"Faites Simple" - Escoffier
"the avoidance of all unnecessary complication and elaboration" - Elizabeth David
Not the social security office. Not the school district office. Not even (even?) Ikea. No. It won't surprise you to know that it is a cook shop. Cooks Boulevard in Noe Valley. Full of lovely things with often mouthwatering prices - I won't be buying Le Creuset in the US. But I have bought two rather gorgeous knives from an American firm called Lamson & Goodnow of Massachusetts.
Cooks Boulevard also offers cookery classes and today between 3 and 5 pm, a rather lovely chocolate tasting. I will definitely return.
I hate to whine. Really I do. I am generally a very positive person and look for the good in people and situations and for the solutions to any problem. But in the battle to buy a travelcard/translink pass for the Muni, I am beginning to feel defeated. I won't be of course - I shall soldier on.
Anyway to start with the good. I think it is excellent that the buses have bike racks on the front for passengers to use. I'll admit, I thought it was the driver's bike when I first saw this. But it wasn't - a very fit (and you'd have to be to tackle these hills) woman got off and grabbed her bike and set off at a fast lick up the hill. What an excellent idea.
I also like that the Muni is not crowded - at least not by Tube standards - and that people are friendly. Of course I am now of the opinion that it isn't crowded because no one can work out how to buy tickets but perhaps I'm becoming cynical. And any system which has only six exit turnstiles in a row at a major station and these exits are also the entrances, is clearly not experiencing high volume of passengers. Also why are the platforms so long when the trains are two to three carriages at most?
I'm still struggling with the whole exact change only in quarters or dollar coins or bills thing. Do Americans hoard large quantities of coin? I never ever have the right change and have to work out how to get some before I attempt any journey.
Also I still haven't found out where or how to buy a Translink card. Today I was handed a leaflet by a Bart worker but he couldn't say where you bought it. He thought I might get one in the information centre at the other end of the station. This was shut because of the Veterans Day holiday. So then I headed up to Walgreens which I suspected might sell them although they of course had absolutely no advertising or signs indicating this anywhere inside or outside the shop. I am beginning to think there is a conspiracy - that you have to meet a man in a deserted part of town wearing a false beard and uttering a password in order to obtain this mysterious travel pass. And the number of people who work for the Muni who have told me that the reason they don't know anything about it is that it is new. It's not new. They've been piloting this project in the Bay Area since 2002 - I looked it up.
Anyway, having finally met a man at Walgreens who told me he could sell me this pass, he then persuaded me that it might not be what I am looking for and that I ought to get a fast pass instead. That's the monthly travel card which today was definitely not on sale pretty much anywhere. I saw more signs telling me they weren't selling the fast pass than I could count.
So once more I changed some dollars into coins and travelled home. I will get some kind of a pass soon. I'm not sure what or how but I'm determined that I will conquer this system.
By which time there will no doubt be signs up on the Muni warning staff about the bewildered and scathing British woman who is regularly approaching them demanding a ticket.
Weekends can be days of rest but not right now. Saturday morning saw me rise early to get to the San Francisco Unified School District Enrollment Fair which seemed like a good place to continue our search for a public school for the girls (that's public in the American sense, not the British). This is an annual event and I don't remember anything quite like it in the UK. A large arena was filled with stands for each school, at every level of education, and at each stand was the school's principal, possibly some teachers, possibly some parents. It was actually a really positive experience except for one thing - I'm currently looking for places for two children in the current academic year and most schools are full. Still I met lots of friendly parents, very helpful and interesting principals and some lovely teachers. And I did learn a lot and I hope to have the schools sorted soon. Watch this space.
Meanwhile, Tom took the girls to the Exploratorium which happened to be celebrating its 40th anniversary so was free. It's a hands-on science museum similar to Nemo which we visited in Amsterdam earlier this year, or Techniquest in Cardiff which we went to last year. As you can tell, we like this stuff and this was probably one of the best such museums we've visited. I got there late in the day and somewhat exhausted by the school fair, but spent long enough to get a flavour - it is full of hands-on exhibits, is huge and somehow because it is slightly less slick it feels more Professor Branestawmish and more fun.
