Memorial Day Weekend: Balut, Spoon Bar, Lombard Street

After working Sunday morning, I found myself with a bunch of co-workers in Crissy Field celebrating an upcoming wedding. Tons of food and punch and games and laughter. I brought Jagger with me, who absolutely loved the attention and scene, but did not leave my side. Where is the new experience in all of this? Check out these pictures...

The one I ate - which was the largest of all, by the way

What it looks like when "unrolled"

That would be a Balut. Aka - developing duck fetus that is made like a boiled egg. I ate it. Yuck yuck yuck. Some people took a video, excepting me to vomit, and frankly I'm surprised I didn't!  Boiled eggs in general aren't my thing, especially with that included in the mix.

Spoon Fountain

Moving along, I went up north for a couple nights of relaxation. Last night, F and I checked out Spoon Bar in Healdsburg. The spoon fountain outside creates a peaceful sound as the droplets hit each spoon as they make their way to the bottom. The restaurant itself has huge cielings and is kind of cold, but not bad overall steel, modern feel. And the food, great. A few pictures below of the fish, chickpea encrused avocado, and of course - dessert!

As we arrived back in San Francisco, I decided to act like a tourist and go down Lombard Street - you know, the super famous, winding, steep street.

Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks

A warm, bright, sunny day in the city combined with a Monday off work provides numerous choices of how to best utilize it. Today I decided to go to Twin Peaks - standing on one while overlooking the other in the picture above. This city continually amazes me in the amount of nature it has. A short bus ride, semi-steep climb up city streets, and slightly steeper hike up the peak rewards you with beautiful views of the city on days like today. All of the city icons are visible: Golden Gate & Bay Bridges, City Hall, Golden Gate Park, downtown/Market Street, the Mission.

After taking several minutes to appreciate the beauty of San Francisco and identify the different neighborhoods as if I was looking at a map, I wandered away from the tourists to the other side. There, you can climb up and over each peak to get a view of the other side of the city, and a small work out. A couple took in the sights romantically together. The only thing that may have made it better would be wine and a picnic.

The neighborhood surrounding Twin Peaks is beautiful. The homes are large and colorful and obviously have floor to ceiling windows to take in the scenery. They make for a nice walk after leaving the hike.

I’d like to return with friends/my boyfriend. It would fun to bring lunch along and just enjoy the sunshine. Surprisingly, I didn’t see anyone with a dog, which if you are familiar with the city, they are usually everywhere. I’ll have to check if dogs are allowed and borrow a friends’ pet for a day.