A beautiful day in San Francisco, 15C, blue skies and the sun is up, a perfect day to get out and explore the downtown part of the city on foot. San Francisco may be a compact city, yet, like any North American metropolis, it is BIG, and big compared to European standards. I guess big will always be a theme that stays for centuries in America. So it’s best to combine sightseeing by foot with the cable cars, hence our cable car ride that brought us down to the heart of downtown San Francisco—MARKET STREET.
Market Street near Powell Street (just around the corner) where the trams turn.
Street musicians are always a lively sight and I just cannot miss this lovely green building.
Market Street is a main street in San Francisco, a very important thoroughfare and a major passage artery that carries San Franciscans to different parts of the city.
Now come with me for a walk and I’ll show you what lies on Market Street and the vicinity. I’ll bring you to the Yerba Buena Gardens for some nature respite, afterwards we’ll go back to Market Street and gaze at the tall buildings towering in the Financial District and upon reaching the Embarcadero, I will show you the Ferry Building and we’ll sit on one of the benches and admire the Bay Bridge. Then we retrace our steps back to Market Street all the way to Tenderloin neighbourhood and down to the Civic Center where the San Francisco City Hall is located.
The YERBA BUENA GARDENS
While walking on Market Street, Dutchman and I quickly spotted Seattle’s Best Coffee Shop and decided its time for some coffee break since its past 2PM. Here we spied on a Filipino guy who was filming himself. After having our fill, we checked out the back streets, Mission Street and the Yerba Buena Gardens.
A little green oasis in the middle of the city.
Sights in Yerba Buena Gardens on Mission Street and the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church built in 1870, inaugurated in 1872.
The Yerba Buena Gardens is a nice green park cushioned by buildings and busy streets with cars, a relaxing hideaway in the middle of the concrete jungle. If I live and work here, I would definitely spend some of my free time in this place, sit on the bench perhaps while munching on lunch or lie on the green grass and let time pass by.
The most impressive building in this area is the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church on Mission Street facing the gardens and eclipsed by the tall modern architecture. It’s such a beautiful sight. It’s like a rose amongst the thorns. The old meets the new kind.
SAN FRANCISCO FINANCIAL DISTRICT
And now we are back on Market Street gazing at the tall modern buildings which is very typical for most American cities by the way.
Dutchman and I actually found San Francisco very laid-back. The pace is slower, people tend to have more time to stop and smile. We are not seeing the stress-laden faces that we see in Amsterdam, and the hurrying and elbowing happening on the streets and in train stations, as well as the aggressive behaviour of motorists. People here are more relaxed, or perhaps Dutchman and I just lead a fast-paced stressful life?
On the other hand, California as a region is currently in the brink of bankruptcy and jobs are hard to come by. A good discussion perhaps, for another entry.
I also found that the traditional shoe shining services on the street still exists, right in the heart of the Financial District of San Francisco, and rightly so as there are many business men walking in suits and leather shoes that needed to be polished.
The Transamerica Pyramid building, moi posing on Market Street and check out the road going up, cool huh.
The city preserved its old tram lines, really nice.
Strangely these 2 fotos, the american flags and the facade of the building reminds me of 911 NYC…
I don’t see the Dutchman sitting on here as I know perfectly he prefers to shine his shoes himself.
EMBARCADERO and the FERRY BUILDING on PIER 2
And at the end of Market Street we reached the Embarcadero and the Ferry Building that is said to be designed after the Giralda Tower of the cathedral in Sevilla. I was in Sevilla, Spain last year and indeed there are similarities.
There are artisans and craft stalls in front of the Ferry Building.
The locals use the ferry services to travel to other parts of San Francisco and even as far as to other coastal towns. In the Ferry Building there are numerous cafes, shops and restaurants, and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays there is a farmers market.
We came here on a different day so there was no farmers market but the cafes, shops and restaurants were open, and I think it was a Thursday when we passed by in the area again, this time with the car. I wanted to quickly check out the market and have coffee here before we drive out of town however we couldn’t find a parking spot. So I told Dutchman to forget it and off we went to North Beach for coffee instead before heading off to Napa.
The Ferry Building on Pier 2, also called the Ferry Market Plaza building.
Sights on the Embarcadero and Pier 2… and Old Fart’s Wife? Hmm.
The OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE
From the Ferry Building one can sight beautiful views to the Oakland Bay Bridge (or Bay Bridge to the locals), the less popular sister of the Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco to Yerba Buena Island. Benches are a plentiful on the pier and if you don’t mind the wind, it’s a nice place to just sit and relax.
Construction of this 10-lane 2-level bridge (5-lanes upper level westbound and 5-lanes lower level eastbound) began in 1933 and was opened 3 years later. To enter San Francisco via this bridge, a $5 toll fee per car is applicable, and cash please because the toll gates do not have credit card facility. There are no toll fees to get out of the city.
Lots of birds dock here as well which can be an interesting subject for photography.
Sights of Bay Bridge, the birds and its surroundings.
Now its time to retrace our steps back to Market Street where we started, mainly because it would be an easier point for us to go back to our hotel later.
TENDERLOIN and the CIVIC CENTER
Dutchman and I have walked all over San Francisco and this is the only neighbourhood where I felt a little bit challenged. The place has a seedy character, a danger charm that does not fit well with its name. Tenderloin? I think of a thick slab of steak and not some ghetto-ish neighbourhood. Here you can find many street-dwelling alcoholics and junks as well as homeless people loitering around dragging plastic bags with them and begging for money. I cannot help but worry for our safety and pity them as well, such a contradiction.
Remains of past cinema/theater glories and one-bedroom apartments.
It is an irony really because the Tenderloin neighbourhood is nestled between the Victorian mansions owned by tycoons in Nobb Hill, the upmarket Union Square and its high-end signature shops, the Civic Center where the government is run and Market Street that leads down to the Financial $$$ Center. Such a massive contrast that cannot be ignored but I must say the danger charm in this neighbourhood shows the ‘reality’ aspect in life. It’s not all fine and dandy somehow.
Anyhow, while in the neighbourhood, I had the sudden call of nature, probably not the best of timing haha but what can we do? We entered this fast food chain searching for the toilet however someone was using it already. While waiting we surveyed the place and saw many interesting looking people in there, people that looked so haggard and neglected from years of living on the streets, people who have nothing, literally nothing and some were probably under the influence of alcohol or slaves from the drugs they are taking. The toilet is still closed and someone just alerted personnel. Hmm, looks like one of the junkies is busy doing his or her own thing inside. Time to escape and search for another toilet!
We walked further down to San Francisco’s Civic Center and this is what we saw:
My camera against the light, ooops. The beautiful building with the dome is San Francisco City Hall on Civic Center Plaza.
A long line feeding the homeless near the Civic Center (this is bordered by the Tenderloin neighbourhood). However, upon a closer look at the people benefitting from free food, we noticed normal-looking individuals and several back-packers.
By this time the sun is setting down and so are we. We are closing the day from here. Tired but happy that we did the downtown sightseeing tour on foot, it cannot be any better. Now off to the hotel to freshen up, rest a bit, maybe watch TV before we finish the day with a nice dinner.
Hope you enjoyed my downtown San Francisco walking tour =)
Travel Period: March 2011