Just outside is the Palace of Fine Arts which looked stunning on a glorious day. A mock (sorry America but what can I say) Greco-Roman temple with columns all done very well and on a grand scale in a lovely pinkish orange stone. I'm not sure why but it reminded me of Babar's city Celesteville - a combination of the architecture and the name. Again apologies if I seem not to be taking it seriously enough - actually I loved it. It was beautiful.
Saturday ended with the lease being signed in our new home. We met the landlady who is an artist and whose home it once was. I also met a neighbour. And the flat is growing on me and I already liked it. The stairs are a challenge but they will keep me fit. Along with the various hills around it.
Sunday involved a drive to Berkeley in the truck to swap it for a smaller more reasonably sized car - think small sedan or saloon. Then we went to Ikea. In retrospect we could have done this the other way around and had the truck to load purchases into. However we didn't and anyway, you can only push so many full trolleys. Ikea was a small or is that large piece of familiarity in the US. In fact if you didn't look out of the window and closed your ears to the different accent you could be in Neasden. Thankfully we weren't. We bought what seemed like lots of stuff of the necessary variety but which doesn't add up to much and still no furniture. So we have duvet covers but no duvets and indeed no beds. We have lamps for the sitting room but nowhere to sit. And so on. I have however discovered that should you be buying enough (and God knows we are) you can get someone called a Home Furnishings Consultant to purchase everything you want on your behalf (and obviously with your money) and then arrange delivery. So I am hoping that quite soon and certainly before the end of the month, we will have a fully Ikea furnished flat to live in. Then I can sit down, put my feet up and relax.
One of the last days in Wales, when we were packing our life up, the sun came through the clouds and the view from my kitchen window was like this.
I shall miss it. But I think I will miss it less than I might because our new apartment is near the top of one of those precipitate SF hills, and on the top floor. So the views are phenomenal. Here's a taste.
Oh sorry, did you want to know about the apartment?
In brief, it is in Noe Valley, on the top floor of a three story building up an inordinate number of stairs so the views are amazing. It has hardwood floors - de rigueur I gather for SF, lots of light, an eat-in kitchen which opens onto a deck, two reasonably sized bedrooms and a large sitting room. Oh and a shower room and a bathroom and very importantly the washer and dryer are in the flat.
It is a couple of blocks from the majority of the shops and the location of the weekly Farmers Market, one block from the tram (what do they call that thing - to me it's a tram), a few blocks from the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit which is more like Paris's RER than the London Underground) and five minutes to the freeway south for Tom. In other words, it is ideal. Now we just need a good school we don't have to drive across town to, and we're all set as they say here.
Also a very very wet day. More like being in a cloud than being rained on. I was soaked especially as I only have a lightweight not very rainproof coat and no umbrella. And I met my first rude San Franciscan which is noteworthy as so many other people have proved so friendly and kind. This particular individual took it upon herself to comment on the outrageously wet state of me, at length as if I could do something about it.
Anyway, moving on. Much has been achieved today. I've booked the girls in for an appointment for a health check which is a necessary step towards enrolling them in school. This particular practice (no idea if that's the US term but I'm going with it) was recommended by the tour leader at the school we visited yesterday. We're paying a one-off fee as we haven't yet been accepted by the company's health insurance having only just applied and to be honest I want it done quick and with minimum hassle. I won't tell you how much but suffice to say for a Brit who's never paid before in her life for a doctor it's a lot but it probably isn't as much as it could be. I'm sure I could work the system in some more financially sensible way and possibly claim back retrospectively or something but frankly I'm tired, and not ready for this. The doctors' surgery was where I met another friendly San Franciscan who overheard me say I was from the UK and has offered to decipher the US healthcare system for me. I will almost certainly be taking her up on it - plus she was very nice and used to live in a nearby part of London to my neck of the woods. Got to start somewhere with the friend-making process!
