Big things, BART strike and Anchor Oyster Bar

After a morning of work, I take a few hours in the afternoon to see the sights. Apparently Palo Alto is also known as 'Superficial Alto'. For you Brits out there, it reminds me of Farnham without the history. Plenty of nice cafes, nice boutiques, nice trees. It's nice (and chi chi).

I also made my way to the Cantor Arts Centre at Stanford and to their Rodin sculpture garden. 13 years after visiting the Rodin museum in Paris, I am still overawed by the Gates of Hell. It is just incredible. There's nothing quite like imposing artwork. For those of you who know me well, I don't like big things. Not a little bit big, those are fine, but really big things. Standing by the Daibutsu in Nara, Japan; scary. Standing by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France; scary. Standing by the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain; scary. You get my drift. You feel so small and insignificant. If one of those things were to fall you'd be crushed to smithereens or if, in the case of the Daibutsu, it were to come alive, it would definitely gobble me up, no problem.

I feel a little bit like that with big sculptures when they're indoors. But the moment you put them into a garden, they become super magical. They shine in the sun, they brighten your day in the snow. They are magnificent. That's why the Rodin Museum in Paris will always be my favourite, because it opened my eyes to how beautiful artwork can be when you take them into a different setting. And sitting in sunny California on a Thursday afternoon, I got to relive that moment of awe all over again. (I'm still not good with busts. They're still a bit freaky, particularly ones with big noses.)

Now at the best of times, the San Franciscan transport system isn't great. It just doesn't have the full coverage that other cities seems to. So when the BART strike was announced, everyone just groaned. Everyone will be forced into their cars rather than taking the train. Travelling 3.8 miles from the Caltrain station to our AirBnb apartment took 1.5 hours yesterday with three buses and multiple miles walked wheeling my suitcase. When the bus driver tells all passengers to get out the bus and walk, you know there's trouble. I arrived extremely grumpy but was welcomed by my Boy and a beautiful view from atop Alamo Square across the whole of San Francisco. Breathtaking.

Last night I revisited the Castro and took a picture of Zadin's for my RtR girls. We didn't eat there, but instead managed to get into Anchor Oyster Bar, which was the place we tried to go two years ago that had people shivering under blankets as they waited. As the weather is beautiful we waited and was treated to the most delicious meal. Cioppino, a San Franciscan delicacy of seafood in a tomato-based sauce was chock full of fresh seafood. Incredibly, that wasn't the best bit. The best bit is the garlic bread and I'm not a bread eater. Oh my. It was so tasty. I'm still full now at 11am now. The female chef was smiley and friendly and gave away garlic bread to those sitting at the counter. make sure you get a spot sitting by the kitchen, through which, incidentally, you have to walk to get to the loos. They done good.

Off to ride in Golden Gate Park...