Day two ... or This shit just got real.

Day two, no plan, sore legs, sun burnt. But still optimistic ;)

Starting the day I would say that we were still dazzled by the glamourous city of San Francisco. Ending the day however, we had a mixed bag of emotions ranging from, oh my god there is a really crazy person on the bus to oooh, I love this shop, to why is the driver so angry, to this meal was absolutely amazing! Mixed bag I tells ya!

Initial plan today was to buy some items necessary to our upcoming road trip.
Our first item on the list: a navigation system for the car.
Solution: Best Buys.
Location: out in the middle of nowhere!

We were given instructions from the hotel concierge for what bus to catch and where to get off.

We started waiting on a particular street corner following advice given to us by a helpful homeless gentleman, “the 38 don’t stop here when it’s an L, only when it’s a 38! ... spare change?”

After depositing the said spare change, we waited for the 38 to arrive. As it pulled up at the curb, we noticed the sign “CORRECT CHANGE ONLY”.

In a panic we get out the $4 required for both of us to ride the bus. The money had to be placed in a machine feed. As I fed the money through the machine at what I thought to be quite an efficient pace, the bus driver yells “what take so long!!!???!!!!”. I reply that I am simply following the instructions of the bus system and placing my money in the slot. To which he replied, “Get on!!! Hurry up!!! What your problem!!!???!!”

Ticket in hand, shoved on the bus, yelled at for not being behind the yellow line, we push our way to the middle of the bus. We pass a myriad of people including a few crazy people, one homeless person, and a man who seemed to be trying to talk one of the crazy people into joining the army. We find a spot. The bus moves along. As we pass each block, the scenery seems to change. We go from clean, cosmopolitan Union Square to dirtier, urban streets covered in graffiti and old cars. When our stop finally comes up, we get off, looking around and only seeing a massive concrete block that supposedly contains up to five major retail chains - one of which is Best Buy. We start circling the building, looking for an entrance and seemingly come up short ... This building has been created with only cars in mind. We walk through the multi-layered car park and finally stumble across the store. To highlight the craziness of the building design, as we leave the store - navigation system in hand - we are passed by two friend men, also looking for the way out of this commercial labyrinth. In their dismay all we hear is “Sacrebleu”.

We escape the labyrinth and jump on the 38 heading back to the city of our dreams. Clean, ordered and easy.

We spend the rest of the day exploring the shopping bonanza that surrounds Union Square. By the end of the day we are exhausted by happy with our purchases.

Back to the hotel and then it is time to get ready for dinner at fancy pants Millennium. I booked us a table before we left over the internet and have very high expectations. It is an all vegan restaurant that doesn’t dress like a hippy. Its dress style is comfortably wealthy hipster making ethical meal choices while also enjoying fine dining and an amazing wine list :)

The atmosphere is great, dark lighting, flickering candle light, smooth jazzing playing softly in the background without disturbing the conversational flow. We are sat down at a cosy table for two and are handed the menus. One look and we almost faint with excitement. We can eat anything on the menu. What is that you say Ms Waitress, would we like to hear the specials, why yes we would. This is the first time as a vegetarian we have been able to have this dining experience. Usually it’s straight to the tiny vegetarian section on the menu, and saving the Waitress the effort of repeating the specials which never have a single thing for us to order. I always feel like I have to apologise for having special dietary requirements, but at Millennium I get to celebrate them!

We both order delicious meals, mine a Mexican themed dish featuring vegan cashew cheese, and Marty orders a flavour bursting meal of sweet potato, mushroom and other delicious ingredients (too many to name). Our dessert is a vegan peppermint icecream with chocolate chunks and sprinkled with coffee beans. This was amazing. After each bite Marty and I look at each other silently yelling, “Can you believe how delicious this is!!!???”

After dinner we wander back to the hotel room, full of delicious vegan food, a bit sleepy after some beer and wine and very content.

Day two over ;)