America is the most grandiose experiment the world has seen, but, I am afraid, it is not going to be a success.......... Sigmund Freud

Friday, July 30

Not much happened today. Mr Research and Ms Development gave us a day off. So we set off late and went on the tram/train/Muni I think it’s called. I never know how we’re going to get anywhere. I leave it all to Jane, who’s good at map-reading and following guidebooks. Jane went to the big modern art museum, I went to the cartoon museum. She is always keen on the landmark sites. I feel I’ve seen a lot of modern art – in London or in reproduction – and I don’t gain much by looking at another Picasso, Warhol or Calder. I thought the cartoon museum would cover the great American cartoonists – from Peter Arno to Saul Steinberg – but it was limited to comic cartoon strips. A bit of a letdown.

We met for lunch at a big beer hall place near by where we both had a plate of clams and chorizo at about $12 each with pleasant non-gassy and hoppy beer. Next to us were two men whom I took to be San Francisco advertising executives; they spoke with the pleasant rising intonation we are getting used to. One of them wore fawn brogue shoes of the type you never see nowadays outside London clubs. Fawn is actually a buttoned-down Brooks Brothers touch, but even so that should have been a clue because as soon as we started talking they introduced themselves as fellow Britons who just wanted to talk about “home”.

Our best sightseeing so far was at the Dolores Mission, one of the first Spanish settlements and full of interesting history by the early days of the city of St Francis. The building adjoining the church went back to the 17^th century and the churchyard was full of gravestones bearing the names if Irishmen.

That’s about it. Tomorrow is a big day. It is going to be exciting. It is Meet the Cohens day. Jane wondered what to wear. Should she put on a summer dress? R, ever practical, said: dress to the weather. Ted and Nancy, we look forward to meeting you!