When my conference ended late Friday afternoon, Jason and I took a cab to North Beach (the italian section of San Francisco) and had dinner at North Beach Pizza. We ended up going to bed fairly early as I was really tired, both mentally and physically - for the first time since getting pregnant, I realized I had swollen ankles! Thankfully they returned to their normal size and shape by the time I woke up the next morning :-)
Saturday we took the ferry to Sausalito and spent the day exploring. We had lunch and giant ice cream cones, did some window shopping, and sat on a bench facing the ocean before catching the ferry back to the city. That night we went back to North Beach so we could eat dinner at our favorite restaurant, L'Osteria del Forno, for the third year in a row.
L'Osteria is a tiny restaurant - only 10 tables - and the seating is managed by a "host" who stands at the door and memorizes who's next in line (typically a crowd gathers on the sidewalk). We were about sixth in line, and a chair near the entrance opened up. There were two French men standing near us, and not only did they offer to let us take their spot in line because I was pregnant, but they steered me toward the chair so I could sit down while waiting. (We declined their offer to cut in line).
The host was also French and very funny - he kept apologizing profusely for our wait and kept saying things like "Oh no, we have a pregnant woman in line! I will seat you as fast as I can!" while offering me water and bread.
As we continued to wait, we struck up a conversation with two Danish men who were visiting California for three weeks. They were very friendly and told us about their travels thus far. They said what they found most interesting about the States is the idea of having to wait in an hour-long line for a meal....which they quickly realized might be a sign that the restaurant is worth visiting, because every meal they'd eaten without having to wait for a table was "shitty."
After another fabulous meal, we were amazed to learn that the host had bought both our desserts for us! He approached us as we were leaving and apologized again for our long wait, which wasn't necessary. We left a very large tip...
A view of the San Francisco skyline from Sausalito
The pier along the Sausalito shore
2 comments:
It sounds as if he thought being pregnant was a disease or something. "Quick, get this woman seated!". Sounds like you had a good time:)
Actually you had a taste of what women used to be treated like when they were "in a delicate condition" and that is actually how it was viewed!!!! Glad you had the experience.....there should be more of that.....
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