Bringing a friend from Europe...

We are bringing a friend from Germany to San Francisco. Since we are not familiar with SF ourselves..we would love suggestions from someone who has visited from or those who have had visitors from other countries. What highlights do you think we should show him?? We are all 50 but don%26#39;t ';think old';. I think he would like fun bars, cafes, loves art, music... We want him to have a great American experience...thanks!

Bringing a friend from Europe...

I would make sure they see the perspective of riding the cable cars, visiting the hills in Pacific Heights if you%26#39;re on your way towards the GG Bridge and visiting GG Park and the de Young museum new tower with the panoramic view; check out Haight Street for the Amoeba Records vast collection of music, DVDs, concert posters. Go to some concerts or classical performances depending on your preferences. Twin Peaks always fascinates people -- seeing it from afar then right there under the giant towers. Check out a cruise around the bay and Alcatraz. If they%26#39;re a movie buff, they may enjoy some of the sites where Dirty Harry movies were filmed, Hitchcock movies; Tosca Cafe was in the Wim Wenders film called Until the End of the World which is across from City Lights Bookstore on Columbus and Broadway on the edge of Chinatown and North Beach and near the Beat Museum. Looking downhill outside of Tosca you can photograph the Transamerica Building and still frame it with the Zoetrope building (Coppola%26#39;s building)--the copper green triangular building on the fork of Columbus %26amp; Kearny between Jackson and Pacific. There are various infamous locations -- see www.mistersf.com to get some ideas.

Bringing a friend from Europe...

I think ObsidianSnow%26#39;a list is excellent. It gives you the tourist sights but also gives you a sense of all of San Francisco.

I would stay in the Union Square area, which gives you fun bars, cafes, and the atmosphere of a sophisticated city. It also has all of the public transportation available, which is excellent in San Francisco.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a must. There are great views from the city on the waterfront, but crossing it and then looking at it and the city from the viewpoint on the north side of the bridge is an ABSOLUTE must.

How you cross it, by driving, walking, bicycling or bus is another thing to think about.

Showing someone from Germany around will be different than showing an American around. Is this their first time in the US? If so, they will probably be interested in seeing typical American things. Some things that may be fascinating to you may be blas茅 to them. The museums in SF are must sees for Americans, but not exceptional on European standards. Show them instead things that they can%26#39;t get at home. Take them to West Marin, show them the ocean. Explore the neighborhoods (Haight, Chinatown, Clement St, etc). Have some great Asian or American food. Things that seem gimmicky to you may just make their day. I took some Hungarian friends to Mel%26#39;s Diner, which I normally consider a blot on the San Franciscan landscape, but they just loved it to pieces. It was just like in the movies. They also made a mad dash for the camera every time a yellow school bus went by!

San Francisco is noted in Europe for being the most ';European'; American city, so this is a tough question. Where to start?

Diversity.

This is something that certain European areas lack.(Especially especially especially Germany. If I have to eat another breaded veal schnitzel with unsalted fries I will have to scream.) San Francisco is the golden-star-dream of diversity. Play up the neighborhoods, skip the awful Fisherman%26#39;s Wharf, skip the IMHHHO awful awful awful (!!) Alcatraz. North Beach, while extremely fun for American tourists, is a very pale imitation of the real thing. Your friends have probably already been to Italy. Why take them to an imitation of it?

So, skip the Italian food, skip the French food, skip all the wonderful European-style things that make SF so extra-nice. Try instead some real Thai or real Asian or real American food. The ubiquitous Chinese restaurants here (in Switzerland) are all adjusted to the German sensibilities. That means that everything tastes like boring breaded schnitzel. Bah!

Your friends have surely never in their lives tried a burrito.

Take them to the Castro theater, take them to some jazz clubs, take them to Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. Walk the Golden Gate. Look through the SF Weekly or Guardian and find some concerts to see.

Skip Sausalito and its faux-chic caf茅s with T-shirt stands across the street. Go to West Marin. Take a few days to go to Yosemite.

