This morning we went to look for parking, near the hostel there is a park and ride but I assume you have to get there fairly early to beat the daily commuters, I suggest around 8am. As we could not find parking we headed over to downtown San Fran where we parked up, it was $4 an hour fairly reasonable.
We walked over to a restaurant in China town called Enjoy Vegetarian restaurant
839 Kearny St,
San Francisco,
California 94108
Tel 415-956-7868
Www.enjoyveggie.com
11:00 am – 2:30pm & 5:00pm – 9:00pm
The restaurant has a lot of fantastic mock meats and we definitely recommend it.
Afterwards we walked around a great China town taking in the sights, sounds and sometimes smells!
We walked over to a coffee shop, where Sangeet ordered a hot chocolate, we sat outside and watched the world go by. We noticed the people on the trams taking pictures of us!!
Afterwards had a walk down California Street to St Mary’s Square
We picked up the car at St Mary’s car park, underneath the park.
After taking a wrong turning downtown we ended up taking the Bay bridge, a mistake which turned out to be a blessing we had a look around Berkeley, where there were plenty of Indian clothes shops and restaurants. We also checked out the University of California. Whilst heading back to the interstate we stopped at Blick Art Materials on the check out they asked if we were teachers, I said yes yoga teachers. We got 30% off!!
Back on the road to Sausalito which is a fantastic town and full of money! The shops are designer and houses are expensive….I like this town!
After all the walking we felt a bit hungry and fancied an Indian, there are two Indian restaurants in Sausalito, Avatar’s and Sartaj.
Sartaj is a fantastic cheap restaurant with great thali’s for $9.50 we got this:
HAt the restaurant we were pleasantly surprised to see a yoga poster:
Also a fantastic artist who also plays with Snatam Kaur: Todd Boston
Driving back to the hostel we had fantastic views of the bay.
On the way back to the hostel we saw plenty of deer and raccoons.
On the east coast we had a few days in NYC where we did not need the car. We only hired the car when we were heading to Washington DC, it was a VW Jetta, as I am a member of hertz number one gold, I automatically get a 30% discount a free upgrade and Sangeet is able to drive the car at no extra cost. We usually hire the smallest car possible….as this is USA they hardly have anything small and upgrade you two classes up. This is why I keep say it is worth joining these associations e.g. Hertz, Hilton honours, etc
NYC is a very busy, people are in a mad rush to get around and do nothing! You ever had that? You say you have a very busy weekend….come Sunday night you look back and think what have I actually achieved this weekend?
The restaurants in NYC have been fantastic, plenty of choice and some great vegan and vegetarian restaurants.
Saying that by the time Sat Nan Fest had come to a close, we were looking forward to spending time in NYC.
The weather has been mild (for me) around the 80’s (F) having spent 4 weeks topping up my suntan in New Mexico I am used to temperatures of 90F plus! Sangeet has loved the weather, just the right temperature.
Washington DC has felt more relaxed and the people are a lot friendlier….does not feel like a capital city….as soon as we drove into downtown Washington DC we fell in love with it.
Around the east coast we went through the following states, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Virginia.
On the whole the people have been friendly, which is one of the many factors I like about the States.
Sat Nam fest was a perfect ending to the time on the east coast, we thoroughly enjoyed the kundalini yoga and live music performances. I found that because people are only here for 4 days they are not as friendly and it is only small chat they are interested in, perhaps I am comparing this to the immersion course. Saying that, there were a few couples who gave their addresses and said next time you are staying at our house, please let is know when you pick up your bags at the airport and we will come to collect you!
The time spent with my very good friend Prithinder was really needed. It seemed like ours texts were cold to one another. Physically meeting one another is what we both needed….it was great to see him, even though he had not been on the course he was glowing more then me….perhaps it was because he met me!?!?!!
Staying the night at Sartaj and Barb’s amazing house was great. Really nice to be able to feel at home away from home.
Also I have known Ravinder for 5 years this is the only time we managed to spend quality time together…usually in Espanola we are attending a course and he is busy selling on the course. Just the way things happened…that he flew into Dulles and we were around Herndon (20 minutes away.)
Well our last day this side. We went to sadhana at the ashram in Herndon. Afterwards Gurtrang picked us up for coffee where we went to Reston Starbucks. Another fantastic town.
Gurtrang told us his life story which was fantastic and inspirational to hear.
After saying our goodbyes Sangeet and I headed to Washington DC where we went to the Marriott hotel, the wifi is free! Later we headed to Washington memorial and the Lincoln memorial, the Lincoln. Memorial is something I have been wanting to see for a very long time.
We had lunch at a fantastic vegan restaurant:
Great sage
5809 Clarksville Square Drive
Clarksville MD 21029
United States. Which is about 45 minutes away it was worth the trip. The desserts are amazing and worth trying.
Over eaten as usual!!!!
We went back go Washington dc for more sightseeing and walking the beautiful city.
Around 9:30 we drove to Dulles airport to meet our very good friend Ravi, who was also going to Sat Nam Fest. Ravi runs a fantastic company called Tuhi Tuhi
We are having a fantastic cup of coffee at Caffe Reggio, a small Italian family run business. Harinam Singh showed us this place and the conversation is fantastic. The wifi is a great high speed connection.
Caffe Reggio.
119 MacDougal Street
New York NY 10012
United States
From their website:
“Welcome to Caffe Reggio, the home of the “Original Cappuccino.”
Caffe Reggio is proud to be the first caffe in the United States to serve Cappuccino.
Since 1927, we have been the most popular caffe in Greenwich Village, and once you have visited us, you will understand why. ”
The above statement us very true and we recommend visiting this caffe.
After spending time with a fantastic sangat, Harinam, Sarah, Sangeet and myself took the underground (F line) back to the hotel. Sarah got off three stop later as she lives in Brooklyn. Harinam kindly said he will show us Greenwich where we can have a coffee.
Greenwich is the most expensive area in Manhattan. It did not look like it! Harinam explained there will be exclusive pockets where the prices will be very high.
We first stopped for frozen yoghurt at G R O M in Greenwich village:
233 Bleecker St
New York NY 10014
USA
Sangeet had the mint chocolate chip and Harinam had mint chocolate chip and sorbet. They do eggless ice creams and they are fantastic.
Hi, thanks for visiting my blog, feel free and have a look around.Here is a bit about me, as you may or may not have guessed my name is Mandeep,I work to travel as opposed to work to pay bills and die!Every trip for me is an adventure, I have been very fortunate to stumble across amazing places and meet awesome people along the way.
Why gaygoat? When I first started this blog I was a vegetarian, so gaygoat – happy goat! Also you have to admit it is catchy and a URL you will not forget!
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