A fond farewell feast

This is my last night in San Francisco because tomorrow I'm heading back to Vancouver.  Alan has organized a farewell dinner at a Korean restaurant in Oakland.  I'm looking forward to seeing Glenda, Jocelyn, Gabriel & Alan again because during my 5 days in this city I have become quite fond of this family.

Alan, Gabriel, Glenda, Jocelyn after dinner in Oakland

But when it comes to dinner, I have to be careful !  I already made the mistake of inadvertently and ignorantly using the word 'nonsense' for the "Welcome and help wash off the dust" meal for newly arrived travellers.  Next I failed to notice a very particular table cloth at the "Welcome to our home" dinner in Lafayette.  I feel like a big elephant in a porcelain shop!



To salvage a little bit of my honour: I did not fail to notice and sincerely appreciate the warm hospitality offered to this stranger (stranger for most of the family), the effort and expertise Glenda put into the food preparation, the time that everyone freed in their busy schedule, the effort and virtuosity that Gabriel put into his violin recital and that Jocelyn and Gabriel put into the following duet (being from a family of non-players I was flabbergasted by the beauty of it all).
And I certainly appreciated being elevated from the level of a California Red buffoon, when Alan introduced me to the California Zinfandel, which is a truly lovely wine, which I can't really describe, except that it is very similar to those amazing Reds grown from the Tempranillo grape in the Spanish Rioja region.  Thank you for sharing that one with me, Alan !

For today's dinner, I have to take BART to Oakland. If the name Oakland rings a particular bell, it might have to do with the Oakland Riots. 

Call me squeamish, but I feel just a tiny amount of trepidation at the thought of having an evening dinner in Oakland.













I prepare for another descent into the darkness of the Transbay Tube.



My ride arriving at Powell Street Station. No rioters in evidence ;-)



A typical Oakland corner ?

Bart delivers me to MacArthur Station, from where it is a 7 block walk to the restaurant.  This picture shows that I did not have to fight my way through crowds and burning cars!



















After a yummy dinner it is time to say Au Revoir to this great family.  And I sincerely hope that there will be a Wiedersehen soon ;-)  

NOT my hotel

After dinner I take Bart back to San Francisco (Yes, 20,000 leagues under the sea again) for my regular Powell Street hike back to the hotel.