Thursday morning was our second workshop day. It was hot as ever. I was on adrenaline as this was my major day to present. All went well. We were both beyond tired. We tried to escape to our apartment and to souvenir shop right after the workshop, but Jon, another workshop presenter, caught us on our walk home. He was standing on the tram platform with Chuck and Chuck's wife, (CEO of San Francisco) so we had to go over and say hello. They invited us to lunch, and even though we had already eaten, they wouldn't take no for answer. So, we put our faces on and accepted the invitation.

Festival food is not mouth-watering. For lunch every day they get all of us cattle in a line and herd us into the dining hall. They give us a bag with a sandwich, a bottle of water, and a piece of fruit. I was actually surprised because the sandwiches have brie in them, which in the states, is a big high end deal. =)

The café Jon took us to (he and Heather both went to Dennison, and when he learned this about Heather, he had an instant crush on her) was adorable. It was down a residential street and owned by a petite mid 30s women who studied in NYC for 4 years. Jon adopted this place as his new morning home and the woman's English was good enough for him to establish a comfort with her. There was a back garden that was incredible quaint and sourced much of the café's food. Today's lunch plate was lentils, beets, potatoes, and spring salad. It looked clean and delicious, especially compared to the junk we had been putting into our bodies lately.

We got some inside info on the San Fran Y and had a lovely chat with Paula, Chuck's wife who is an architect. They told us about the life of the rich and famous and where they were venturing for the rest of the month. They also told us about Chuck's battle with prostate cancer last year and how they're working to fill the COO position there. They are recruiting a woman who is a risk taker which was refreshing to hear.

After lunch we walked back to the apartment. It's a 45 minute walk. We sat down for a second when we got back, and both fell asleep we were so exhausted. Heather was stressing about her souvenirs so after only a 20 min nap - I love them but she hates them, we groggily headed back into the city. She had her heart set on this little shop she found 5 years ago under the Charles bridge. We eventually found it and she got intricately painted candle sticks. My favorite part of this afternoon was stumbling across this bridge under the Charles bridge, where lovers wrote on a padlock, and locked it to the ironwork on the bridge. The bridge was covered in multi-colored padlocks.

It had been several hours since lunch and we were both hungry. Heather, who is vegan, hadn't had much protein all week and was craving tofu so we pulled a tourist move and went to an Asian fusion restaurant right outside of the main square called Zebra. It tasted amazing. There was an Asian family from the states sitting next to us. They finished their dinner halfway through ours and then all 4 of them pulled out their phones and did their own thing in their phone world for at least 20 minutes. Not even glancing up at one another or speaking. It made me think about a lot of things, but mostly how this is the first time I've been connected on a trip. I used to look forward to the excuse of being across seas - I couldn't be reached via phone, at least not until I was back in my room on my computer. This time I used my smartphone as a wifi device only, so anywhere I go and can connect, I'm connected. Which makes it amazing to keep in touch and especially coordinate with the group here, but I still miss the complete submersion in the culture when I travel, without external access.

Anyway, we were both fat and happy with full bellies after that meal. And so we headed back to the festival grounds for the evening program. We walked around and said hello and ran into our COO and his wife, which was great. It was their first time in Europe and they had taken some time beforehand in Geneva, which apparently made all the difference in the world. He seemed happier and more relaxed than I'd seen him in a long time. We chatted easily for a while before he went to make his rounds. On our walk home we noticed hundreds of seagull-type birds on the platform next to the river. They were all evenly spaced out and talking to each other. I couldn't tell if they were about to attack or sleep peacefully. It was quite a sight either way.