Back in the Bay

We're officially back in San Francisco for a few more weeks. Hayden and I have sublet an apartment for the month of February at Grove and Divisadero--we moved in yesterday. It seems fine: walking distance to grocery stores and the gym, plenty of restaurants near by.

I'm really happy to be back in the land of decent winter weather. I spent last week in Mexico City with Hayden's sister Jessica, which has a comparable climate. Mexico City is an interesting place, if not necessarily a place you'd want to live in. It's very spread out and a bit hard to get around (think Los Angeles or Atlanta). The streets aren't the cleanest, though the air quality wasn't bad at all (we were lucky to get some rain and wind, which blows the smog away). The altitude does take its toll--I felt tired most of the trip.

The city has a few excellent museums. If you visit, I'd recommend a stay of 3 days, avoiding a Monday (everything shuts down). We saw the Pyramids outside the city (remarkable; 2000 years old, huge and in fairly good condition). I hadn't realized that the pyramids were built 1500 years before the Aztec civilization--the Aztecs mimicked the pre-existing structures, which makes everything look contemporaneous.

The following day, we saw the Palacio Nacional (Diego Rivera murals; we hired an excellent guide we explained what was going on in each, and also provided a good summary of the history of the city), Templo Mayor (the Aztec temple excavation, with an excellent attached museum), the national cathedral (very European in design and appearance), the house of tiles, the Inglesia de San Francisco (a very old church remarkable for the fact that it was obviously sinking--as the entire downtown area of the city is. The church listed about 15 degrees to one side), and the Palacio del Belles Artes. There was a fair amount of commotion in the belles artes--we discovered after the fact that it was a funeral for a famous Mexico songwriter. As we ate lunch in the cafe, we were joined at the next table by none other that Gabriel Garcia Marquez! It was pretty exciting. He seemed quite friendly, even agreeing to take photos with several people in the restaurant.

We next hit the Anthropology Museum, a remarkable collection of artifacts, including the famous Aztec calendar (which was discovered in the Templo Mayor we visited earlier in the day). There were few tourists at the museum, or anywhere else, for that matter. It's definitely worth a visit. We wrapped up the day with dinner at the Hotel de San Angel, a beautiful monastery converted into an upscale restaurant.

Monday was spent walking in the Polanco district. On Tuesday, I headed back to the San Angel neighborhood to visit the Leon Trotsky museum (worthwhile if you're in the neighborhood already; a bit run down) and the Frida Kahlo Museum (excellent; beautifully maintained and packed with Frida's paintings and personal belongings. A very lovely structure in and of itself.). After debating about returning to the Anthropology Museum, I decided to walk up to the Chapultapec Castle to see the view. This is a museum that the guidebooks really sell short--I'd put it on my top 10, maybe even top 5, museum list. The view is spectacular, the collection comprehensive and impressive, the building itself quite grand. The main collection covers the history of the city from the time of Spanish occupation. There are suits of armor, carriages, religious artifacts, a collection of flags of the various conquistadors, very clear explanations of how Mexican and Spanish traditions were combined (everything from religion to agriculture), jewelry, weapons, etc. It took two hours to go through this section, which led to a dramatic Sisquieros mural and the main body of the castle, which contained recreations of the contents of the rooms the various rulers of the city occupied from the 1860s-1930s.

All in all, it was a busy and educational trip.

More books...

Hayden and I are still in Boston, working out plans for the next few weeks. I'm flying back to San Francisco on Wednesday, and will continue on from there for a brief vacation in Mexico City with Jessica, Hayden's sister. We're looking for a place to sublet for the month of February--email me if you know of anything. After that, we'll FINALLY move to Paris!

I've nearly exhausted the new releases section at the library, and am looking for some good recommendations. The latest books:

The Jane Austen Book Club: one of those incredibly popular novels that doesn't quite live up to the hype. The author does have a firm grasp on Austen's works, and generates some interesting discussions about the characters and plot lines. The book's characters, however, fail to come to life. They're a bit to broadly sketched, and hard to relate to.

Paris to the Moon: a collection of essays from New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik. Many interesting bits about the modern life of the expat. Too much information, in fact: from child rearing to politics to soccer to labor unions, there's something for everyone, but few can be interested in all of it. I found myself skimming sections towards the end.

I am Charlotte Simmons: I love Tom Wolfe's writing, but this, like all the reviews say, is one of his weakest books. The first 500 pages or so I convinced myself that it was "good enough"--a bit out of touch, perhaps, but still full of Wolfe's usual charm. While he didn't succeed in creating a believable college-age character or environment, he clearly put a lot of effort and research into the attempt. What tipped the scales for me, however, was Charlotte--no matter how hard you try, you just can't like her, and it's painful to read a book this long about someone this cold and artificial.

Little Earthquakes: The latest best-seller from Jennifer Weiner, author of Good in Bed (which I didn't like at all, but decided to give her another chance). This is definitely chic lit, but it's well-written, entertaining, and thought provoking. Nothing groundbreaking, but a decent book.

Should this be titled Alicia's year in Boston?

Hayden and I are still waiting for our visas to go through--we hope to know the complete story later today. It appears that the road to France may be long and filled with detours. Worst-case scenario? 6 more weeks in the states. We're debating between staying here in Boston, or moving to another UbiSoft office for a few weeks (either North Carolina or Montreal). The only upside to all of this mess, as far as I can see, is that we may miss most of the cold weather in France.

Hayden has established a temporary office at the Brookline Public Library, one of the nicest libraries I've ever seen. I've been making my way through the new releases section. As I have plenty of time on my hands, I thought I'd start posting a few brief book reviews, in case you're looking for something new to read.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: I'm sure you've all seen the glowing advance reviews for this title, as well as the more reserved post-publication ones. I actually did like this book, but it's nothing like what I expected. Think Jane Austen + Harry Potter. The action is limited, space instead dedicated to character development, society, and minor quibbles. A comedy of manners with a twist. Only read this if you read quickly or have a long plane flight--it's 800+ pages, and as I mentioned, not a lot happens.

Fables V.4: The latest trade paperback of this Vertigo series just came out--more of the same inventive characters, impressive art, and surprisingly literary storytelling. I don't even like comic books very much, but this is a great place to start (second, in my opinion, only to Y The Last Man).

Alive: Hayden's dad seems to share my passion for end-of-the-world and survival literature. I started with Into the Wild, which is notable but not as interesting as Kraukower's (sp?) later works. Alive, on the other hand, is everything I hoped for and so much more. Dramatic plane crash, fascinating cast of characters, truly impressive handling of a difficult subject. Yes, they ate the bodies of their fellow passengers, but there's no doubt in my mind after reading this book that you would too. I cried throughout the last two chapters, which doesn't happen very often.

Bergdorf Blondes: I'm embarrassed too admit that I read this, but it was a good vacation read. Trashy but entertaining.