During my trip back to Seattle, I was also able to visit a few other cities: San Francisco, where I used to live, Tampa, where a lot of my friends moved to, and Chicago, where I might live in the future.
How many meals can I fit into 24 hours in SF?
Just a few hours after leaving Scott's wedding in Seattle, I had an early flight to San Francisco. It felt strange to be in my old neighborhood again (Lower Pacific Heights), a year and a half after leaving. My first stop was the Mission district to pick up Isaac's keys from Benson, because Isaac and Tien were out of town. They let me stay in their place anyway, which was just down the street from my old apartment, near Polk street.
When I got to their place, I forgot which apartment they lived in and tried to open the door to an apartment on the wrong floor. I thought it was the 4th floor, but it was the 3rd. I had the right location on the floor though! At 10am I'm sure whoever was in room 401 was a bit concerned that someone (me) was fumbling with keys, trying to break in.
It was really nice to be back in SF. There's just something very unique about the city...the Victorian apartments, the ridiculously steep hills, the people speaking Spanish everywhere, the crackheads and homeless people, the naked guys wandering around the Castro...it's the place where the unique (aka crazy) go to be more unique (aka more crazy) than everyone else. After spending so much time in a more conservative country like Poland, I couldn't help but be shocked by some of it, even though I used to see it everyday when I lived in SF.
I love this city!!!
Steepest hill in the city...the cars basically tip over if you sneeze on them
I was able to do lunch at one of my favorite restaurants with my old room mate Ben, his fiancee Julia, and our friend Wendy at Burma Superstar. I don't even know how to describe Burmese food except that it's really good. Maybe a mix of Thai and Indian? I don't know. But, wow, it's dang good. The salad, sumosa soup, and chicken and shrimp casserole...the best.
Ohhhh yeaaaaa....
Pictures cannot describe how good this food is
To enjoy the nice weather, we went to Zeitgeist, a bar in Noe Valley with a nice beer garden and a lot of "alternative" people...bikers (both choppers and road bikes), hipsters, frat guys, pierced and tattooed people, and everything in between. A perfect eclectic SF mix. Add to it Ben with his Lululemon sweater (so trendy, my friend!), and there was a little of everything. After a couple beers and some really good home made tamales from a woman pushing around a big cooler full of them, we went to Ben and Julia's place in Noe Valley. We hung out with Ben's brother and his wife and 2 kids. The kids were really funny. I had to explain to the oldest, 3 year old Trent, who my favorite Disney princess is (apparently he asks everyone - and apparently we are going to have to fight over Ariel). He also fed me imaginary alligator eye balls, which were delicious. We grabbed some real dinner of sweet maize sandwiches with pulled pork, tomato and avocado from Pica Pica. Wow! It's nice to get this kind of food that we don't have much of in Warsaw.
Tamale from the Tamale Lady
Maize sandwich
I was able to pick up a chicken and lamb shwarma and a Bob's apple fritter on my way home, capping off a great 24 hours of eating. When David Thai visited me a couple years ago, Ben ate his apple fritter when David left it on the counter overnight. David woke up looking forward to his fritter, but when he went to the counter it was gone. Ben was standing off to the side licking his fingers with a big smile on his face. He thought it was a gift for him. Whoops! So I brought one back to Seattle for DT to make up for it.
24 hours after I landed in SF, I was back at the airport to go home for a nice Easter BBQ dinner. I sure missed SF, and even though I was only there for 24 hours, it was well worth it.
Wedding and beaches in Tampa
After a few more days in Seattle, the next stop was a week in Tampa...for Megan and Lonnie's wedding, some work meetings, and to see old friends who worked in San Jose with me a couple years back. About half of my friends from San Jose moved to Tampa for work, so it was nice to see all of them. We took a couple days to relax on the beach, ride jetskis, meet with friends, and hang out in the sun...you know, things you can't do in Poland too often (actually, as I write this, it's in the high 70s outside, in May).
Jet skiing in Tampa
We all used to hang out in San Jose all the time
I also thought I'd do a little training for the triathlon while there. I didn't swim, but I tried to run on a couple of the mornings. It turns out that running in the Florida humidity during the day is not a good idea. Especially when there are alligators along the road! No joke, I saw 3 alligators on one of my runs. I can promise you that I have never run faster when that tired. I was even thinking about how to run away from them if they started chasing me. Someone once told me that you have to run zig-zag...that gators can outrun you in a straight line, but they have a hard time turning back and forth. When I got home, I read this article, and for some reason I believe this one more that what "someone once told me" (because to be honest, I don't even remember who once told me or if anyone really told me at all...maybe I just dreamed it). Good thing no alligator attacked me, or I'd look really silly running zig-zag, just before getting eaten.