Oh, and have cocktails. I guarantee that your friends have never had a cocktail more complicated than a Gin%26amp;Tonic. Have an extremely chic cheeseburger.

Hope it helps.

I would ask your guest if Alcatraz interests them because it is a nice ferry ride and, if they%26#39;re at all interested in it because of the Clint Eastwood movie, as my out-of-country friends were, then they should take time to see it. My friends really enjoyed the variety of architecture, visiting Coit Tower; overall they love the outgoing nature of people. It wasn%26#39;t until they visited San Francisco that they learned to use chopsticks for the first time. They absolutely loved the fact that the hills had stairs on the sidewalks, that the GG Bridge can be photographed so well from the Marin Headlands, then they loved running in the waves at Ocean Beach and then having a drink at the Clift House. They liked the restaurants we went to but food was not on their mind as much as drinking was on their mind.

All of your ideas are terrific...my worst fear was doing a blind leading the blind tour..haha. He has only been to the US once and it was to New York City. He does travel a lot..all over Europe for medical conferences and sees quite a bit of good art along the way. I go over to Germany once a year and cook Mexican..which the whole family goes crazy for...so yes a burrito would be a big hit. We have a lot of cowboy places here in Oregon so will take him there before we hit SF. How about a Union Square hotel...something not too traditional but also not bare minimulist??? Love the cocktail idea...he will be slurping those up for sure!

Thank you, sanfrancisco-basel. Your perspective provided some surprises for me.

Bitte sehr, nuttin%26#39; to it.

Where is a post office in Anaheim

Hi, when visiting later this year we will want to send some postcards home. I am intending to buy a whole lot of postcards from eveywhere we visit, so thought it would be best to buy all the stamps at once and then we can just drop the cards in a post box wherever we are. Where is the post office in Anaheim or can you buy stamps in Disneyland for overseas??

Where is a post office in Anaheim

Disneyland has vending machines that sell stamps at cost.

One is at Greetings from California shop in DCA, on the north side.

Last I checked, the one at Disneyland is at the exit of the Opera House, but it might have been moved.

There is a US Post Office (Holiday Station) on Ball Road, just west of Disneyland.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1858184

Where is a post office in Anaheim

Hi postcards to Aus are 90c. I bought stamps from the vending machines in where lockers are midway down Main St Disneyland. The machines take $5 and $1 notes and give change. I also bought 41c Disney stamps (very cute)and combined with 2x 26c (total 93c) stamps from the same machine- these I posted from Disneyland post box- the postmark says Santa Ana. I posted some at the hotel the day later and they arrived the fastest.

Of course I sent 2 postcard to our home just so we could get the Disney stamps. The kids were surprised when they collected the mail when we returned as I said something like ';We didn%26#39;t want to come home except I missed the dog.';

M

Best area to stay in San Francisco

Hi,

I%26#39;m traveling to the USA with my family in December/January and we will be stayng in SFO for about 4 nights. Basically we will be just looking to do the main tourist things.

I%26#39;m after some suggestions about the best area to stay in SFO and the things we ';must see';

Thanks

JB

Best area to stay in San Francisco

view this list

tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g60713-Activitie…

best location is Union Square for ';center of everything'; which can include but not be limited to public transit, shopping, dining, walking distance to Chinatown, North Beach, South of Market locales such as SFMOMA, Yerba Buena park and museum, etc.

Best area to stay in San Francisco

Be aware that if you call the city of San Francisco ';SFO'; you are speaking of the San Francisco International Airport, which is perhaps 13 miles or so away. I think that we have picked up, however, on the fact that you do NOT want a hotel at the airport, right?

I agree on Union Square. Central and with access to all the available kinds of public transportation.

Thanks very much.

We were advised to stay around Fishermans Wharf area but I%26#39;ll now check out Union Square.

What%26#39;s SF like in early late December/early January?

Cheers,

JB

Fisherman%26#39;s Wharf is OK to stay at for a night or two. It is ';over the top'; touristy and some people might find it overwhelming after a couple of days.

