I've never been to SF, but my brother and my sister-in-law went there in June (first time) and absolutely loved just about everything about it (climate, sights, people, food and shops -:)
It is beautiful, and the weather is fantastic. The northern waterfront, by the bay where Allen is here, and the Baker Beach areas are my favourite places, plus Telegraph Hill, but there are some pretty interesting areas south of Market St. as well. You should definitely go!
Really? A few of us (other Allen fans) were once wondering how his Russian pronunciation was like since none of us speak Russian. We knew already that his French, German and Italian was great but never got to know about his Russian till now. Thanks for sharing that!
Russian is the second language in my country, so I can say that Thomas Allen's pronunciation is very good. I have entire "Eugene Onegin" in Russian with Allen, Shicoff and Freni.
Yeah - last time I was there, the temp in Napa Valley was at highest +27°C, and in SF only about +14°. But it was really sunny. A friend of who lives in the bay area but is from England actually complained about the lack of weather - the first time it rained was nine months after she had moved to the area... :D
