We left New York on Tuesday morning for San Francisco where we’ve had a slightly slower and less structured time which has been welcome as we still have the remnants of the colds we got earlier in the trip. We’ve stayed in the same hotel before and after quite a few visits we know our way about, and have done all the higher-profile tourist activities.

So Wednesday we headed down the hill (we are in the Nob Hill area, across the road from Grace Cathedral) to North Beach for my regular visit to Libreria Pino, a little italian language bookshop where I added to the stash of books I’d acquired in Sicily.

As it was a stunning day and we were very close, we walked up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower which has great views over the city and the bay. After lunch and an amble to the Ferry Building, we caught the cable car back up the hill to our hotel – conveniently the California Street line runs right past the front door.

Thursday we were off to Berkley for a food tour. Turned out it was just the two of us with the guide, Rebecca, who told us there was more eating than walking: she wasn’t wrong! Amongst other things we tried pastrami sandwiches from the local deli who prepare their own meat, pizza, fresh baked sour dough, soup, gelato….and the we waddled back to the metro stop to make space for dinner!

Today we headed to Hayes Valley, an area of interesting shops and restaurants we found last year. This time as well as a look around we found Alamo Square Park, which is surrounded by some fantastic examples of local villa-style houses beautifully painted.

It’s been nice to take things a little more slowly: no 6:15am alarms for early tours. We have a room facing a park which every morning is a hive of activity – dog walkers, tai chi practitioners, kids etc. It’s a nice diversion!

Here’s a few shots from our flight, North Beach and Coit Tower.