For greater variety, flexibility, %26amp; access to more visitor sites and public transit, you can%26#39;t beat Union Square. There are also hotels a few blocks away from Union Square, around Market Street and the Embarcadero (waterfront area) that are convenient to visitor attractions and well served by public transit. This is a very compact city, and you can get to the Wharf and Pier 39 (home of the sea lions), the Alcatraz ferry, North Beach, Chinatown, the bridges, Golden Gate Park, etc. very efficiently from Union Square.

December and January tend to be our rainiest

season. It will not necessarily rain all the time, but the chances are good. When it gets ';cold'; here, we mean below about 5ºC; it rarely gets below freezing and we see snow flurries maybe every 8-10 years. When it isn%26#39;t raining, winter days can be gorgeous because there isn%26#39;t much fog. There are days when the brilliant blue sky almost hurts your eyes and the views go on forever.

If you come before Christmas, you%26#39;ll find a lot of activity and energy around Union Square, the shopping mecca of San Francisco and much of the Bay Area. People come from all over northern California for holiday shopping and maybe a performance of ';Nutcracker'; at the S.F. Ballet or other special holiday events. In fact, many downtown hotels offer specials during the holiday season, so check around before making your choice.

Thanks Frisco Roadrunner. Sounds like we%26#39;ll be in for a good time there.

JB

What%26#39;s the ';tenderloin neighbourhood';?

JB

eye color

Recommendations for 2 Restaurants needed in San Diego

Hi,

We are 3 adults spendng a weekend in San Diego in June and I%26#39;m looking for any recommendations for nice restaurants.

We will have a car and are staying around the Point Loma? area.

Ideally we would like a nice seafood restaurant for one night and are open to ideas for the other - just something locals would recommend!

Many thanks

Recommendations for 2 Restaurants needed in San Diego

Well, you%26#39;ll have lots of choices available and lots of different opinions!!

Assuming you want views to go with your food then I like the Crab Catcher(dinner) overlooking La Jolla Cove and Brockton Villa in the same location(brunch/lunch /breakfast)

http://www.crabcatcher.com/

http://www.brocktonvilla.com/

I also really like the Prado restaurant located in Balboa Park.

cohnrestaurants.com/cohn/鈥rado.php

Recommendations for 2 Restaurants needed in San Diego

Adding to Riffsmom%26#39;s excellent suggestions would be Island Prime/C-Level Lounge on Harbor Island, very near Point Loma.

Amazing views

Island Prime is upscale...seafood steaks, etc

C-Level is a wonderful lounge, full dinners, great appetizers...and you CAN order off of Island Prime%26#39;s menu in the lounge

No reservations at C-Level though

cohnrestaurants.com/cohn/鈥slandprime.php

Crab Catcher is a nice suggestion, they have great clam chowder and pretty views from their outdoor patio area, we loved our dinner at George%26#39;s at the Cove also in this area, it is now called George%26#39;s California Modern since the remodel.

The Hotel Del Coronado has a very good restaurant called 1500 Ocean, they have seafood on their menu and the Hotel Del is such a beautiful place! Enjoy your time in San Diego. :)

Just over the hill from where you are staying in Ocean Beach is a great wine bar that serves excellent food at reasonable prices, The 3rd Corner:

http://www.the3rdcorner.com

For more of a hip/eclectic scene with really good food in front of the ocean, I would head to Pacific Beach (no more than 15 minutes from where you are staying) and check out the JRDN Restaurant at Tower 23 Hotel. Great steak, sushi, and seafood.

http://www.jrdn.com

These are the best

Fish Market at the G st. Pier/Top of the Market$$$

Island Prime $$$$on Harbor Island/c-level lounge$$$

Right on the harbor with the best views

For seafood Oceanaire, the Ocean Room %26amp; Blue Point are probably the best, but Top of the Market %26amp; King%26#39;s Fish House are also very good.

For just great restaurants I like Laurel %26amp; Nine Ten.