Gators lurking in the water
For the wedding, Hien, a good friend that I stayed with (along with Mike and Pascale), was supposed to do a reading. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make the wedding, so that morning, while in the shower, I get a knock on the bathroom door. It's Hien, telling me "Hey can you do the reading? It's on your bed. Good luck!" What??? After the initial shock and the attempts to find someone else to relieve me ("oh, maybe so-and-so can do it, they might want to"), I finally decided to embrace it. The problem is that I didn't know where to go, what to do, or anything. I just had the words to read. I didn't know if Megan knew I was going to do it, and I had never even met Lonnie before...how surprised would he be to see some stranger come up to the altar to read something. But since Hien is also Asian, maybe nobody would notice.
The reverend is watching my every move
Everyone at the wedding (not "everyone that was at the wedding", but "everyone...at the wedding")
The wedding was really nice, and it was so nice to see the international crowd again (from New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Ireland, UK, and all over the US). Just like old times in San Jose, Rayellen even cooked for dinner for everyone one night. And guess what...she made chili...with home made tortillas!!! SCORE!
Home made chili and tortillas!
Overall the trip to Tampa was great, Hien and Laura were amazing hosts (they fed us, Pascale and Mike got a bedroom, and I got my own as well, plus we got to drive his car anytime we wanted). It was sad to leave them all, but hopefully we'll be back together again someday.
My home town I've never lived in
The last stop on the US tour was Chicago. This was a very top secret trip, because I wanted to surprise my good friend Meg on her birthday. Meg, by the way, visited me last year, and owes me a guest blog post. So stay tuned for her thoughts on Poland and Prague coming soon (so she promised).
Just like all the other times I've visited Chicago, I took the train from the airport to the city, like a local. I noticed everyone on the L playing "Draw Something" and "Scramble", the only 2 games I play on my iPad. So I guess it must be cool to play them. I went to the PwC office to see old friends (and I guess to work). Kate is back in Chicago, and we realized it was the 7th country we've seen each other in since March 2011. I also got to see Tiffany's new baby "Storm" and several other old PwC friends. It always feels like I used to live in Chicago, even though officially I never have, other than the Summer I stayed on Meg and Kim's couch.
Me and Tif's baby Storm
I was supposed to stay with my old roommate Geoff, but he was too busy with work, so I barely saw him. And when I mean busy, I mean working til 5am on the first night I was there, and 2am on the second night. At least we caught up for Hawaiian food on my last day. It was great to eat at all my Chicago favorites (mainly Chicago Bagel Authority, Aloha Eats, and El Burrito Mexicano).
These tots were quite delicious
To surprise Meg, Kim organized everyone to go to a bowling alley for her birthday dinner. She didn't know anyone would be there, so it was a nice surprise for her to see all her friends. Then I walked up to the window from the outside, doing my best creeper stare at them while they were inside eating. Everyone at the table saw me except for Meg. Finally someone told her to look, and when she did, she screamed and yelled "what the f*&$ are you doing here?!!" loud enough for me to hear through the window. The last time I was in Chicago, I told Meg I was coming, but surprised everyone else. So this time it was nice to surprise her. Earlier that week she told me how great it would be if I could come for her birthday, so it was nice to be able to see her.
Surprising Meg for her birthday
The trip to Chicago was a nice one, although short. And every time I go there I can't help but think that the next time I'm there, I'll be looking for an apartment.
The flight home was easy, and it's a bit scary how used to long flights I am these days. There was one scary moment when a guy collapsed, while standing by the toilet. He threw up while on ground and was unconscious for a bit. I was sleeping when it happened, but woke up during the commotion to see 2 guys helping him...luckily there was a doctor there and the guy ended up being fine. I'm just glad doctors are normal people too and can often be found amongst the regular crowd to help us in times of need.
I have lots of writing to do for my trips to Belgium, Ukraine, Budapest, Copenhagen and Croatia, so I will leave you on that note. Stay tuned!
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