St Louis Cardinals @ San Francisco Giants (game 1)

The one major thing I did not buy in advance was my set of game tickets.  I looked on the website in the morning from my hotel, but to buy the 7 tickets would have cost $150 in "convenience fees".

So I went to a dugout store in downtown San Francisco, only to find that they also charge convenience fees (but kudos to the guy in the store telling me that up front as soon as I mentioned wanting to buy a ticket, and recommending I go down to the stadium in person)   I was able to go straight down there and find the one open ticket window - there's always at least one that's open through the day - where a lady was able to help me some good aisle seating in the club level for each of the seven games - 4 against St Louis, 3 against the Dodgers when I return in a week or so.

It is uncharacteristically hot here.  Fortunately, I am on the coast - there are warnings for excessive heat for inland areas, with temperatures expected to reach 110F in some places later in the week.  It was not in the slightly bit chilly this evening in the stadium that's famous for getting cold during evening games.

Unfortunately, Madison Bumgarner was scratched from tonight's game due to him feeling ill, so I got to see Matt Cain again.  He's not the dominating pitcher he once was, but, on short notice, he put it a good show, giving up just a 2-run HR in 5 innings of work - but picking up the loss, as the Giants failed to make much offence at all.

Two outstanding defensive plays by the recently reacquired Pablo Sandoval - one a great grab at third on which he managed to throw out the runner at first, and then a stretch into the stands/camera bay for another out.  One controversial play as Brandon Crawford looked to have hit a home run to the right field corner but it was overturned on replay and ruled a double due to fan interference.  The ruling was unpopular.

I took the metro back to Powell St. and then the cable car to Hyde Street, which is just a block from my hotel and by far the quickest, and most pleasant, way to get back - especially with the breeze to take the edge off the warm night.

Journey to San Francisco

I was picked up at 7.30am for the trip to Heathrow to catch a flight at 12.15pm.  The journey was mostly clear, despite being in the rush hour.

Security was quick with no queue and then just as I exited, also coming through were some of the Pakistani World Scrabble Championship contingent who I'd played against last week, who were also just coming through.  They had an equally long flight ahead of them back home to Pakistan as my flight to San Francisco.

We pushed back a few minutes early, and then taxied around for 25 minutes before finally departing.  The flight was not very busy at all - first class was full, and business about three-quarters full, but economy looked largely empty.  This is my first flight since the introduction of United Polaris - the new name for their business class section.  The food was as least as good as it was before, with a starter of beet-infused smoked salmon with a mixed green salad, a choice of mains (I had the short rib with roast potatoes), a cheese board, and an ice cream with a choice of toppings.

We flew over Iceland, Greenland, the northern territories of Canada and down the western side of the Rockies to land about 20 minutes ahead of schedule, arriving at the gate around the expected arrival time.  15 minutes later, I was down on the BART platform waiting for the train into San Francisco.

I got off at Civic Center to switch to a streetcar to travel up to Fisherman's Wharf where my hotel is.  Unfortunately, whilst I was able to but my MUNI passport for my Clipper card, I could not add cash value to the card as the credit card and debit card authorization was denied - perhaps because the address associated with my Clipper account does not match my credit card.  However, I was able to reload it at a customer service booth the next day.

It's quite warm here.  Unexpectedly so, but I was quite tired so went to bed mid-evening.