Thanks for all the ideas so far - They all sound lovely, I think I should have book a fortnight in San Diego as there is too much choice!!!

Great suggestions,a few more-Top of the Market-I like it better than the Fish Market,a bit more choice, Blue Point Sea Food and bar in the Gas lamp area, excellent sea food,Laurel, another good restaurant would be Humphrey%26#39;s on Shelter island.

Recommend area

We will be in the Santa Barbara area for 3 nights in July. Can anyone recommend a good area for a family wioth 3 older teenagers. We like to do the usual; shopping, restaurants, beach, relaxing. I am also considering Goleta or Carpinteria but no further south than Oxnard. Can anyone offer advice? Also looking for reasonably priced accommodation around ￡250 pn.

Recommend area

I would not stay in either Carpinteria or Goleta. Santa Barbara is where you want to be with teenagers. I think there are several hotel that would fit your budget. The main area of Santa Barbara for shopping, dining, walking, and people watching is State Street. Several hotels are very close to State Street. I would recommend the Hotel Santa Barbara, the Holiday Inn Express, or, for a pricer option, the Canary Hotel.

At the very lower end of State Street is the main beach area of Santa Barbara (including Sterns Wharf). There are several hotels in this area as well. The ones I would recommend are the Harbor View Inn or Fess Parker%26#39;s Doubletree. Both are nice accomendations with have easy access (just accross the street) to the beach.

In terms of things to do: (1) I would see the courthouse (it has a beatuiful tower which you can take an elevator to the top of for a beautiful view of the city) and its only one block off State St.

(2) There is always shopping/people watching along State St. (3) Stern%26#39;s Wharf (where State St. meets the ocean). Its a nice place to walk and see a beautiful view of Santa Barbara from the water. (4) Condor Cruises for whale watching or sunset cruise. (5) The Santa Barbara Mission (historical chapel - self guided tours are $3); and (5) On Sunday, I would recommend walking along Cabrillo Blvd for our famous Art Walk. Its a beauiful walk and more than 100 exhibitors seeling hademade crafts and art objects within 150 feet of the ocean, its very nice and I would say it is a ';Don%26#39;t miss';

As far as beaches go -- Butterfly beach is top notch for both people watching and swimming with East Beach (directly accross from Fess Parker%26#39;s Double Tree) being a close second.

Recommend area

The Harbor View Inn is very nice but may be out of your price range. Check their website for specials and packages. This property is very nice and convenient for the beach and Stearn%26#39;s Wharf. Also, check out the Hotel Oceana a few doors down on the same street. Enjoy Santa Barbara! :)

www.santabarbara.com is a nice, informative website for the area! :)

Many thanks for the replies and advice, all very useful. Just need to find a hotel now.

networking

Thanks and Trip Highlights

Hi everyone-

I have returned from a long weekend with my husband and then business trip in Santa Monica/LA and wanted to say thanks for your help in planning my trip and share some of the highlights for others that are planning their trips.

Things I would highly recommend from my personal trip:

1- Jinky%26#39;s Cafe- they had a great breakfast with numerous healthy options and quick service

2- Santa Monica Farmer%26#39;s Market- this was fun to walk through and buy some fresh fruit for the hotel room

3- Shopping at the Promenade was nice- very casual for the stores that are there- it was a nice experience and we had beautiful weather too

4- Hiking in Temescal Gateway park- do the loop trail- you will have beautiful views of the city and ocean!

5- The Getty- The architecture and gardens are beautiful- we didn%26#39;t even spend much time inside because the weather was so nice

Highlights from the work trip:

1- The Ivy at Lunch- great for celeb watching (and even just paparazzi watching)

2- Mr Chow- great for late night dining and celeb watching

3- The Geffen- I was in town for a red carpet event here and thought the set up at the Geffen was great for performances

Thanks again all!

Thanks and Trip Highlights

OMG, we do Paparazzi watching now? lol. Just kidding. Glad you had a great time!

