Last weekend I finally managed to visit San Francisco for the first time! The weather was perfect this time, so I could enjoy one day to discover The City (this is how San Francisco is called here, very simply).

My initial program was indeed quite vague: my idea was to start from the Financial District (which is the skyscrapers area) and then head North, towards the Golden Gate, with no additional rigid details. I knew that I could count on my National Geographic guide, however: in the previous days I had already given a look and I also planned to use the 20-minute BART route to better understand what I could find on my way.

However, once I got to the BART station, I immediately noticed something quite unexpected, i.e. a lot of green-dressed people. Green T-shirts… Irish flags… 11th March, so Saint Patrick is approaching… Yes, today is Saint Patrick’s Day! I immediately check my guide and my smartphone and I discover that huge celebrations occur on this day here in SF, and in particular there are a parade along Market Street (the city’s main street) and a festival at the Civic Center (the area with most of the governmental and cultural buildings)! Very good, I had not thought about it at all! Shame on me, however I immediately change my plans, obviously: destination, Civic Center!

Here are some photos of the famous City Hall, of the parade and of the festival.

After the Irish starter, I decide to go back along Market Street, heading Union Square, which is the heart of the traditional San Francisco. In the meantime, I start seeing the first hills and the typical up-and-down streets!

To go to Union Square, the most straightforward and common way is to follow Powell Street, at the end of which – at the crossroads with Market Street – we can find the Cable Car Roundtable. This place is where the famous cable cars – one of the symbols of the city – are turned in order to invert their direction. Unfortunately there is a long queue: I will have to postpone my ride!

By the way, concerning trams: do you recognize this? 🙂

This is the F line, which adopts historic cars coming from different cities of the world: and yes, Milan is among them!

Anyway, let’s go back to Union Square: this is the center of the posh area, with luxury hotels, top-brands fashion shops, and so on.

 

From Union Square, I decide to move down to the Financial District, planning to head the Embarcadero, which is basically the old port area. On my way, I pass near Chinatown’s entrance…

… I try to be run over while shooting San Francisco’s streets…

… and I also see that the Irish festival is going on according to the most consolidated traditions 🙂

The Transamerica Pyramid (the name does not need any particular explanation) is the symbol of the Financial District, as well as one of the symbols of the city. With its 260 meters, it is the tallest building in San Francisco…

… at least, for the moment: the Salesforce Tower and its 296 meters are going to overtake it soon.

After the Financial District, I finally get to the Embarcadero, whixh is dominated by the Ferry Building. Located at the beginning of Market Street, this is the terminal of the ferries operating across the Bay, towards Berkeley and Oakland.

 

Curiosity: do you remember that the Sather Tower, symbol of UC Berkeley, was inspired by Saint Mark’s Campanile in Venice? Well, apparently the Ferry Building tower is inspired by the Giralda, the bell tower of Seville’s cathedral: I had the opportunity to visit that beautiful city last year and, again…. the original is really much better!

Anyway, the bulding dates back to the end of the XIX century: of course it was fully operational at that time, but after 1936, i.e. when the Bay Bridge was opened, the use of ferries started markedly decreasing and so the Ferry Buidling started progressively losing its importance (even if apparently the trend has been changing due to the huge car traffic in the area). About ten years ago it was converted into a food district, and in fact now you can find a lot of restaurants, high-quality food shops, and so on. Good to know, indeed food is always something that deserves attention: after all, I’m Italian!

Today’s tour is finished, but of course other episodes are to come: I guess something is missing… 🙂 In any case, I’m very satisfied! Maybe my photos are not completely effective in communicating how nice the city is (also due to my poor qualities as a photographer, probably!): the fact is that its beauty is not so much in the “things to see”, but in its atmosphere, its light, its streets, its air.

… OK, let’s just publish my photos and avoid poetry 🙂 See you soon, SF!