San Francisco: Gateway to California

The city of San Francisco sits on the northern tip of the peninsula that creates the California Bay Area. San Francisco is the premier city of northern California, and has been at the forefront of the development of California as a whole. It is the financial hub of the state as well as the second most important financial hub of the country, after New York City. San Francisco has served as the gateway for many a watershed moment in history - it was a strategic stronghold of Spanish California, it was the embarkation point for adventurers and treasure seekers during the California gold rush, as well as for most American Naval forces in the Pacific theater of the second world war. San Francisco further became the focal point when these forces returned after the war, settled down, and led to the rapid development of the whole Bay area, first as a research center for the armed forces, and later of course as the technological hub of the world. Today San Francisco is famous for being a liberal and arty city nested into Silicon Valley, and for being the financial center for the otherwise technology dominated surrounding Bay cities.

Downtown San Francisco from Twin Peaks

The most famous landmark in San Francisco, and indeed one of the most famous in America, is the iconic Golden Gate bridge, famous as the gateway to and from the Golden State of California. The Golden Gate stretches from the peninsula of San Francisco towards the North Bay, and is in fact part of the arterial California-1 state highway, which runs north-south through the state.

Golden Gate Bridge - from south (city) side

Driving up into the hills on the other side of the bridge, there are several stunning vista points, offering panoramic views of the Golden Gate bridge, San Francisco downtown, Alcatraz island, and the Bay beyond.

Golden Gate Bridge and Downtown - from north side

Golden Gate Bridge and Downtown from vista point

Along the main marina just north of the downtown, is the impressive Embarcadero, the main street along the waterfront.  The Ferry Building is located here, with scheduled ferries to various points across the bay, and so is the nouveau sculpture of Cupids's Arch.

Embarcadero - Cupid's Arch and Ferry Building

Above the Embarcadero looms the Bay Bridge, the only direct vehicle connection from San Francisco toward Oakland and East Bay.

The Bay Bridge

On the Marina itself, Pier 39 is the most famous among all piers, with its full complement of eateries, souvenir shops and one surprising implement: California Sea Lions lounging right in the middle on specially reserved rafts.

Pier 39

Pier 39 with California Sea Lions

 The waterfront is famous for lots of seafood restaurants, and local specialties are the crab-cake sandwich and the clam chowder in bowls made of sour-dough bread.

The Seafood Spread

Inland on the peninsula, San Francisco is famous for its incredible steep streets. For a casual visitor, its really creepy to look back from the car, in the middle of hand-braked bumper to bumper traffic, on a street at 45 degree angle! The locals seem matter-of-fact about it, and are even used to parking with wheels turned instead of straight, so that any untoward backward slip will put them onto the street instead into the car parked behind.

Lombard Street - Uphill task!

I really wonder what would have prompted the city planners to build such steep streets instead of gently sloping and winding streets, and the only explanation I can think off is that American cities must value straight streets and grids so highly, that they rate steep straight streets higher than gentle winding ones, which would have been the norm in Europe or other places.

San Francisco's steep drives

The most curious and famous of San Francisco's streets is the Crooked Street (formally called Lombard Street), which is a weird combination, being a sharply winding street that is also steep. It is one of the tourist to-dos in San Francisco, to drive up the steep street on the other side, and then drive down the crooked street, dodging tourists, parked cars, and other similar enthusiastic drivers.

Lombard Street downhill - 'Crooked Street'

 From the bottom edge of Crooked Street, you can see all the down to Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz island beyond. This is one of the most popular routes on the San Francisco streetcars.

Hyde Street - Downhill towards fisherman's wharf and Alcatraz Island

The city of San Francisco has a long history of being welcoming to people from all over the world. It has one of America's oldest and largest China-towns, it has today a large Hispanic minority, it is famous for being LGBT friendly. It offers something for everyone, from the biggest cliches to the most esoteric things. It offers a wonderful glimpse of what California has to offer, for tourists and residents alike.