Mom has not seen or driven her car in over 3 weeks. She's not very keen on digging cars out of the snow, or for driving in the snow. She was very glad to see that it still works and I was very glad that the freezer was full with food for me and that I was not in any imminent danger.
Last weekend, mom went to San Francisco to visit Elena K. The trip had been rescheduled from December to February, due to Kiril's visit, and as it turns out, it was for the best, as mom desperately needed to escape Philadelphia and its snow. Of course, with mom's luck, the weather in San Francisco did not cooperate fully. While in the 70s up to the day before mom's arrival, the day of the arrival it dropped to 50s, cloudy and raining. Still better than Philly's 30s, but with the extra humidity it came out to about the same cold feeling. At least there was no snow!
Mom had been to SF once before and had liked it a lot, and this time reconfirmed her initial impression. It helped, of course, that Elena lives in a very dog-friendly building right across a beautiful park:
Mom loved the park and walked Elena's dog, Ivi (Evi? Eevy?) there at every chance. One day she came across the ultimate sign of civilization: a water fountain with an extra accessory for dogs! How cool is that?
Elena took mom to the Castro neighborhood which, contrary to mom's expectations, was not built around any castle. She had the pleasure to witness the rally before the Empress elections (click here for the election results and coronation event info), to have a cup of fawesome Arabic coffee, taste Dosa (south-eastern Indian crepe, yummmm) for the first time, and to enjoy the beautiful architecture and street decorations (as a handicapped person when it comes to any kind of art and decor, mom is mesmerized by pretty houses). Lots of fun!
The highlight of the trip was the 3-hour spa session. There is a spa at practically every single block in SF, but mom chose Kabuki Springs based on a friend's recommendation. And it was a good one! A great (though short, due to budget constraints) massage (and you know this means something, coming from a non-massage-fan like mom) followed by 'bath-till-you-drop' sessions in the hot tub, cold tub, dry sauna and steam sauna; Cold pitchers with cucumber water and lemon water, little paper cups with coarse salt for exfoliation, warm towels...that's heaven for you! There are not many things in life that make mom wish she were rich...Kabuki springs is now one of them.
Last, but not least, mom checked out the SF tango scene. She only made it to two milongas which may or may not be representative of the general level and atmosphere. Nevertheless, she was pleased with the level (mostly close-embrace but feel-good style), as well as the friendliness of SF dancers (at least when compared to NY dancers!)
So all in all it was a great trip for mom. And where was I, you might ask? I spent the weekend at Maria's place with Pepe and Alex. Gracious hosts, all three of them, and didn't mind my old-man's habits or, um, sounds. Oh, and I have a new nickname because of that, now: "Symph", for "Symphony". Not sure what it refers to, exactly, but I have a suspicion that my stomach is the strings and my butt is the trombone...
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