Folinskyinla

Hi:

My avatar is on SF bay. I lived there for five years and have visited many times since -- I have never been to Alcatraz.

Don't like Fisherman's wharf -- as a tourist trap. South of Market is quite different than when I lived there.

For classic SF cuisine -- Tadich Grill on California and Sam's Grill on Bush. Love the campus at Cal -- but find it strange that the street vendors on Telegraph take American Express.

I remember visiting the USS San Francisco Memorial at Land's End [near the Cliffhouse or Palace of Legion of Honor]. The damage to the bridge from the night time battle of November 12, 1942 is obvious from the display there. I felt a chill imagining standing behind the armor plate. http://www.njipms.org/Articles/Quinn.../sanfran10.jpg

Want to see the new De Young in Golden Gate Park.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Get over it. It has always been fashionable for residents of The City to be annoyed at the term. When I lived there the purported pet peeve was "Frisco." If you were going to shorten it you would take the name of "The City and County of San Francisco" and shorten it to "The City."

When I was a newly admitted lawyer and practicing in The City, it was our affection to encaption pleadings with "In The Superior Court of California, In And For The City And County of San Francisco" as opposed to something more prosaic as "California Superior Court, Los Angeles County."

[BTW, San Francisco is the only contiguous City and County in California.]

mayhemuk

I have yet to find the element of San Francisco that really appeals to me.
But then I haven't explored it in great depth. But I'm less metropolitan than I used to be so don't hanker for the big city vibe anymore.

Maybe next time you're up have a trip on the bay if Alcatraz is sold out. Sausalito is nice for a little wander around and Tiburon has a few good restaurants and bars. Very handy for drinks while waiting for the ferry back to the city.

My favorite spot is the top of Mt Tamalpais. You get a really good view of the bay there from an excellent alternative point of view aswell.

surly

Sunday brunch at Sams.

Poppy girl

Don't worry sweetie I live just outside San Fran and work there 2-3 days a week and call it San Fran as do alot of other folk,......... we had a bit of a discussion on this once before on BE and none of us got anywhere or changed our opinions lol.........So the moral of the tale is call it what the heck you like chaps

ps SAN FRAN is OK for the day or a night out but thats it in my opinion, maybe I am used to it....Mayhemuk lives in Marin by the look of his avatar and that a very very nice swich place lucky swine

Octang Frye

I loved it. Lefties and all. Samba, when you go back, make sure you buy your Alcatraz tickets online a good few weeks in advance. Alcatraz was amazing experience for me. I really felt connected to the inmates, and the guards. My imagination ran amok in there. It was a pilgrimage of sorts for me.

sambapink

Will do OF - Glad you enjoyed it..

Poppy girl

I haven't been either just sailed past on the way to Sausalito, next time girlie you me and a bottle of vino will hit Alcatraz

sambapink

Absolutely postively definately

Steerpike

Been here 25 years, still haven't made it to Alcatraz ... can't see the point!

"SF" ("esss-efff") is my chosen term when I can't be bothered to say 'San Francisco'. It is a beautiful name, I must say - I still love all the Spanish names around here, even after being here so long. Folinskyinla is right, it's fashionable for the residents to get peeved at both 'San Fran' and 'Frisco' - saying it 'right' is just a way to demonstrate you live here - a badge of honor. The local paper gets ridiculed from time to time by calling it 'the City' (capital 'C'), as if there is only one city in the world.

The best time to visit SF is Sept/Oct; the weather can be positively balmy. Having lived and worked in the city itself for over 10 years, I must admit to being jaded by it. The homeless situation is out of control, and the fog drives me nuts now. But I LOVE the bay area! Sausalito and Tiburon are spectacular, the Marin Headlands are beautiful, places like Palo Alto and Stanford University campus are awesome too. Plus miles of great coastline, and hills everywhere. And a tremendously varied population. I've finally grown to love my town 'Walnut Creek', in the east bay; better weather, surrounded by hills and cute towns (Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Danville, Alamo) - nothing much for visitors to see, but then that doesn't mean anything; and 30 minutes from SF!

What I still enjoy doing, about twice a month, is heading into 'the City' and going to Japantown (still a hidden gem in my opinion), or having a great meal in Chinatown, or walking across the Golden Gate bridge for exercise. And I ALWAYS take visitors to the top of Twin Peaks - stunning views.

anabella

San Fran has a lot of character without the intensity of other big cities. It's small enough to walk around, I love that about it! I'd go back to SF any day of the week... I'm not planning on moving anywhere but that's a place I wouldn't mind living in...

Giantaxe

Eddie Izzard did a great piss-take of this when he came to Oakland a few years ago.

Japantown's shops/restaurants are excellent but the '60's architecture sucks. Plus Geary tends to be pretty much a wind tunnel at that location.

SF is full of stunning viewpoints. My favourite is the knoll south of Golden Gate Park called Grandview Park (well named, I must say). There are also some nice viewpoints to the southwest of Noe Valley, where you get a fantastic vista over the multi-coloured houses of Noe/Castro/ Eureka Valley. Oh, and the view of downtown from Potrero Hill... Or the view from Telegraph Hill...

notacrime

All this talk of views reminds me of a bartender I met in New Zealand. We were heading to Auckland and he told us that the best view of Auckland was in your rear view mirror.

emailrob

OT, but badges of honors, secret clubs? Reminds my of Black Squadron on Adam and Joe, only for those up early enough to hear the first part of the Saturday morning show. Love the podcast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/adamandjoe/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=143407505421

Steerpike

I go there only for the shops and restaurants (the stationary store there is the best in the world, closely followed by the Ichiban Kan store). I also love the fact I can park underground easily and cheaply.
Where, oh where, can you park to take pics from Potrero Hill? I've pulled off the freeway a few times hoping to get that classic shot of downtown but have never found the 'right' place to stop. One of life's mysteries!