After that, the girls and I had a peaceful coffee and cake in Martha & Bros on Church Street in Noe Valley (great coffee, lovely cakes) where we met our next lovely San Franciscan - and this may sound strange but was genuine, honest - who gave the girls two small soft toys he had spare. Sweet.
Meanwhile, Tom picked the short straw and got to visit the Social Security Office (quite quick today) after having picked up two rather fabulous new phones. As I said, we were using horse and cart phones so neither of us is really sure quite how fab these phones are - abnormally so or run of the mill, who can tell. We're a bit like medieval peasants presented with a Ferrari - we're in awe. And did I mention mine is pink? Subtly so, but still pink.
After that, he visited the property agent and was told we were accepted as tenants, so we have paid the deposit and first month's rent and are picking up the keys tomorrow! We did have our first hitch which is that the school which we were told on Tuesday had two places for the girls, now only has room for our seven-year-old. And we had really liked it and it was convenient for us. But no rush. We can wait and judging by the list of schools Tom got from the SFUSD available places change quickly so once we are settled, we should be able to move fast to get what we want.
Right now we have to think about furniture and crockery and cutlery and curtains and and and.
IKEA here we come.
I think it is going to take quite a while before I start thinking of San Francisco as home. I know I was still calling London home a year and a half after we moved to Wales. The children however are settling down very fast. Yesterday afternoon, after yet another admin headache moment, I exclaimed "I want to go home" and they answered in unison "You are home". We've been here six days. Later in the evening they started a game which involved paying tolls on the Golden Gate bridge which they've been over once, and the Bay Bridge which they haven't been on at all. Emilia is already talking about butts and trying out the word tomayto. At this rate I shall have two small Californians by Christmas.
I know I've been complaining a bit lately so I don't want it to seem that I'm not enjoying things. Okay yesterday and the unsalubrious setting and the SS Office weren't enjoyable. But I suspect that much that is driving me nuts would do were I an American in London or some such equivalent. Although possibly not the ticket buying on public transport which is just plain bonkers. Anyway before I go off on another rant about the limitations of the MUNI system, here are some things I am liking.
1. The weather. Not a cloud in the sky. Really. Not a single cloud. Not a puffy white cotton ball anywhere to be seen. There were some today but that made a change from the dark and glorious blue sky we had the previous four days. I've worked out that the streets need cleaning here (you have to know when or your car gets towed) because it NEVER rains. Or not enough to rely on which in Wales is roughly once a day, sometimes once all day.
2. The people. So far everyone has been friendly and helpful. Including people you wouldn't expect to be, like security guards, bus drivers and tramps. Not that I'm casting aspersions on those three sections of the population but they are not as friendly where I come from.
3. The food. The supermarkets I've visited - and I will admit that they are the rather chi-chi end of the market - have been so full of plenty it has overwhelmed me. But much of what they have been full of is fresh food. And healthy food. If anything too healthy as it all has added vitamins, when I'd rather have plain. I just wish I wasn't so tired and overwhelmed by the other stuff that I could make the most of the cooking opportunities.
4. The recycling. Well I care about this stuff, so it is a big relief to know that so does SF to the point of collecting recyclables and food waste from your door. I know this is standard in much of the UK but it isn't here in the US so I came to the right place.
5. The views. This city is extraordinary. I knew there were hills but I didn't realise the place was peppered with knobbly hills which have been built on all over, creating precipitous roads. And you turn corners and there is all of the bay laid out before you. Stunning. I like big views. It was something I wasn't looking forward to forgoing when we left Wales and now I don't have to.
6. The MUNI. I know I criticise but at least they have one and it is pretty comprehensive in its coverage, clean and once you can get past the ticket barrier, easy to use (apart from Tom's one hour delay tonight). Still it's better than most places in the US so well done SF.
That'll do for now.
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