Weekend in San Francisco
I visited San Francisco for the second time this past weekend. I had a great time, though my trip was a lot different from my trip to SF the end of last year (you can read about it here and here). This time around I felt less like a tourist. I didn't go to Fisherman's Warf or to the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of going there with an agenda, I decided to just go with the flow and let my California native boyfriend take me for a ride–literally and figuratively. Kevin rented a 2012 Mustang for the weekend and was zipping around town like a little boy with a new toy.
We stayed at the Hilton San Francisco hotel in Financial District, and overall, I was happy with the hotel. On Saturday morning we walked from our hotel to Caffe Greco for breakfast. We split a scone, almond croissant, chocolate chip waffles, fresh squeezed juice, and coffee in large saucer cups. It was delicious. We also ate outside in one of the “parklets,” which I thought was an interesting thing. A parklet is a small urban park, often created by replacing several under-utilized parallel parking spots with a patio, planters, trees, benches, café tables (Wikipedia). Kevin shared that the several parking spots the city of San Francisco allowed for the creation of parklets caused quite a stir. It made me enjoy my breakfast on the parklet even more.
Breakfast at Caffe Greco
After breakfast, we walked around a bit and came across two awesome pieces of street art.
Is that a Banksy I spy?
On Sunday we checked out the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It had some cool pieces, but it isn't nearly as good as the NYC MoMA. Here are some of my favorite pieces featured in the SF MoMA.
Whose Blues - Leo Valledor
Composition (No. III) Blanc Juane - Piet Mondrian
Composition (No. III) Blanc Juane meant something to Kevin and I because we watched the YSL: L'Amour Fou documentary where it was mentioned that one of Yve's 1965 Fall collection was inspired by Mondrian's work.
Scene from the Desolation - Sandow Birk
Guardians of the Secret - Jackson Pollock
After the museum, we walked through the Yerba Buena Gardens on our way to lunch. We had lunch at an awesome vegan spot, Ananda Fuara. What wasn't so awesome was the walk there which is apparently not a great part of the city. Despite it being in the middle of daylight, we saw two drug deals go down and we passed countless homeless people. Having lived in NYC for the past two years, it shouldn't have fazed me, but
I felt a little overwhelmed by all the homeless on the streets. I decided to look it up since I was so curious. Wikipedia reports, ”The city of San Francisco, California, due to its mild climate and its social programs that have provided cash payments for homeless individuals, is often considered the homelessness capital of the United States, together with Los Angeles.” That seems about right.
Yerba Buena Gardens
I had a fantastic time in San Francisco and I couldn't help but compare it to NYC. There are some things I like better about each city. Simple observations I made are: SF streets are cleaner, there seems to be less people on the streets….until you get on the highway and get stuck in a traffic jam, there aren't a ton of taxis so you pretty much have to have a vehicle to live in SF, there are more homeless people, the pace of life seems slower and more relaxed, the main style for the girls there seems to be bohemian, and the weather is inconsistent. I'm not ready to move to San Francisco anytime soon, but I am looking forward to going back again soon!
