We rented bikes and rode them across the Golden Gate Bridge. A touristy thing? I'm glad we did. Halfway, we stopped to peer over the edge. I got that tingle in the feet brought on by heights or maybe by the thought of falling. A heavy fog rolling in and engulfing us, a close-up cloud stealing away with your body's heat. The unsettling roar, not of the ocean, but of the cars traversing. Looking out over the water and the vast space above it ready to take you in, carry you away. The bridge, indifferent sentinel, red pillars reaching to infinity.

As we continued biking, I looked up at the beautiful details on the bridge, to my eye very Art Deco or maybe Art Nouveau and I kept thinking of that scene in The Neverending Story where the protagonist must cross a gate and the Sphinxes slowly open their killer-beam eyes.

My cousin took us to Baker Beach where we caught our first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge to the North. A beauty!

At the Southern end of the beach we found big rocks with barnacles and mussels (I could be wrong), a rather large starfish (my first in the wild, so hard to the touch!) and some brightly coloured algae (the tide was out).

The de Young Museum, a rather strange and ominous structure in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, was one of my favourite galleries in California. In fact, it may be one of my favourite art spaces, with great natural light and an intuitive layout. I didn't take any indoor I'm particularly happy with, but here's one of the sleek exterior.



I joined a docent-led tour. The group was so small (myself and an elderly, local couple) that I had a lots of opportunity to talk about the pieces with the knowledgeable docent. She even reversed the order of the tour, starting with the modern stuff because I prefer it!

No photos of the art either. Instead, here's a tasty lentil salad I had for lunch.

I visited California in March and the first thing that struck me is the plantlife. Below, a snapshot from the 'burbs of Palo Alto and another from Berkeley.