Let Pauline sleep in tilll 9.00 today as we hadn’t had a proper sleep in for a few days. At about 9.10 we got a phone call from Andrew the Macworld conference organiser asking where we were. Today was the day we went on the tour with the macworld people but due to the fact that Pauline hadn’t checked her email for ages she didn’t know.
So we quickly got dressed and headed downstairs in time to meet the van along with Andrew plus Matthew and Anthony from Wollongong and Bathurst. We just sort of sat there admiring the view until Andrew stopped the van and said meet you on the other side. Pauline and I then realised we were going to walk over the Golden Gate bridge which wasn’t what we thought we’d be doing this morning. We were very lucky it was a sunny blue sky and it was perfect conditions to do the walk especially since it had been raining really heavy the last few days. I grabbed a muffin for sustanence on the way over and then the Matthew, Anthony, Pauline and I made the crossing. It is such an experience and I wanted to stop every five seconds to take pictures. One side of the bridge has views of the city, Alcatraz, marinas and other bridges. The other side is the ocean and green mountains. Lots of people were jogging and biking across the bridge, I wonder how many of them take this amazing bridge for granted. It is soooo much better than the murky brown of the Brisbane River. 🙂
It took us about 90 mins to cross the bridge and Andrew was waiting with us in the van. We then headed down to San Jose and Apple HQ. Unfortunately the Apple shop is closed on Saturdays, and it also closed until 5th January. We just had a bit of a gawk through the windows, took a few pics and then waved goodbye to the security guard. We went to a Westfield mall nearby that had an apple shop in there and also had lunch. Pauline and I shared a Garlic Tomato Bisque soup in a sourdough bun which was superb.
Back on the bus we headed to Fry’s Electronics in Sunnyvale. This was the best geek store I have ever been to. Imagine Harvey Normans, Dick Smiths and Gamedude all combined in to one big warehouse with staff that actually know what they are talking about. We spent a very happy hour in there and I found lots of stuff to buy but didn’t get anything. They didn’t have any ipods left and they didn’t sell the universal remote I wanted but hey, I’ve already spent enough money.
Back in San Francisco and the mosser, Pauline and I did our laundry even though the dryers were broken. Our clothes are now hanging all over the room and in the cupboard – place smells like detergent. 🙂
Headed to the Sony Metreon for dinner where I had this stunning steak sandwich they called a tri-tip. It had caramelized onions and blue vein cheese and a slice of marinated meat that was superb. I couldn’t believe it came from a chain food store. Mmmmm.
The Metreon is primarily cinemas and an Imax, but it also sells Sony gear and music, plus has a cool collectibles store and game workshop. Other than that it is quite boring. I thought it had where the wild things are, but I didn’t find it. We then walked around the block, had a look in another shopping mall and headed back to the hotel. Currently resting our weary bones in preparation for all the trolley riding and walking we’ll be doing tomorrow.