Hi all:
Today, guess what, I really went for touristic stereotypes. We started after a nice breakfast in our newly rented Beetle to Corte Madera. There we were initially looking for a certain clothes store, but could not find it. But hanging out there and having a nice coffee was nice. Then we went to Sausalito, where we went for a nice little walk. We saw a ferry almost leaving, but by the time I had decided that taking it was not a bad idea it was gone. We looked at the schedule and decided to postspone this trip for tomorrow. Instead we walked along the street, only to see loads of gift shops and art galleries.

However, then Shadow stopped, and suddenly I found a little bird sitting on my right arm, a Cacadoo. He very gently held on to my arm and did not even fall when the owner made me turn my hand. He put a few seeds in the palm after he had shown me that the bird was a gentle little fellow by putting my finger in his mouth. As soon as the cacadoo saw the seeds, he very gently picked up one after another and quite noisily ate them. He had really nice feathers. We left, only to return to take pictures.
This bird owner was really nice. He made the cacadoo sit on my arm again. Then he put a single seed into my mouth and had me make kissy lips. The little bird really took the seed from me this way, it was quite a bit of fun I tell you.

Then came the really touristic part, Shadow drove to Golden Gate Bridge. When you walk underneath it to get to the pedestrian lane, you really fear the bridge is going to come down, the sound of the cars rolling above you is not too trustworthy. Finally we walked up on the bridge, and this is where picture-taking started. Walking to where the bridge actually starts crossing the water takes quite a while. We only walked until it hit land again on the San Francisco side, and then I decided to go back. Thinking about it, it is amazing how such a huge bridge can hold this many cars and pedestrians and bikes all at once, just hanging from huge metal wires.

By the time we arrived back at our car we were both hungry. So we drove back to Corte Madera, where we decided to have Mexican food, my first encounter with real Mexican food, not counting the experience in Estonia. And what I ate was delicious. Then we went into a store, where both Shadow and I found some items we wanted - and I finally got him his belated Christmas present. We were both thrilled to unpack them and play and experiment. We only had to interrupt for cutting the salad and having dinner. Then I found out that te delivered software is not at all blind user friendly, but I like the device anyway. I will see what I can do. Now after having shown me my newly bought little thing Shadow is happily playing around with his, good patient Shadow!
Anyways, have fun everybody and look forward to new San Francisco reports, Chris:-)

Hi folks:
You know what Shadow and I did today? We rented a car - but what car! A VW New Beetle! And guess what, Shadow is having so much fun driving it! I don't mind at all, I enjoy going with him. Today the weather again was wonderful. First we went to a shopping mall, where we later decided to have Mongolian food. It was not much different from Chinese Cuisine, but the way it was prepared was interesting to watch. Then a little later we met two friends and went walking with Them. I know, Hapoo would have loved this walk along a kind of a forest in a quiet park. We took offroad shortcuts, which was quite adventurous, and we walked near a lake, where Hapoo could potentially have chased ducks. Well they are on the lake, but if she got over her fear of water, she could have.
Tonight I think we will be eating in an Indian restaurant. I trust the family's judgement that it is good, in fact, I am already a little hungry. Have a wonderful time - and I truely hope non of you loyal readers are directly or indirectly damaged by any of the tragic events that have recently happened, Chris:-)

Hi everybody:
First of all, may I wish all of you who celebrate them a happy Yalda and merry Christmas? I hope you had nice celebrations in your families or with friends. Here is what we did:

We had a wonderful dinner of tongue, mashed potatoes, vegetables and two kinds of salad, which was really delicious. I had not had tongue, one of my favourite foods, for ages, and this was incredibly great. We also had candles turned on, though no Christmas tree, but I did not miss it. For dessert there were apples, oranges and some other strange kind of seeds. People also had pomegranates with or without salt. And then later we had ice-cream and delicious pastry, followed by the mandatory tea. I tell you, this family gathering was really both entertaining and relaxing. On a personal note: I also found somebody who was as much into tennis as I am, so we had a good time exchanging views on different tennis players, their game and personality and the development of tennis in general. It was quite a bit of fun.

So let's see if tomorrow the weather is better, so Shadow and I can finally go on the long walk we had always wanted to take from Berkley home, cheers for now, Chris:-)

Hi everybody:
Again this is Chris with a update of what we did. Shadow is off work for now. Last Saturday we went to a certain street in Berkley, where shopping was really nice. I liked that one quite a bit. In the evening we met some of his relatives. Nice house, nice people!

Yesterday then we went to San Francisco and walked all around the city. It is interesting how the Chinese part is really dominated by Chinese people, everybody speaks Chinese, houses are Chinese style, and you get loads of really Chinese products. Once you get to the end of that section, you find yourself immediately in Italy. Language and restaurant displays change suddenly. We walked quite a bit, the weather was great, and I enjoyed it. We also came through the financial district, where one 17-story building stands beside another. But it is not an office complex of glass and metal, but the entrances are designed in different styles. The s next thing to notice was that there was no electricity in a few parts of downtown SF, so the restaurant we had our lunch in was not able to offer us any coffee or expresso.

San Francisco has busses that are run from electricity lines above them. Just like the Estonian system, but the busses are newer. And then there are the cable cars, very touristic, but also used by the local people, that climb the steep sections of the city center.
Okay, all for now, have a wonderful time while I am going on my next adventures, byebye, Chrisļ

Hi everybody, Chris here:
I am telling you, this is a really nice place. The weather in the afternoon is superb, and of course, Shadow is with me all the time. I have not heard from Hapoo, so I bet everything is all right with her. Yesterday Shadow and I went to downtown Berkley and did a lot of walking along the university campus and down tTelegraph avenue. You can meet some crazy people I'm telling you.
Apart from that I caught a tiny cold, but Shadow's mom is taking great care of me. Generally, everybody is nice, and I really enjoy my holidays. Shadow will be off all next week, so we will have the cance to do a lot of sight-seeing and all that. So have a wonderful time and enjoy the sun if it ever comes out in your part of the world, Chris:-)

Hi all, Chris writing.
Don't complain, Hapoo gave me permission to do so.She went to her kennel two days ago, which she did not like much. But she had to, since at this moment I am in the U.S. with Shadow. And believe me, it is really nice - and of course his family. Hapoo would probably not have liked to accomany, because the flight was incredibly long, and the plane was narrow. I don't know if she would have managed to stay with her head under somebody's seat for eleven hours, poor dog!
I will tell you more when there is more to tell, so far we have taken two walks around the neighbourhood, we even went through a pet store to look at what was available.
So have a wonderful time everybody and enjoy Christmas or anything else you are celebrating, if so, Yours, Chris.