A Slow Day to the Mission District

Job said, "that which I feared came upon me" and sure enough, right on time, I have come down with almost certainly the same virus that Chris has been battling for a week. It's early days, but I have seen his symptoms and know what's ahead of me.

Despite this setback, we decided to do one thing and not push ourselves. We set out with a view to looking at the Spanish church, Mission Dolores Basilica in the Mission District. The adobe chapel next to it was built in 1776 and is reputed to be the oldest building in San Francisco. The basilica was built in 1918 and designated a basilica in 1952. It has a grand exterior, one which I admired the last time I was in San Fran, but I didn't never venture inside on that occasion. Today was the day.

The lighting is the first thing that strikes you. The lights are turned down low and dim. There is darker general feel to the church which is punctuated by bright orange and yellow stained glass windows. And turquoise ceilings down the side aisles. There is a cupola in the centre, also turquoise, and the sanctuary was not all rococo as I expected from Spanish architecture, but simple and restrained. The whole thing gave a sense of quiet and reflection. I liked it, a lot. The stained glass gave a warm feel to the interior despite the low lighting.

We had a coffee in the Morning Dew cafe which was just lovely. The young girl did some lovely coffee art on my latte, but as she was passing it to me, she dropped a spoon in it, so there was laughter all round.

After, we headed up to the park and sat briefly on damp grass to look at the young people just hanging and listen to a group of musos do thier thing. We caught the underground to the Embarcaderro with a view to sitting down with a beer, but on Sunday afternoon, beer there was none, so we hightailed it to the grocery store near our digs and went home, happy tp stop.

My symptoms had come on stronger by bedtime, so not a great night for us. Tomorrow, we will relax.Read more