I haven't been here since I was a young boy, so this is really a treat for me. San Francisco is truly one of the premiere US cities, and I've really enjoyed seeing all the neighborhoods, cafes, restaurants, shops and sights, as well as people watching since people from around the world are here! Here are a few of the photos from the sightseeing.
This is the view from my hotel, which is in an up and coming area called SoMa. This is looking north towards the Financial District.
My first walk was an early morning expedition for some coffee and breakfast. I had an hour, so I decided to just walk as far from the hotel as I could in half an hour, buy coffee, and head back. I made it through SoMa, across the western tip of the Financial District, through Chinatown and into North Beach (Little Italy)! I told you it was compact! To be fair, I was walking fast - it's doubling as rehab exercise for my knee.
I enjoyed it so much that I went back to the area for lunch, here's a shot of the Chinatown gate.
After the first day of sessions, I wanted to walk to this hot new area called the Ferry Building which is a renovated building with gourmet food stands and restaurants, basically a foodie's dream! I was in search of dinner but on the way I walked along The Embarcadero and got this shot of some public sculpture with the Bay Bridge in the background.
Today the exhibit hall at LinuxWorld opened. Compared to OSCON (my usual summer conference) it is huge! Hard to capture in a photo, this is just one corner of it.
I walked to the nearby Sony Metreon's food court, picked up some lunch, and ate outside in the Yerba Buena Gardens. As you can see, it was a scenic lunch.
After the Tuesday sessions ended, I decided I wanted to ride a cable car. Here I am waiting in line with the rest of the tourists! :-) Only the tourists ride the cars now, because they're pricey. But, it was really interesting to see how they operate the cars - I think I want to check out the Cable Car Museum before I leave. Basically, there is a steel cable constantly running under the street, and the gripper (don't call them the driver!) uses levers inside the car to grab onto the cable and get pulled along. This gets to be hard work when you factor in San Francisco's hills! It was fascinating to watch them expertly pilot the cars through rush hour traffic, up and down hills, and gracefully navigating all the hazards of a big city.
My cable car route took me right through Union Square, the shopping heart of San Francisco. Note the ubiquitous iPod ad. EVERYONE here has an iPod. It's really amazing they even advertise any more - everywhere I walk, if a person is not with other people or talking on a cell phone, they have an iPod on. You can definitely tell this is Apple's homeland.
This is a view from atop Russian Hill while on the cable car.
The car dropped me off at Fisherman's Wharf, where I happened upon the Boulin Bakery and Cafe and had some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Seemed like an appropriate San Francisco experience for sure! And, the Boulin bakery was fascinating. They have an entire museum inside, which is free from 5-7pm, so that was a pleasant surprise.
I have two intense days of conferencing ahead, but I do plan to get some early morning and evening walks in when possible. I still have more to explore, particularly more in North Beach/Little Italy and in the parks. I also have Friday free before meeting up with my friends Matt and Caroline Friday night. Looking forward to it!
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