I almost left my heart in San Francisco (San Francisco)

Member Name: thevenerablebede

Product:	San Francisco
Date:	04/04/04 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Exciting City

Disadvantages: Homelessness

As my plane came down to land in a grey, drizzly London and I walked the dull labyrinthine corridors of Heathrow to collect my baggage, the relaxed sunbathed streets of San Francisco seemed a lifetime away rather than the 10 or so hours I had just traveled.

Just the day before I had been rattling up Powell Street in an antique cable car exchanging banter with the ebullient conductor, enjoying a view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Fisherman?s Wharf, admiring the colorful Victorian houses of the Haight-Ashbury and wondering at the size of an enormous dildo in a shop window in the gay district. It hadn?t quite left my heart in San Francisco, but it wasn?t far off.

By European standards San Francisco is a young city. Native American settlers have lived from the rich bounty of the land in this particularly lush patch of California for tens of thousands of years, but white settlement is only hundreds of years old. And it wasn?t until the gold rush in the middle of the 19th Century that the city truly took off. In the short space of 150 years a city has sprouted on the steeps hills at the mouth of the bay which has as much charm, wonder and variety as any visitor could wish for.

I was staying downtown, just a few steps from Union Square in the heart of the shopping and financial centre of the city. For shoppers it is a paradise. Big American department stores like Macy?s and Saks are surrounded by the usual designer stores and some more unusual shops and the state of the pound against the dollar and the simple fact that stuff in America is cheaper than in Britain make it a real paradise for shoppers.

But if shopping isn?t your scene, there is plenty more to excite and amuse you and the best thing is that the city has a comprehensive public transport system means you can explore the city without the inconvenience of a car. In fact the hills and junctions are such that having a car would only frazzle your nerves and your clutch. So, tak

e a cable car. It?s much more exhilarating and only costs a couple of dollars. Cable cars have rattled through the streets of San Francisco for 125 years and in a country where history is at a premium, they have been designated national monuments. Keen public transport nuts should seek out the trolleybuses and streetcars too. There are different models from all over the States making it something of an interactive museum.

From downtown San Francisco, you can either trundle round the city and follow the coast from Market Street via the Embarcedero to Fisherman?s Wharf or you can go over the hill via cable car to the Fisherman?s Wharf. Either way, it?s a treat.

San Francisco?s two iconic features do not disappoint. The Golden Gate Bridge is moving and impressive in real life towering over the entrance to the bay. Of course, I?d seen it in a million movies but I wasn?t prepared for its dazzling size and breathtaking beauty. It straddles the Golden Gate effortlessly and there is no doubt it is some of which San Franciscans are justifiably proud. I took a boat trip under the bridge and around the bay as well as driving over the bridge and I recommend both. It was on the boat trip that I got a close glimpse of Alcatraz, the famous prison island in the Bay. It does have a certain peculiar appeal and beauty although I didn?t feel the need to go ashore. A circumnavigation seemed more than adequate.

Unlike so many American cities or regions, San Francisco is a great place to walk in. Of course there are hills to contend with but the cable cars, streetcars and buses can take the strain there. And there is so much to explore downtown and in the different districts. The echoes of hippydom still reverberate round the Haight-Ashbury, the Mission exudes gay confidence and Nob Hill is impressive if a little impersonal. The pace of the neighbourhoods is relaxed and a trip to a café for a restorative coffee seems de rigueur. Especially at the weekend.



There are also some lovely green spaces in San Francisco. Golden Gate Park is huge and very accessible. There is an interesting Conservatory thing that looks just like Kew Gardens and several big museums and galleries. The Presidio used to be a military base but now exists as a recreation area ideal for picnics. Out by the ocean you can also enjoy the beach life and surfing the big waves of the Pacific.

But be warned, San Francisco isn?t necessarily the place to go for the weather. Mark Twain famously remarked that some of the worst winters he?s ever spent were summers in san Francisco. I was blessed by sunshine and warmth most of the time but when the fog rolls in it can get cold very quickly so it?s best to have a jacket or jumper in reserve.

I?d recommend a visit to the Museum of Modern Art downtown, south of Market St. It is an impressive building and has an impressive collection to match. Not far away take a trip to the Martin Luther King Memorial: an interesting combination of a waterfall and the great man?s words. Don?t forget to take a look at City Hall and a wander round the civic center too.

San Francisco?s blight is homelessness. It is a more obvious and more deeply ingrained problem here than in pretty much any other major city I have visited. Perhaps it is the climate which lends itself to street-sleeping, or the cultural liberalism that allows it to persist. However, San Franciscans seem content to leave it unchecked and signs on lampposts remind us that Jesus gave money to beggars on the streets of Galilee. I reflected that the beggars in the Holy Land were probably not as persistent as those in San Francisco.

San Francisco is a very pleasing American city that revels in its own reputation and atmosphere. It has a confidence and allure that is attractive but not arrogant. Its many faces and aspects reflect different sides of American culture but in a sense its attraction is that in this time of Ame
rican impe
rialism and President Bush?s reactionary conservative Presidency it represents so many great American traditions and qualities that seem to be lacking. For a lefty European it is easy to feel at home in San Francisco. It is American and unAmerican at the same time. Cosmopolitan, tolerant and intriguing: I nearly left my heart in San Francisco. But not quite. Maybe next time.

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