7-7 in Memoriam

July 7 is a memorable day because of the 7-7-5 bombings in London. I remember the day well because I had just moved to Houston and my best friend Simone was living in London. We finally made contact via email and she was totally safe.

Who knew that a year later I would be living there too - and that my job would take me to Kings Cross Tube Station every day - the location of the bombings. Flowers are placed by the memorial each year and I imagine that today there is a huge garden or remembrance.

Independence Day on the Move

It seems that I'm always moving to a new city over the July 4th holiday. Way back in 1995 I moved from Salinas, CA to San Francisco. In 2005 it was from San Francisco to Houston. This year it is from San Francisco to Alameda. Not a far move but a huge life style change.

Alameda is a secret little island off of Oakland. Getting to it is a bit like trying to find the mythological Avalon. Once you're there it feels like you've stepped back in time to the town that slept through the 1960s-2000 and is just arriving, somehow, at 2008.

I love Alameda and have always wanted to live there. My favorite yoga studio is there - Alameda Yoga Station which is a huge selling point. So to give it a try before committing I'm renting a room in my friends Stacey and Stefan's house for a couple of months. They live in an Easter Egg colored Victorian. The house is fantastically situated two blocks from the beach, Trader Joe's and cute shops. The big challenge will be the commute into San Francisco. Although it is close to BART the station is not walkable. A cross-bay commuter bus runs and so does a ferry to San Francisco, plus the famous casual carpool picks up just a few blocks away.

My second day back in the area I recruited my friends David and Rachel to drive me around Alameda. As we approached the beach the skyline was filled with parasailers and as we got closer to the shore we were blown away by the number of people biking, roller blading, running, walking and sunbathing. "This is Alameda?!?" asked David and Rachel. Yes! - see why I want to live there?

Mind Mapping at a Price

Tootling around the San Francisco Bay Area after a three year absence is like filling in the grey areas in a giant map. I kind of sort of remember how to get places in the big picture but the little details need completing. Nicole has been nice enough to let me use her car. Unfortunately it is a gas guzzler and my mind mapping exercise is a bit pricey.

So far I've made it to Oakland, Berkeley, South San Francisco and all over the City of San Francisco. The only landmark of note that I've not yet seen - the Golden Gate Bridge. Kind of hard to miss but I know those golden gates are waiting for me.