Life In Our New Neighborhood In North Beach

Along Union, Grant and Cadell

In between unpacking and sorting out stuff in our new flat, I check my e-mails to know what is happening around my family and friends here and abroad. At home, now~in our flat~everything is still on a temporary basis as far as interior design is concerned. I have yet to strategically find the exact spot for each item needing such amount of space for aesthetic bliss and practical use of space. Right now, the microwave is resting on top of my bureau in our bedroom~ ooh-la-lah! And my piano is still at the garage downstairs! But the best part of it is having our Comcast cable working at last since last night after we relocated here last Sunday. It has been installed completely as of yesterday and with the DVR- Digital Video Recorder, husband was able to record one of our favorites, like Dr. Phil, for instance.

Last night, we went for a walk at the Washington Square (park), a block away from our flat. From there we moved around the North Beach area we were not familiar with yet. It was around 8.30 PM when we started sauntering and the city was just starting to come alive~wow! It was still bright at that time when the famous “San Francisco Fog” started dancing in the air and covering the clouds, it started to get dark gradually and then the temperature went down; gave us a chill; we had to get our pull-over back in our flat before heading for our walkathon or we'd freeze!

Most bistros and ristorantes were packed (can’t believe how much people patronize North Beach, indeed); a number of joints had live music; scents of freshly baked bread can be smelled from our kitchen in our flat up to the whole part of North Beach! Now we smile when we see people trooping this famous part of San Francisco (North Beach/ Little Italy) which is famous being the most European part of SFO. Now this is officially our “neighborhood" since June 18, 2006!

The Argentinean Steak House sits next to our building and next to it on the corner of Union and Grant is the Italian French Baker that husband loves to come to every morning to buy a roll of freshly baked French bread. We really love this neighborhood as everything has a homey touch in it and not at all commercialized. Near by is a delicatessen and close by is the gelato (Italian ice cream) house. There are boutiques for hats, necklace, specialized cake (i.e. art décor hand bag cakes), etc. And take note, at 7 A.M., 9 A.M. and 12:15 P.M., we hear the church bells ring to tell the city that the mass time is fast approaching! Isn’t that neat?

The local postal office is along the Washington Square. So we are really on a strategic area near everywhere! Last Tuesday was my first marketing day at Chinatown where I got a lot of fresh veggies and fruit in season (cherries, black berries, mangoes and bananas) for a reasonable price. Would you believe that a pound of freshly ground pork is only 89 cents? Where in the world can it be so good but only in Chinatown? I also bought freshly cut chicken! From our flat to Chinatown is just a 4-minute walk and I enjoyed my marketing time con cardio vascular exercise on the road!

On the other hand, husband and I have been able to regularly attend the noon time mass at 12:15 PM at our parish in Saints Peter and Paul Church (Catholic Church) since Tuesday this week and up until yesterday (husband was on a business trip so he was “absent” at church). Otherwise, he comes with me. This part of our life in San Francisco is what we dreamed about- of being able to nurture our spiritual/religious life by going to mass daily because of the short proximity of our home place to the church.

Well, this is all for now. I have to start yet with my unpacking routine once more. Until next blog, folks, goodbye. Ciao!