Thanks and Trip Highlights

Thanks for reporting back. So, which celebs, if any, did you see at those spots?

alex- I am a silly US weekly fan so the watching the paparazzi was funny for me :) I dont get to see them in Cinci

I actually saw the best celebs at my Geffen event (Eva Longoria, Brenda Strong, Dana Delaney, the new 90210 star- forget her name) and even got pictures :)

We saw a spanish celeb at the Ivy and Luke Perry at Mr chow- that%26#39;s it but was still fun.

Oh trust me, i love watching those people to when i heading to my clubs in Hollywood. Just think it is so silly, but i guess that%26#39;s what it is all about,lol

Sounds like a great trip, thanks for reporting back! :)

days 9 & 10

DAY 9

Up and out by 1pm….how early??? Well not bad for us!!walked down to the Embarcadero to see the Olympic Torch. There were 1000’s of people out, most of them protesting about something. ‘free tibet’ is one I can remember. ‘welcome torch’ another. Loads of banners and flags…..we got lost in the masses but I hung around to see the flame (.like I’d never seen a bloody flame before eh?). there were tv crews out, Chinese dragons, a bus full of cops piled out of a bus, live band playing and lots of yelling and shouting! Anyhow, the torch never did turn up and I think they were worried about trouble kicking off.

Went back to the hotel and mrs. T wasn’t there, luckily a maid was on our floor and kindly let me in my room (we only had 1 key). Minutes later she came in ( mrs T , not the maid!! Haha) and lay on the bed exhausted. She’s not well at all. Wandered out for a bite to eat and starbucks hot choc, we were only out half an hour, mrs was tired so we came home and watched the news. The torch had changed route cos of the protesrors and where we were for the closing ceremony, well it never did get there.!! Think they did it at the airport. It was a shame as there were people there who’d gone to SF specifically to see the flame.

Mrs t slept so I hopped on a cable car (luv ‘em) to Chinatown, had a drink (or two), walked down Broadway to Embarcadero ( clean up operation almost done), up market street calling in sutter station of course ( be rude not to) and asked for that SF beer I’d had the other day but didn’t know wot it was called? Got the MUNI to somewhere….???? Church something I think? Had a drink and headed back towards union sq. ending up at …yes, u guessed, the irish pub, downstairs with the piano players.

On the way home there were lots of beggers so I gave all my cigs away and had to buy some more. Bed about midnight…..

DAY 10

Mrs T felt a bit better today and we went to internet café to check-in online for our flight to vegas tomorrow and printed off our boarding cards.

Had a good look round the shops, SAKS, Tiffanys, etc.and went down that little lane off U Sq. is it maids lane??

Ate at Loris Diner, the 50’s themed café. It was like being in “The Fonz”…..happy days haha. We liked it there and the meal was good and very cheap. 2 meals, 2 drinks $17.90. how much!!!???

The cable cars are broken down today, so we looked round more shops and bought more stuff.

Called in Armani and there was a fashion show on for the new seasons styles. A DJ on the decks, a bar, stunning lasses with trays of nibbles and wine ( in plastic Armani glasses which I fancied……yes the glasses AND the lasses haha).

The staff were great and really looked after us, it was like having a personal shopper!! Had more wine and drank mrs T’s too as she’s still not boozing…..

Tried loads of stuff on and they had male models on a stage showing off the clothes, I’d always fancied myself as a model and as the wine went down…….

We were there about 3 hours and bought quite a lot of stuff and got 2 free bags given. More wine and nibbles then I dunno wot happened but I think a song I liked started playing and I thought I can model!!! Spur of the moment I decided to jump on the stage and strike a pose, so dropped bags on the floor and lunged for the stage ( u should’ve seen the models’ faces….sheer horror!! LOL). but as I lunged, my foot got caught in the strap of a bag, my lunge turned into a plunge but I kept going…..the bag popped open and at least 14 plastic glasses (yes I’d been popping every plastic glass in my bag as I’d drank it, well they were just gonna be thrown out anyway) went skidding across the floor…..the camcorder skidded off in another direction and other bits (bottle water, maps etc.) flopped onto the floor. Yet I still made the stage and jumped up, struck a few poses, the models didn’t know how to react, mrs. T was struggling with 4 bags (one with contents all over the place) trying to recover things. the whole shop stopped still to look and try to work out what the heck was happening. A woman came running over yelling “sir, sir you must get down” so I did. It was all a bit of a blur really it happened so fast, but it wasn;t the way I’d expected my modelling career to begin (and end)…..

