A Sunny Day in the City

I have lived within an hour (whether by BART or stuck in traffic in a car) of San Francisco for most of my life.  It wasn't until I returned from Genova (and wanted to turn right around and go back again) that I realized I don't know enough about my local Big City.

I've been visiting the city since I was a child.  My parents took my brother and I to the tourist area (Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square in particular) quite frequently when we were little.  I remember getting fried clams in a little cup with packets of ketchup as a snack and Jason's love of the Sharper Image store in Ghirardelli.  In my teens, I became quite familiar with Castro Street and the surrounding area with my friends Dan, Jenn and Carrie.  In my early twenties, the Mission District was my constant destination with my then-girlfriend Dee - best place for Mexican food, but we were more there for the now defunct Bearded Lady Cafe, next door to Black and Blue Tattoo.  Over the years I've never fully explored any area of the city.  While I've been shopping any number of times in Union Square (the first Lush store I went to is on the side of Macy's) and all my friends are familiar with Steps of Rome in North Beach, I only know places here and there.  Since I plan to move out of California within the next few years, I've decided to spend more time exploring--mostly so that when I come back to visit I know exactly where I want to go.

I also wanted to admire the beauty of the city, especially the architecture.  It's easy to get so distracted by what you see on the street in SF that you forget to look up.

The pictures on this post are from a Sunday with my friend Jodi.  We started at Montgomery Station, walked up Montgomery to Columbus Avenue in North Beach and stopped at Liguria Bakery.  Then we walked up Powell to Curly's Coffee Shop (where one of the patrons mistook the caricature of Curly for "an old lady on stilts") for breakfast (the BLT breakfast sandwich is fantastic, especially paired with a large cappucino).  Re-energized, we made the mostly uphill trek through Chinatown and Nob Hill to Union Square, where we stopped at the Lush store, staying on Powell the whole way.  From there it was only a couple of blocks to the Sephora (a killer duo with Lush, at least on my finances).  Finally we got some blackberry Italian sodas at the Cable Car Coffee Shop at Powell Station and headed back home.