Outside the galley they had cookbooks for sale that had recipes for many of the dishes we enjoyed on our cruise. We bought one and got Chef Francesco and the Maitre'd to sign it:

We had lunch at the Crown Grill where they were serving traditional English food. Fish and chips and a pint of Guiness. Armando was working there and he served us. We first met him five days ago in Kauai, and we kept meeting him since. He is a very kind and courteous server.

Check out this sunset from our stateroom balcony:

Tonight was our last dinner on board the Grand Princess for this cruise. Our table mates were Sue and Ken from the Bay Area:

Donna and Charlie, also from the Bay Area. That's Emma taking their dinner order:

And our good friend Fred in the middle of this picture:

A cruising tradition is the Parade of the Baked Alaska. This is where the kitchen and waiting staff march through the dining room on the final night carrying Baked Alaska (neopolitan ice cream covered with meringue). It's a chance for the passengers to show our appreciation for the incredible food and service we've received:

We bid farewell to our table mates, and then headed upstairs to take in some more of the on board entertainment. We played a trivia game, and then went to Crooners to hear jazz pianist Funch play. It was a wonderful relaxing evening.

We're steaming in a northwest direction parallel to the California coast, but about 100 miles from it. We'll arrive in San Francisco early Tuesday morning, clear customs formalities, then start a three day vacation there. We return home Friday. Watch this space for daily updates on our San Francisco stay.

We always like to close the sea going portion of our journeys with a quote from a well-known explorer that nicely sums up our experiences:

And the sea shall grant each man a new hope

While his sleep brings dreams of home.

- Christopher Columbus

Day 15: Ensenada, Mexico

Well, today was the big day. Our Ukelele recital. Dona and I had our customary continental breakfast in our stateroom, ran through a few chord transition drills with our ukeleles, and declared ourselves as ready as we'll ever be.

We went for our 12:00 noon dress rehearsal in the Princess Theatre. It was a great accomplishment for our instructors Kimo and Lokelina that they were able to get everyone organized. We walked through getting on and off the stage, and sorting out who was going to stand where behind the music stands. We ran through the finale, then waited for the audience to come it. The house was nearly packed:

As planned, our recital was combined with that of the hula dancing class. 60 hula dancers, followed by 60 Ukelele players - the largest class they ever had since they began teaching these classes on a cruise ship.

The hula dancers performed their first three numbers; they did well.

Then we came on stage to do our three, starting with Pearly Shells. Halfway through Tiny Bubbles the backing soundtrack went silent. We figured someone kicked a wire loose, so we kept playing. We actually did quite well. As it turned out, it was the captain announcing we would arrive in Ensenada 45 minutes earlier than scheduled.

For the finale, the hula dancers joined us and we played Aloha Oe. It's the most complicated song in our set because it has seven chords and a few funky chord transitions. But we did it. The audience loved it, and we had a great time.

We arrived in Ensenada 90 minutes before sunset, and only had four hours to spend there.

Temperature today was +13C, with 16 knot winds. Chillier than we've experienced over the last two weeks.

We wandered though the city park, the market, and downtown Ensenada. Bought a few trinkets, and tried to absorb the culture with what little time we had.

We returned to the Grand Princess at sunset, and made our way to the Piazza on Deck 5 for a bevvie. This picture is what we see when we're sitting here in the piazza, absorbing the atmosphere and ambiance, trying to store as much of it up as we can.

We can hear Funch playing jazz piano upstairs at Crooners. Dozens of conversations going on around us, it really feels like an Italian piazza. 

We went to the Wheelhouse bar on Deck 7 to hear Kimo and Lokelina entertain the audience with some classic pop music. We ran into Frederica, one of the new friends we made back on Kauai. The three of us went to the Princess Theatre to catch the crew talent show at 8:15. The place was packed whe we got there - standing room only:

When we watched some of the really talented crew performers, we realized just why so many people attended. Everyone had a great time.

Tomorrow is a day at sea. It's the last day of our cruise as we arrive in San Francisco early Tuesday morning. 

Good night all.