chihuly and chilly weather in sf

Day 1 – Tuesday

The Weather Channel told me that it was going to be in the mid-60s in San Francisco. Not remembering exactly what mid-60 degree weather feels like, I packed t-shirts, lightweight cardigans and jeans. I brought one wrap sweater that I wore on the plane because I’m always cold on planes. If I didn’t have that sweater, I would have needed to buy a jacket today because it was BRISK outside. This is what summer feels like? I was also told that it only rained between November and March, but there was definitely some precipitation this evening. 

Today my mom and I went to the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young. We took the #5 bus from Union Square down to Golden Gate Park, where the museum is located. We unknowingly picked a good day to visit; admission is free the first Tuesday of the month (although we did have to pay the $5 special exhibition surcharge for Chihuly at the de Young.) 

We got to the museum around 1 PM and bought tickets for the 2:30 PM group–the earliest they had available. We passed the time by sitting in on a lecture given by a docent on the life and work of Dale Chihuly and then by browsing through the gift shop.

Finally it was our turn to enter the exhibition. I had never seen Chihuly’s work before (I had no idea that Omaha’s very own Joslyn Art Museum has its own Chihuly installation), and I was blown away by his glass blowing (pun intended).  We walked through 11 galleries, each featuring different styles of his glass work. If I had to pick my favorites, I’d say my top three were Boats, Reeds and Mille Fiori. Sadly, my battery died before I could take photos of Mille Fiori, which was the at the end of the exhibit. 

Reeds

Boats

(Mille Fiori by thomwatson via Flickr)

We had dinner with my mom’s childhood friend near our hotel in Union Square. Unfortunately, my father couldn’t join us because he had plans with his client. When we reconvened in the hotel room, we each got on our respective laptops to do work — my mom was editing her photos, I was writing and my dad was doing whatever it is he does. They went to bed while I was still typing away.