We left shortly afterwards only to discover that although she’d recovered the camcorder mrs. T hadn’t managed to get the glasses……I was devastated.

I can’t even remember what we did after todays pantomime……..

Oh well vegas tomorrow.

Ps; Mrs T picked up a bit in vegas ( due to oxygen pumped into casinos?) but back home she relapsed. Went to doc’s and was diagnosed with pleurisy.

days 9 %26amp; 10

Every since I visited San Francisco last June, I like to lurk on occasion on this forum and read about other people%26#39;s planned trips and their trip reports. Your%26#39;s have certainly been interesting to say the least. :-)I wish I could have been present when you tried to model. I%26#39;ve been LMAO at the mental picture I%26#39;ve conjourned up.... Vegas has no idea what it is in for! Happy travels!

P.S. Mrs. T must be a heck of a sport!! I hope she feels better soon!!

days 9 %26amp; 10

You didn%26#39;t even bring one plastic Armani cup home? Oh, what a shame.

Goodness! I hope Mrs. T. has recovered. I%26#39;ve never known anyone with pleurisy. I must admit that I had to look it up online. It sounded like an ';old'; disease, like consumption.

Sounds painful.

I%26#39;m one of those people who catches everything. I%26#39;ve always said that if I were a character in Whuthering Heights, I%26#39;d be one of the neighbors who coughs in chapter three and is dead by chapter four.

Fun, fun, fun in San Francisco, thanks for the updates on your travels, they have been entertaining and enjoyable to ready! :)

tomthecat said «the Embarcadero to see the Olympic Torch. There were 1000’s of people out»

I among them.

«maids lane??»

Maiden Lane.

«[Mrs.T] was diagnosed with pleurisy.»

My condolences. May she recover quickly!

%26gt;%26gt; walked down to the Embarcadero to see the Olympic Torch ... we got lost in the masses but I hung around to see the flame (.like I’d never seen a bloody flame before eh?). %26lt;%26lt;

Boom-boom!

%26gt;%26gt; Ate at Loris Diner, the 50’s themed café. It was like being in “The Fonz”…..happy days haha %26lt;%26lt;

Spot-on!

%26gt;%26gt; The cable cars are broken down today %26lt;%26lt;

Oh what a shame, because you %26#39;luv %26#39;em%26#39;, dontcha?!

%26gt;%26gt; Called in Armani and there was a fashion show on .... wine and nibbles then I dunno wot happened but I think a song I liked started playing and I thought I can model!!! ... It was all a bit of a blur really it happened so fast, but it wasn%26#39;t the way I’d expected my modelling career to begin (and end)…..%26lt;%26lt;

What a visual! I bet you%26#39;ll be the talk of that shop for years to come ;-)

Loved every one of your reports. Thanks very much for posting.

oh, you%26#39;re one of those peeps...

would have loved to have witnessed your modeling debut.

luving your posts, keeping me completely entertained.

thanks for the fun. oh, your pics are great too!

can%26#39;t wait to see what happens in vegas. hopefully with you there, what happens in vegas will not stay in vegas.

hope mrs t.%26#39;s health is much improved.

tomthecat this has to be one of the most unique trip reports I%26#39;ve ever seen!!! Is Mrs. tom better, how horrible she has been so sick there. Another question..have you been sober during any of this trip lol lol Thanks for the entertainment!!

yes , i think i was sober one day!!! but unsure about that!

follow our TR on thr las vegas forum now....(if u can be bothered haha!)