  San Francisco
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 9851 San Francisco Tips.15290 San Francisco Photos.10 San Francisco Videos. San Francisco Pages by Rixie
| Page Views: 2,018 Last Visit to San Francisco: - | San Francisco - Cold Hands, Warm Heart by Rixie - last update: Apr 1, 2007 |
Fog City | Fog coming in, San Francisco |
Fog
by Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
The photo above was taken in the Potrero Hill district of San Francisco, looking toward Sutro Tower. You can see the fog creeping over the hill.
San Francisco is my favorite city. There are things I love about every city I've ever visited, but of all of them, San Francisco is the only one that makes my heart skip a beat every time I see it. If you've ever seen the Golden Gate Bridge and the cityscape burst into view through the Waldo Tunnel, absorbed the sounds and smells of a Chinatown market, or watched the fog creep over the city, you understand what I mean.
The Convention & Visitors Bureau used to say that in San Francisco you can eat in 8 different languages. I would go a step further and say that in San Francisco you can eat your way around the world without ever leaving the city. There are Irish taverns and English pubs, American diners and seafood stands, and restaurants featuring cuisine from China, Japan, India, Thailand, Mexico, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Morocco, and many other countries.
There are always things to do in The City. You can ride a cable car, take a tour of the former federal prison on Alcatraz Island, shop in Union Square, attend Mass in Chinese at Old St. Mary?s Church, go clubbing in the South of Market. In Golden Gate Park you can rent a pedal boat, see bison, visit the aquarium.
When you come to San Francisco, remember that the tourist areas make up a very small part of the city. Break out of the usual vacation pattern and go to see the neighborhoods where the people live. Photograph the onion-domed Orthodox church on outer Geary, stroll through the campus at San Francisco State University, watch a movie at the Castro Theater, eat at a noodle shop in Japantown, have a drink with the after-work crowds on Chestnut Street. Look for the real San Francisco! |
|  | Ethnic Neighborhoods San Francisco is a compact city, easy to cover on foot. It's a series of small, colorful neighborhoods, many of them ethnic (Chinese, Latino, Japanese, Italian, Russian), that flow seamlessly from one to the other.
This is a portion of an amazing building in the Mission District, Edificio de Mujeres. For more photographs and information, see my San Francisco travelogue: Marvelous Mujeres |
This gate marks the beginning of Grant Avenue, the main thoroughfare of San Francisco's Chinatown. It's the largest Chinese community outside of China and an exciting and vibrant place to visit. | | |
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| Pros: | "Colorful, cosmopolitan, exciting" | | Cons: | "Foggy and cold in the summer" | | In A Nutshell: | "Beautiful City by the Bay" |
Rixie's San Francisco Travel Tips
 Rixie's San Francisco Travelogues | | | |
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 Comments for Rixie about San Francisco | | | | |
ATLC Sat Mar 15, 2008 23:53 UTC
I had a horrid pizza for dinner so your restaurant tips are so appetizing! Ornithological McDonalds? You are a strange bird, Rixie! I'd love to sit and watch the Hyatt glass elevators. | MATIM Fri Mar 7, 2008 19:12 UTC
We are planning a trip to the US for July 2009. SF is on our wishlist | matt10gonzalez Mon Oct 15, 2007 03:10 UTC
Oh really? Nah, I don't think so! My uncle hasn't been to London yet but he sure was SCREAMING the whole time in a hotel in SF! Oh yeah! I miss the fog in SF! I think I should back to my second home one day! | Pawtuxet Wed Aug 22, 2007 12:01 UTC
Nice tour of "the city". :-) It's been years since I visited, but remember it warmly. If I come again...we'll go for Dim Sum. |
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