What's all the hype?

Walk #unlucky 13

It's been over a week since I've made any walking progress! I worked every night last week and spent my long weekend in Tahoe, but still. I feel behind!

In all of my working two-jobs, running, traveling and family-time whirlwinds I have almost missed the Birth Of Impressionism at the de Young. So I decided to bolt out of work, and see if I could make it there today.

I chose to take Fulton the whole way as it seemed the fastest.

I passed some cool stuff along the way. The African American Art and Culture

Complex was visually stimulating and it seems like they have a ton of cool stuff happening. I've made a note to check out some of their upcoming exhibits. (I would've stopped but I was already pushing the clock to make it to the de Young!)

Thankfully, Fulton proved to be relatively flat (for San Francisco, that is). And even though I was mostly focused on my destination, the Impressionist exhibit was sold out for the afternoon. Not to fret, I got tickets for Friday night which will be more fun any way.

To turn the afternoon around, I decided to finally see what all of the fuss is about. In the last few months, all of

my roommates, several volunteers, multiple co-workers, and riders on Muni have sung the praises of Arizmendi. Located on 9th between Irving and Judah, today seemed like the perfect opportunity for me cross the park to test out everyone's favorite bakery. Recognizing that when the bar is set overly high by everyone you know, it makes it especially hard for that thing to meet your expectations, Arizmendi - not my favorite. I really dislike places where you have to be "in the know" to order. It's not exactly friendly for new customers. And I'm not just referring to the fact that there is no menu, or guide to tell you you have to grab the items you want then get in line, no one, customers or 'owners', of the crowded bakery offered any assistance. Dude, just tell me how it works, instead of rolling your eyes at me for not knowing. Grrrr. In the end I had focaccia (because I had no idea there was pizza or how to get it), a mediocre hot chocolate and a hard, dry chocolate mint cookie. I'll give them credit for "Make Loaves , Not War" and for beeing a co-op, but overall, it was a disappointing experience.

On my walk home, (9th to Lincoln, Lincoln turns into Frederick, Frederick to Belvedere to Haight and Clayton)

I grew sad that I had not come across any interesting cement street stamps. I was on quite the roll for my last few walks. But as they say "Ask, and ye shall receive."

Thank you, San Francisco Street Cement Stampers, thank you very much.

Total mileage: 5.31