Tag Archives: SF

I Left my Heart in San Francisco

I was sixteen when I first laid eyes on The City, and I have loved it everyday since. The thrill, the freedom, the excitement of a big city, and the appeal of a foreign city. It was my first taste of independence, even though I was on a school trip with 29 other students, and chaperoned by my maths teacher.

San Francisco was the first port of call, and it’s where I left my heart. I told my parents of my plan to live there. And a little over a decade later, I returned to San Francisco to make it my home. It’s something I am really happy to have achieved.

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The city is physically beautiful, but if you’ve been reading this blog, I’m sure you’re already aware of this (like here, here and here). Some of my favourite parts of the city are the pristine hills of Marin provide the perfect background to a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge on a clear day, and the silence of the office buildings downtown on a Sunday afternoon. You’re never short of a crackpot (or four) in the city, and there is always parades, protests, or police activity. You can tell which nation’s diplomats are in town by the flags waving in the omnipresent wind outside the St Francis Hotel.

But I left San Francisco. I left because I needed a change – a change of scenery from the frantic pace of living right downtown, and the space in my timetable to work on other projects. I had enough of the sirens at all hours of the night, of not having a convenient place to buy groceries, of lacking that real ‘neighbourhood’ feel that makes the rest of San Francisco fascinating. It had become old, tired, claustrophobic. But in retrospect, that may have just been me.

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Everyday, I think about returning to the city I love. Spending evening eating sushi with friends, weaving myself into the story of their lives, and having them in mine. Of spending time with family — football games, baseball games, graduations. Dreams of eating cheese on a lazy Sunday afternoon in Cole Valley, people watching on the Marina Green, or enjoying a fruity ale and fancy pizza in the Inner Richmond. I imagine the opportunities that await me in a city bursting with energy and creativity.

I don’t know if the next step will be returning to San Francisco for good. But I do find that it’s the one place my heart yearns for, particularly when I see these photos from Phototropic, a Frenchman who has made his home in the Bay Area.

*All photos by Phototropic. I highly recommend you pay his site a visit.

Post #85: Fleet Week in SF

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Last week we enjoyed fantastic weather to welcome the service men and women to San Francisco for the yearly Fleet Week celebrations. It’s the one week of the year I really look forward to: the sight of young men and women in uniform, the ear-splitting sounds of jets flying over our apartment. And the weather always seems to cooperate.

Look at all that space!

We arrived at Fort Mason rather early, scouted out the best spot and set up camp on a small grassy knoll. It was a perfect location… until a totally obnoxious Australian-British family set up camp right next to us. Feral kids running all over our rugs and the grandma in her full bogan glory. UGH. Miles and miles of open space, but they decided our spot was best.

I try, I really do. But there’s something godawful about annoying Australians. And I’m allowed to say that, because I have already declared my cultural cringe. So I sucked it up and didn’t say a word (inwardly cursing them to buggery), but soon the American had enough and suggested we move elsewhere.

Focusing on the beauty.

A pretty spectacular time to arrive into SF.

Karl the Fog, lurking as usual…

But nothing that a little Photoshop can’t fix.

So soon enough, we picked a nice patch of grass far from the family and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with our mates. Life was much more enjoyable free of grassy knolls. Nothing good comes from grassy knolls…

Life was much more entertaining off the grassy knoll.

Hey, look! It’s a plane!

Lazy Sundays in San Francisco. Flying flags, drinking cheap Mexican beer.

Drinking games only work when you have a hand dedicated to drinking.

Old school.

New school.

The highlight of the weekend’s festivities are the Blue Angels, the Navy’s aerobatics team. They wowed the crowds lining the Bay and dotting the rooftops of San Francisco with opposing passes, barrel rolls and formation loops. One of the interesting things we learnt about the Blue Angels this year was that if one of the pilots is sick, then the performance is cancelled.

It’s a little confronting but also a little exciting to feel the might of the American military so close. There were plenty of cheers from the appreciative crowd at Fort Mason. And it was great to see Karl the Fog buggered off for a little while so we could fully appreciate their manoeuvres.

These kids were good kids. They stuck to the tree.

PBR: We’re living large!

Sunday in the sunshine at Fort Mason.

The Blue Angels. Up close in their tight diamond formation.

“America!FuckYeah!”

As you can tell, I couldn’t get enough of them.

Love!

A great way to sign off.

Did I tell you that October was the best time in the Bay Area?

Visit San Francisco!

Are you going to be visiting San Francisco in the near future?
Moving here?
Lived here for the last century?

If so, you’ll need to read my list of the top 11 things you need to see if you find yourself in San Francisco for any length of time.

And a tip from the expert: no matter the time of year, BRING A JACKET!
Trust me. You’ll need it.

The iconic San Francisco skyline

Want to know about the downtown San Francisco and fascinating tidbits of information you won’t be able to find on any tour of The City? Watch this short film the American and I made called ‘The Skyscrapers of San Francisco’.

The best way to see San Francisco

The best way to see the city is on foot. See Walking California Street for a great roundup of the inner city neighbourhoods along California Street from the CBD to the Inner Richmond.

Here’s a quick guide for a bunch of really cool stuff you can do in a day around San Francisco from Time Travel and San Francisco Travel’s Top 7 Things to Do in SF.

Tight Arse?
Or a traveler on a budget?

Are you in town and can’t/are not willing to spend an arm and a leg? Check out what’s free (or cheap) happening around San Francisco and the East Bay at the site Fun Cheap SF.