Taxation of Mining Conference

Ernst & Young's 20th Annual Taxation of Mining Conference - sounds exciting doesn't it?  Would it sound more exciting if I told you it was held in San Francisco at the Four Seasons in the Financial District?  That was exciting to me!  I flew out last Tuesday to attend classes Wednesday through Friday.  They were all about, you guessed it - Taxation of Mining.  Just like in college I secured a seat front and center.  It's not like it was really that hard because no one else wanted to sit there (notice all the empty seats).  I guess once a nerd always a nerd...

Classes that first day were great and afterward one of the vendors sponsored a happy hour.  I got to try Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon and it was delicious.  It's a Napa Valley wine and I had heard it was wonderful but had never had it before.  When I asked the bartender for it he said "Ah, you know your wine."  Actually, I know very little about wine but his response assured me that I was picking a good one.  Upon further investigation I determined that Silver Oak is a rather expensive wine. 

Ryan's territory happens to include San Francisco so he flew out Wednesday to work and I got to meet him for dinner that night.  We went to Chinatown!  As I grew up on Chinese cooking, I crave it all the time.  I love being places where I can get really good authentic food. 

Then I decided we needed to get a sundae at the Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop in Ghirardelli Square.  Ghirardelli Square really is not very close to Chinatown or the Financial District but the walk was worth it.  The Ghirardelli chocolate sauce is delicious!

The next evening Ryan declined my invitation to join me for dinner with other conference sponsors and attendees.  I tried to convince him that the food would be amazing because all the Four Seasons lunches were delicious but I can imagine it might have been a bit boring for him to listen to a bunch of accounting acronyms and jokes.  So, instead we went to Super Duper Burgers and it was really good.  The ice cream is made at the restaurant from locally sourced organic cream.  You could tell they made it from scratch.  Ryan with chipmunk cheeks:

On Friday, the conference ended at one so I was on my own for lunch.  I, of course, went back to Chinatown and had some pho, which is actually Vietnamese food. 

Then, Ernst & Young provided a San Francisco trolley tour.  I had already seen a lot of what they showed us but it was fun to listen to all the little facts and to drive through several of the neighborhoods. 

The view from across Golden Gate Bridge.  Alcatraz is kind of in the middle of the picture.

Another picture from Golden Gate bridge.

When I was done with the tour and Ryan was done with work, he picked me up and we headed to Napa Valley!  I will write about our time in Napa later.  I had a great time in San Francisco and the conference was very good.  It was icing on the cake that Ryan could also be there at the same time and we could enjoy the evenings together.