San Francesca

Always on the lookout for an excuse to revisit the various tourists traps around SF, today I got the chance to show them off to Jim, Gen and Frankie. Two of that group may have seen it all before but for one it was all new.

Frankie goes to...

Chinatown!

Just chilling in her buggy.

The Cheesecake Factory at Macy's.

If you think I'm eating that when I grow up...

Still at The Cheesecake Factory. It's a very child-friendly place!

On a trolley bus.

With the sealions.

At Alcatraz!

Tomorrow: Frankie and Berkeley!

Kultcha

Say what you want about Chevron, but they do sponsor nice music in San Francisco. And because of this, Hannah blagged us a couple of $70 tickets to hear the SF Symphony Orchestra knock out a few classical numbers.

They played the one by Vivaldi that goes "doo-doo-dodo-doo-doo-doo-doo", followed by something that Mozart wrote when he was fifteen, and a depressing Tchaikovsky one that nonetheless had a happy waltzy bit in the middle.

Time to listen to some Elvis before bed.

Inside the aptly named Davies Symphony Hall.

Further inside (before I was told off by an usher for taking pictures).

See, they can't be all bad...

Visitation rights

In an event few of us believed we would live to see, Jim and Gen have come to visit us in SF! Gen had to work today, so I got to enjoy a wander around the city with Jim and baby Frankie. You would have thought that her parents' fiery temperaments would make her a difficult child, but no. I was sold at the first smile!

Like father, like daughter.

Childcare the way it should be done.

Frankie's Crumpler indoctrination program begins!

On a plane

The flight between Seattle and San Francisco is a nice one. On the way up I got to see the Golden Gate Bridge in all its glory but missed the many impressive mountains as I was sitting on the wrong side of the plane. On the way back I didn't make the same mistake.

Seattle and Mt Rainer.

A closer look at Rainier ("ran-ear", as they pronounce it...)

Mts St Helens and Rainier.

Crater Lake from a different angle.

Mt Shasta. It was a busy flight!

Mazal tov Dana

It's Dana's birthday today, which meant she got to do exactly what she wanted! Which is so unlike every other day. Anyway, this included coffee drinking, sushi eating, and playing all her favourite Rock Band songs in a row - activities which I didn't need much convincing to join her in...

Not the best coffee in Seattle...

...but some of the best sushi!

Rambling...

Today Amir had to spend some time at a conference (on a Sunday! He's a dedicated boy) so Hannah, Dana, and I wandered about some new and old bits of the city.

The first stop was of course breakfast at Pike Place Market, where Hannah liberated a sticky bun from its imprisonment in a bakery. We walked from there down to Olympic Sculpture Park, where a motley bunch of "art installations" jostle for attention by the beachfront. The only one that took my fancy was a fallen log that had been put in a greenhouse and left to grow (but is it art?)

Anyway, a quick trip to the base of the Space Needle to avoid a downpour - welcome to Seattle - was followed by a very nice cappuccino, a trip to see the view from the Queen Anne neighbourhood, and unexpected attendance at some Bastille Day celebrations (a bit early) and then, because we're so international, the Seattle Chinatown Festival. Phew!

Amir snuck away from his conference late afternoon and, so he didn't feel like he missed out, we went to Ballard Locks, the waterway that takes ships from the ocean to Lake Union and includes a fish ladder to keep the salmon happy.

Is there anything left to see in the Pacific Northwest?

Another sticky bun bites the dust.

Hannah and Dana assess the gloomy weather from the beach.

In the green. Here we are in the vivarium.

Caffeine shot.

Vive la revolution, et vive la France!

Classics.

Just like being there - left to the Arc de Triomphe.

Now we're in Chinatown. Keep up!

McDonalds, originally from the Far East.

Edible bouquets (not from McDonalds).

OK, now we're at Ballard Locks.

If you're a salmon and you get lost there are useful signs to help you.

It worked for these guys.

The lock gates open...

...and the ships sail on to the lake. Or the sea, we weren't entirely sure of the directions.

Air and sea

Just north of Seattle is the Boeing Factory, where this morning Dana secured us an exclusive tour. It was an MBA student's dream! Aside from the Guinness Book of Records certified largest factory in the world, the planes were put together on assembly lines following vastly different theoretical principles. Hannah explained it all to me and I didn't have a clue what she was talking about with her big business words! I'm so proud of her.

Unfortunately you're not allowed to take pictures in the factory itself (boo!), but there were plenty of photo opportunities during our afternoon activity of pirate spotting. What is it with pirates around here? Anyway, it's the annual SeaFair festival and as part of that (in a tradition 60 years old) a bunch of pirates come ashore and "steal" the keys to the city off King Neptune.

We enjoyed the build up of various sailboats flying the skull and crossbones shooting at each other, but when it came time for the pirates to make landfall there were...difficulties. Sadly the US Army landing craft couldn't actually land in the shallow water and so twenty or so pirates, dressed in hundreds of dollars of period costume, had to walk the proverbial plank and swim.

While the keys were being stolen by Davy Jones most of us on the beach watched two overweight pirates 30 feet offshore attempting to dive for a mobile phone that had been lost in the venture. Shiver me timbers!

You could take photos in the (not-so-interesting) museum.

Keeping it British.

Hannah flies coach...

...while Amir and Dana pick out their seats in first class.

I wonder what happens if I push this big red button...?

Whatever. Drill, baby, drill.

Back across the bay to Seattle.

Arrr.

A motley crew.

Waiting for the arrival.

Here they are! Oh, wait, no one thought to check how deep the sea was.

No matter, over we go!

Coming to claim the key (slightly damp).

Then on the way back to the car we amazingly saw an American Bald Eagle. It's absolutely true! Unfortunately my brown splodge doesn't do it justice, so here's an artist's impression blow-up (and while I may have given you cause to doubt me in the past, this one's for real!)