San Francisco Days

If any of you picked up on the fact that the subject line is a Chris Isaak reference, I'm reordering my favorite people in the world and you're at the top. Period.

Greetings from San Fran! My week-long California work trip began yesterday with a stop in this extraordinary city. It's my second time here, and I have about 36 hours here versus my last visit's 24. Hopefully Jack Bauer won't show up this time. I am very grateful for this visit, however, as I've gained a much greater sense of this place and along with my co-worker have realized if I ever want to up and move with her, she and I would do VERY well in this town.

We arrived to rain and temperatures of about 51 degrees. We started comforting ourselves in the fact that we were staying in Union Square, so despite the weather we'd still have enough to do that was close to the hotel, so the weather wouldn't ruin our experience too much. Suddenly, however the clouds parted and we were treated to a gorgeously sunny afternoon.

We checked into our hotel, the Hilton San Francisco. There is no reason we should be here. It's way too nice. The only reason we ARE here is because one of the directors, himself, mentioned it would be the perfect place to be. I think he should make more travel decisions for us.

Our adventure started off by trying to find a place to eat lunch. We consulted K's Lonely Planet travel guide and found a french bistro called Cafe Claude lauded for the best french onion soup in town and a great atmosphere, not to mention reasonable expense account prices (and by expense account, I'm talking $40/day for food, so don't get excited). We walked in and were greeted in French (with perfect accents by the way) and were suddenly transported to Paris... everyone spoke perfect French, was roughly 10 lbs underweight, sported all black and a bit of an attitude. It was fantastic. The food was amazing.. we both had French Onion Soup and split a Croque Monsieur sandwich (cheese melted on the outside of the bread - mon dieu!). And, quite frankly, we were deserving of way more attitude than we received.. we were the only table that didn't order wine. When in Rome. Of course, I haven't even really touched the ambiance. One entire wall decorated with a Parisian mural, with other walls boldly colored with deep reds and oranges, a beautiful bar, tiny tables and even sidewalk seating. Only in NYC have I ever sat in a restaurant that truly captured the essence of the place by which it was inspired. If you're ever in San Francisco, please check it out.

From there we decided we had a little bit of shopping to do, and managed to go into just two stores. One, however, was The Gap flagship store (4 floors!) so we paid proper homage and made our purchases there. I'm a little stressed b/c I bought a horizontally striped shirt that I'm kind of in love with (red and white smallish stripes that, when paired with my blue jeans and ballet flats, if I have my hair pulled back I feel a bit Audrey Hepburn-ish. Totally unjustified but worth it for $15). I know there's no reason to be stressed given that statement, but I just keep hearing my mother's voice in the back of my head (no stripes for you.. makes you look wider.. especially with your chest!.. gotta love mom). So, we'll see how it goes. I may place a moratorium on pictures taken of me in the shirt.

From Union Square shopping we walked through Nob Hill, Chinatown (the largest in the world! well, outside of China.. but that would just be a town), North Beach (the Italian neighborhood) on our way to Fisherman's Wharf. Well, not really. On our way to Ghiradelli Square, which sits at one end of Fisherman's Wharf.

The walk was fantastic. On the way back, when we took a cable car, we were amazed by the distance we covered. But there was no way we would have gotten the same sense of the different neighborhoods by cab or cable car travel alone. One thing becomes abundantly clear as you walk the streets of these neighborhoods.. you can eat VERY well here. Stores and restaurants are unique and, again, capture the sense of place from which they come and a true feeling of individual character. You also quickly learn that people are incredibly friendly here. We were chatted up often with smiles and hellos. Finally, despite not being a very religious person, I loved the interspersing of massive cathedrals in these sections of town. We saw two gorgeous churches that I'm hitting myself for not capturing on film.

On our way to Fisherman's Wharf we also passed Lombard, home to the Real World San Francisco house and the "most crooked street in the world." Yay pop culture!

Once we reached Ghiradelli, ice cream sundaes were the order of business. I'd been here on my first visit to San Fran and had the best sundae of my life so I was very much looking forward to this stop. This visit, however, was far superior to the other. While my sundae was excellent but not AS good as the first, our waiter took a liking to my co-worker, so we suddenly had an extra sundae on our table. I'm sad to report we didn't get through all three, but we did pretty good damage. I took pictures. It's all documented.

Which brings me to my other point. K and I are taking this town by storm! As I explained to her, I've never been the subject of so much flirtatious attention! Good lord! I thought all the guys are supposed to be gay here?? Maybe that's why we're doing so well.. I'm not sure. It all started with a flirty bum who told me I had a beautiful name (he never did learn my name, however..yes, drunk bums count) to waiters, to random strangers on the street... Bizarre! Nevertheless, thank you San Francisco for making us feel like supermodels! You're my kind of town!

We didn't take in too much of the Wharf. While you have to experience it, it had been the focus of my prior trip and is more akin to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Very touristy and not the "real" San Francisco. But you go for the view of the Golden Gate (impossible to get in pictures every time I'm here.. too hazy), the view of Alcatraz, the sea lions basking on the wharf and the shops and restaurants (like Bubba Gump.. oh boy). From there we took the cable car back to Union Square. Probably an overrated experience but there was no way we were walking back and it did provide some great views. The coolest part was actually seeing the process by which they turn the car around (the rails lead to a platform that rotates.. but only with two guys pushing it). We also managed to disregard Full House references until that moment, for which I was grateful. And going down some of those hills was kind of like being in an amusement park!

I'm afraid we crashed after that. As much as we both wanted to sample some good California wine and have another great meal experience, we definitely gave in to our fatigue. It had been my second morning in a row waking up at 4:15 am and with this cold I've been battling it was time to get some rest. Still, I have really enjoyed my visit and hope to return. They say San Francisco is the most East Coast-type city in California. I guess I can see that, particularly with the neighborhoods and overall layout, but I still feel it's uniquely West Coast. Even when they try to be snooty, it doesn't work. The pretension just isn't there and the buildings have so much more character here.. more color, in particular. San Fran still has a warmth of people and apparent kindness that I think requires much deeper digging on the East Coast. And the landscape.. with its never ending hills it is truly West Coast so, simply put, I find the comparison a bit empty.