I've waited seven years to come back here and it was worth the wait. This place has everything that I could ever want from a city. (If you don't agree, well, Apple and Facebook and Google all have their HQs in this part of the world and collectively they're a lot smarter than you, whoever you are). The climate is sunny but with cooling breezes. It feels authentically American, and yet when you dodge out of the midday sun you can suddenly find yourself in a peacefully shaded traffic-free alley, with painted stone walls, that makes you feel like you're in Provence or Tuscany. And there's cultural history to spare, which for me personally runs in a long wavy line from Jack Kerouac to Sly & The Family Stone all the way through to Metallica. OK, anyway, you get the point. Me likey San Fran.
I'd love to tell you all about the crazy bohemian journey from Portland to here, a day or two of jumping freight trains and hitching rides on the backs of rusty old pickup trucks driven by baccy-chewing Vietnam vets with shotguns under the dash. But it would be a lie. I flew United and it took 90 minutes. I'm getting soft in my old age.
On Tuesday I went to an Irish bar and watched Sunderland 1 Man City 4 at 11.45am local time. I was sat between two Yanks, plastic Man City fans, who yelled constantly about "shutouts" (clean sheets) and "closing" (scoring). A deflating experience, to say the least. But after the game I reminded myself that a) it was only football, b) it was only the League Cup, c) I still had my health, d) the sun was shining, e) I don't have to go back to work until 2016, f) I'm in San Francisco, and g) my pint of draft New Belgium Snapshot was really nice...And so on. Always look on the bright side of life! Easily done, here.
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| Obviously... |
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| Standing on the dock of the bay |
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| The Anchor brewery, on Mariposa St. In my view it's America's 3rd best, after Brooklyn and Sierra Nevada. |
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| Castro district |
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| Edd vs Food #23 'South Of The Border Scramble': scrambled eggs, avocado, chorizo, cherry peppers and cheese. With hash brown & wheat toast. I'm not sure what the strawberries are doing there though. At the Taylor Street Coffee Shop. |
