What a trip! I love San Francisco…For years I claimed it was my favorite city (of course, back then I hadn’t gotten around much) but this last trip re-opened my eyes to the wonder and charm of the place. I loved having a little bit of time and another great “rugby wife” to explore with. We found some great little places!Need a little snack while out shopping the unique boutiques of 5th street and Valencia? How about Frjtz? A little Belgium diner with mosaic walls and a whole menu of dipping sauces for their awesome FRIES!! Emily and I shared some White Truffle-Artichoke Ketchup! It was a delicious surprise in this funky neighborhood.
Ohh…after wandering through all of the designer stores around Union Square, a little black awning caught my eye. “fiona’s sweet shoppe” we could see from outside that the whole store was only 10’x10′, but the walls were lined with jars of colorful candy. Fiona, the owner and namesake of the shoppe is an MD who is taking a break from medicine to sell the candies of her British youth to unsuspecting Americans. The sweets are all imported from Great Britain and every different sweet I tried was delightful! Lemon bon bons with a distinct lemon cream pie flavor, traditional humbugs with a minty exterior that melts into a chewy butter toffee center, sherbets…these left my mouth raw (after 5 straight hours of addiction!) They are citrus hard candy with fizzing powder in the middle. Amazing! I brought sweets home for my family, and expect that when they run out I’ll have to re-order. There is something magical about this traditional candy…
Okay, so among the shopping and sight-seeing we did get a rugby match in. The game was at Cal Berkley, where rugby is a varsity sport. It was rainy and cold…but we loved watching our team battle it out. They played well…acknowledging that Cal is the 25 year National Champion team, losing with some points on the board was a success…now we know what we’ll be up against in the finals!
Yay! And after the rugby and the shopping and the busy-ness of the logistical trip there was just Dave and Me, eating out with Blake and Emily, spending some quality time being together. That’s always the best part.