Another exchange offer I received from a member of
homeexchange.com which sounded intriguing:
"We are looking for a weekend in February to ski. We have a 2 bedroom high rise condo in San Francisco with a lovely view. We would be either 4 or 6 mature non smoking adults. Any interest?
Thank you,
Kathy"
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| Great View In San Francisco - Looked Like A Wonderful Exchange |
Another interesting offer for a San Francisco weekend opportunity. We had just received from our daughter Gillian her schedule of waterpolo club games for the season and there was a weekend in February when they would be playing three games in the city. This exchange offer could fit right into an inviting weekend in San Francisco which could include a visit with Gillian, some always excellent dining, and of course viewing of some good waterpolo games, which we as waterpolo junkies were always up for. So this exchange for our cabin in South Lake Tahoe for Kathy’s high rise apartment in San Francisco was on, except for one final detail.
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View From Our Lake Tahoe Cabin For Which
Kathy Wanted To Exchange |
"Hi Shelley,
We have a very shy cat that might have to stay in the condo. You would not have to feed him or take care of him, he is so shy he would probably spend most of the time underneath the bed. Would this be a problem?
Let me know.
Thanks,
Kathy"
We had stayed in one other home which had an outside cat which did not bother us, and whom we even enjoyed, so I told Kathy that the cat would not be a problem. Before we arrived in San Francisco though, Kathy told us that she would be taking the cat with her, so we would not need to worry about it. Little did we know that the actual cat itself would not be the problem!
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| View Over San Francisco and Coit Tower From Our Apartment |
In February, 2011 we set off for a weekend in the city and some waterpolo games. Kathy had told me to pick up the key to her apartment from the 24 hour doorman, which we did upon our arrival, and after finding our parking space in the underground garage and taking the elevator up to our weekend apartment we walked into a room with an amazing view of San Francisco and the entire bay, including Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, the city of Oakland, and directly across from our apartment, the infamous island of Alcatraz. Floor to ceiling glass on two full sides of the living room, along with a small balcony on the 19th floor made us feel like we were on top of the world. With sun shining brightly over the city by the bay we opened the sliding glass doors and immediately felt the breeze off of the San Francisco Bay engulf us. Viewing the multitude of sailboats racing through the water before us provided us entertainment while just sitting on the patio.
But lunch beckoned us, so off we went down the steep hills of SF to the Italian area of North Beach for a delightful portabello paninni and a cold glass of Pinot Gregio while sitting outside basking in the sunshine, pretending to be native San Franciscans.
After lunch and a steep walk back up the hill to our new apartment we took a closer look at the place, and realized that though this apartment had a spectacular view, it really was not up to the standards we had been use to when making other exchanges. The large glass doors were filthy, which really distracted from the gorgeous view, even though Mark tried to clean them with some glass cleaner, the outside patio and table were very dirty and actually uninviting, and even with the cat gone, we certainly were made aware that it had been living there! The apartment had not been vacuumed and there was cat hair everywhere, including on the furniture and the beds. There were numerous cat toys left around the apartment, a litter box in the bathroom and scratch boxes in the living room and bedroom, as well as a cat feeder and water bowl in the bathroom. By the end of the weekend Mark and I were both having allergic reactions to the missing cat and realized that from that point on we would make a point of only staying at homes which were cat free! I think that this must have been Kathy’s first exchange as she had not only not had the apartment cleaned before we arrived, but there was no room left in any of the closets or drawers for our belongings and the refrigerator was so packed that there was not even room for the bottle of wine we had brought with us. Needless to say, we did not feel comfortable spending much time there which was a shame, as it could have been such a wonderful place. However, we had other things to do and enjoy while being in the city.
Gillian found a new restaurant in San Francisco for us to try for dinner Friday night; an Italian bistro called Seven Hills, less than a mile from our apartment on Hyde Street in the Russian Hill area of the city. After enjoying the baby clams in polenta and tomato broth as our appetizer, the dungeness crab cannelloni, three meat stuffed tortellini, and the crispy braised osso bucco we ordered for our main courses, as well as the mouth watering Italian doughnuts stuffed with creamy, warm, sweet ricotta cheese we shared for dessert, we forgot all about our very hairy apartment up the street. Good food can make one overlook many unpleasantries!
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| A Must Try In San Francisco! |
Saturday was spent watching several water polo games at the prestigious San Francisco Olympic Club, which was sponsoring the tournament, and for whom Gillian plays. After watching games for over fifteen years we have become addicted to the game and especially enjoy watching our children play, where ever they may be. Because of this addiction we have traveled the world watching them and have visited and explored cities we may never have seen if it had not been for waterpolo. Now, with the ability to exchange homes in various places this has enhanced our waterpolo travels. In between games during this trip we were able to enjoy the exceptional weather while wondering the city eating, drinking, shopping, and even stopping in at an art gallery where we viewed some Picassos and the works of other expressionists. All and all, a wonderful way to spend a Saturday!
Sunday morning we were ready to leave the cat invested apartment and head back to our home in Sacramento, but decided to walk down the hill to a local diner for breakfast, which proved to be another delicious meal. An order of eggs benedict for Sunday morning can’t be beat! Then, it being San Francisco, we headed back up the steep hill, and justified the large breakfasts we had just eaten by the exercise we were getting with the uphill climb.
Even though this exchange was not one we would place on the top of our list of favorites, it was an enjoyable weekend, and it proved to be a learning experience for us as well. From this point on we decided that we would make it clear that we did not wish to exchange with anyone who had cats, and would try especially hard to make exchanges only with those homes which are second homes, so they are not as crowded with personal items and hopefully cleaner. We are also now requesting that they be professionally cleaned before our arrival as well as after we leave, which we have always done with the two properties we own, and always assumed that others did as well. Now we know that this is not always the case.
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| San Francisco Sunset From Our "Hairy" Apartment |

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