San Francisco (the somewhat-jaded-but-still-interested-tourist edition)

Sorry for the several-day lag... homework, plus I was waiting to receive one photo from my band director before posting.  This will be the last post for this trip.

So, on Saturday, we went into San Francisco.  We had only a very short time (we were dropped off at 10 and told to be back on the bus at 12:45), and were dropped off at Pier 39 which isn't that fun if you've been there more than once and don't like to shop (look, kids, Alcatraz again. Look, kids, sea lions again).  I suppose we could have checked out the ship&submarine they have nearby, but I was waiting for my friend Laura to pick me up to go out to lunch, so Alex & I just walked around and did exactly those things I started out the entry with.

Then, my friend Laura, who goes to UC Berkeley, picked us up and we went to Mission, an area on Mission Street centered around a couple of actual missions (which we unfortunately didn't have time to see).  We went to lunch at a delicious vegan/vegetarian organic restaurant called Gracias Madre.  It was veryveryvery yummy.  I got a horchata latte and a butternut squash quesadilla with so many ingredients I can't even begin to list them.  The greatest tragedy of the day was leaving my leftovers in Laura's car so I couldn't enjoy it later... I have nothing but rave reviews for this place (service / atmosphere / food ALL FANTASTIC), but I'll save that for a Yelp review.

My friend Alisa, who goes to UC Davis, was also in town, and she and her friend met us for lunch as well.  I haven't seen either her or Laura since December, so it was a really fun lunch just being ridiculous (at one point we almost got Laura to salsa dance in the middle of the restaurant, and the waiter offered her free dessert if she did - unfortunately that hilarity never happened) and catching up.

San Francisco was very traffic-y, and despite Laura's best efforts to get us back to the bus 10 minutes early, we wound up being 15 minutes late.  Thankfully, they didn't leave without us, because the next destination was back down to Cupertino, a 1.5-hour drive away.

We went to West Valley College, where our instructors gave a clinic to a high school about to go on their own tour to the British Isles (lucky kids!).  They played one of my favorite pieces of all time, Irish Tune From County Derry / Shepherd's Hay by Percy Grainger, and they were GOOD - Irish Tune gave me chills and almost made me cry (it usually does, it has a lot of personal meaning for me).  They're an affluent school from an affluent neighborhood, so they are fortunate enough to be able to afford trips like their upcoming Europe tour as well as private instruction for almost every student and it makes sense why they are so good.  My school, LBCC, caters to an incredibly diverse student body in every way, including race-ethnicity, wealth/income, etc., so for many of our students it was eye-opening to see what resources some communities have compared to their own experiences.

After their clinic, the students had to go (my lateness plus bad traffic had made us arrive quite late to the school), but we still got our instruments out and rehearsed a bit in their facility.  We then went to a group, ASB-paid dinner at Chevy's (basically, a cheaper El Torito), before going back up to San Francisco.

We attended a concert at the San Francisco Symphony.  Unfortunately their more famous conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, was not conducting, but his associate is Herbert Blomstedt, who was the conductor for a decade before Thomas took over and has been all over Europe since, so, I suppose it was alright to settle (sarcasm, he is an amazing amazing conductor).  The program was outstanding - Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Yundi, and Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 (absolutely gorgeous).

photo snuck inside the concert hall with my phone camera... beautiful venue.

photo courtesy of Brian Hamilton's camera.

We also attended the pre-concert lecture, which introduced those who attended to many elements of the Sibelius in terms non-musicians could latch onto but that musicians like us could still find relevant and intriguing.  Classical musician enthusiast that I am, I have never attended a pre-concert lecture before... I'm going to have to start going (many symphonies do them), it really added a lot to the experience.

We got back to hotel really late (after 11), and I was up a ridiculous amount of time doing homework that night as well.  The next day was spent on the bus, and we were home by 3pm.  I reunited with Loren, got In&Out as a reward for my exhausting journey, went over to his house, and got right back to work on homework.

So, that was my last trip with LBCC.  Even though it wasn't a "tour" in the conventional sense (we had no actual public performances), it was still a really neat musically-oriented trip, with cool experiences.  I'm glad I went.

My next "trip," Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in mid-April, is more an "event," so I won't be doing the typical daily posting here (I won't have internet access anyway).  I will however be sure to do a sum-up here when I get home.

For random Southern California adventures in the meantime, follow my other blog, Adventures In The Southland.