San Francisco - A favorite city

The Queen Victoria brought papers to our cabin, telling us the trip was over and to get our luggage properly tagged in front of our door before 11 pm the night before arrival and be in the Queens Ballroom assembled as group "gold" in order to leave the ship by 10am. They confiscated our boarding cards when we left for the gangway and so there we were, all alone again seeking a taxi.

(Tulips on a rooftop garden in the financial district - makes me long for Amsterdam in April)

(Storefront selling statues and curiosa)

(Our room in the White Swann Inn)

We spent 5 nights in the lower Nob Hill area close to Union Square. A little Inn, called the White Swann Inn on Bush Street is here unashamedly advertised to future visitors, not only because of its location, but also because it has some rooms with working fireplaces and a cosy, also fireplace lit, basement area where in the late afternoon guests congregate, drinking wine and nibbling snacks, while exchanging the stories of the day. The daily changing type of "lobby cookie" is another nice element that makes this small inn attractive.

(I wonder did they change the bar's name or was it always called so)

(Advertising the opening of a new store)

As long as you stay away from the Fisherman's Wharf and its tourist traps, you could explore this hilly city for years to come on regular visits, without ever getting to the feeling, that you have seen and done the city.

(Lori's Diner had a 3% Employees Healthcare charge - so Californian)

And the food options, like many large cities, are so manifold, that one would need years to eat their way through town, even if they promised themselves to never repeat any place already sampled. We are doing that and we are still having, according to Google, 5344 restaurants to go.

(Ceiling in a Bank Building Lobby)

(Take a bus for a 60 minute ride to Land's End and this is the view)

(And.... You find one of the few casted Thinker statues that Rodin created)

We took a seven day public transportation pass and rode the cable cars and buses every day to neighborhoods that weren't visited before. With Norfolk being hit by snow and wind at temperatures people should never endure as Virginia Citizens, (If we wanted that type of climate we would live in Minnesota or Boston), we relished in mid to high 60's (that is 18C + for you european readers)

(Cable Car Push truck is always nearby when a car can not make it up the hill)

(In one of the lobbies we found a Line Up of well known San Franciscans)

The number of homeless in the city startled us and the buses are often frequented by them, as the control systems on checking paid riders is very, very lax - all doors are entry points and even if you come in at the front passing the driver, he will not really check whether you pay or not.

(William Leidesdorff an early mixed race millionaire courted a lady, asking for her hand in marriage, her father showed him around and said for him to come back when he was as wealthy as he was. When he came back the lady in question had not waited. He died a bachelor)

(Holocaust monument at Land's End) (below: Naked Boys Fountain compliments of a wealthy Heiress to the city, in a park dedicated to dog walkers and Nannies with their babies)

We took this time two free walking tours given by a volunteer organization: San Francisco City Guides. They have 375 volunteer guides and growing. All guides have to pass the organizations classes and exams. The guides are doing presently up to 40 different tours. Any time a new guide wants to join and professes a special interest in a certain area or subject matter a new tour could be created.

(Neat statue near the Financial district)

(Roof top garden above a shopping mall)

(So ornate, above as well as below)

We walked the Financial District and visited there hidden gardens and public spaces inside corporate buildings and heard fantastic stories about the early financiers and investors in this city. The city requires developers and owners of buildings with a certain height or number of stories to provide "public spaces" inside or on top of the building.

(Public space in Wells Fargo building, in the back wall a section of a torn down building)

We also did a Nob Hill walking tour that gave us the stories about the railroad magnates (now remembered in the names of famous hotels there, such as the Fairmont, the Mark Hopkins and the Stanford Court.)

(Ballroom in the Fairmont Hotel)

Those guys were followed by the silver barons, who left buildings that for example house one of the largest still exclusive men's clubs in the nation. Not really discriminating against anybody but women, as the name men's club suggests "men only". Of course the "by invitation only" membership does bring that aura of exclusivity.

(St Grace Cathedral and its ornate door above, statue of Christ below with Buddhist face)

(Exact replica of the "gates to paradise" by Ghiberti as found in Florence)

(Moving art I liked in a bank building)

Grace Cathedral was an unexpected surprise in many ways, looking like a copy of the Notre Dame, showing modern sculptures and an episcopalian denomination, a side chapel for all denominations, a walking labyrinth for contemplation and yoga classes during the week. The beautiful golden door, a replica of the ones to be found in Florence, is startling in its detailed beauty.

(Tiburon's Main Street and adjacent a park with views of San Francisco below)

We took a ferry one day to Tiburon, a quiet village across the bay with unparalleled views of San Francisco in the distance.

(Protest sign on street corner, later saw a city bus with a banner condemning the U.S. for Israels war crimes)

(Above and below: we love being on the water and that iconic bridge can be photographed again and again. Did you know those cables contain so many strands of wire that they could circle the earth three times?)

All in all this little story is written to encourage you, the reader, to visit San Francisco and just roam this city with its sights, smells and surprises, which can assail you any time, at any hour, just around the next corner.