it is getting colder these days as the Indian Summer came to an end. We find more time for watching movies and this is great. There a quite a few famous, old movies featuring San Francisco - and even destroying it.
Here are my top 5 - all of them featuring San Francisco and having a dramatic effect on the city (aka destroying San Francisco or at least parts of it):
A mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.
When a mad man calling himself 'the Scorpio Killer' menaces the city, tough as nails San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan is assigned to track down and ferret out the crazed psychopath.
A Barbary Coast saloonkeeper and a Nob Hill impresario are rivals for the affections of a beautiful singer, both personally and professionally in 1906 San Francisco.
To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to 20th century Earth to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it, humpback whales.
I wanted to be part of this seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing for quite a while - but the last five years I always had another excuse. This year I hadn't.
Today (having written 13.000 words in the last few days) I finished my daily goal of 2000 words and every day I am getting closer to finish my second novel - or at least a very early draft of it. And you know what: once you sit down to write your 2000 daily word ration is it actually fun and way easier than I expected it to be. But sometimes it takes me a whole day of contemplating, checking social media and doing other stuff until I finally find the muse to sit down and write. And once started - I am usually done after 1,5 hours of concentrated writing.
Since November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 p.m. on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is foranyonewho has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.Here’s a little more about how it all works.
How has your experience been so far? And how to do you fit NaNoWriMo in your day?
On Friday, the 4th and Saturday, the
5th of October the San Francisco Conference'Tales from Two Cities
- Writing from California'took
place. The L.A. conference is planned for February 2014.It was a free
conference examining the literature of Alta, California, north and south.
Poetry, fiction, non-fiction, print and digital: all part of how California
defines itself, going back to the earliest days. I attended some of the speeches in San Francisco and
was very impressed by the interview betweenArmisteadMaupin andDavidUlin. And I finally even got to meet Armistead in person. As he is the inspiration for my "How to love San Francisco" book this was a very special day for me.
Armistead gave some insights about the art of writing 'Tales of the City' and making the Series, first published by a newspaper into a book series. He shared that he used a lot of 'real life input' as he was sitting next to the News Editor and thus was able to build in the latest news into his daily 'Tales of the City' column. Armistead is now working on another book which is planned for release beginning of next year. As you might know,my recent book - which is know available for free in a text + audio version - got inspired by Armistead Maupins' Tales of the City. This is me and him:
On Saturday I listened to the talk "the City", which you can watch here. Moderated by Jane Ganahl, this panel tackled “the city.” Originally the panel was planed to answer questions such as: What's the enduring power of San Francisco as literary site, trope, problem, puzzle, mystery, icon? The City in fiction, The City in fact: where do they crossover, diverge, collide? Who are the great interpreters of The City then and now? But interestingly this panel was purely about how the literary scene of San Francisco has changed over the years - especially influenced by the tech scene. The panel with David Talbot, Phil Bronstein, Gary Kamiya and Michelle Tea described that there is a Manhattanization happening and San Francisco is becoming a 'Boutique City for rich people'. Unfortunately this is becoming more and more true. In addition author Michelle Tea claimed that there is no connection whatsoever between the tech and creative writing community. She asked how we could better connect and collaborate with the vivid tech scene and bring artists and entrepreneurs closer together. Michelle mentioned as well that Dave Eggers, the founder of a writing non-profit and author of several books recently mentioned that he can live pretty well along with all the tech people on hip Valencia Street. But have you read already about his latest book? The Tech-Satire The Circlepicks up the challenges of the thriving tech industry in the Bay Area. The book is about 500-pages long and describes life under a totalitarian regime of a Google-meets Facebook-like tech giant.
How can we save the literary scene of San Francisco? And how can tech and art move closer together? What are your ideas?
Obviously the grass is always greener on the other side - no matter what I do the other side always looks a little bit more spectacular.
Usually when I am in San Francisco I think back to Europe and compare California to Germany. And I can always find factors that I think are way better in Germany than in in the "Golden State": better healthcare, better glazing of windows, lower food prices, less synthetic growth hormones in food, more security, better banking system, better education, better beer ... just to name a few.
Usually I conduct this analysis in the typical rational German way - I notice drawbacks but do not really feel very emotional about them either.
Since the last 6 weeks I have been in Germany and... gosh - I miss a lot about San Francisco and the problem is: I REALLY long for San Francisco in an emotional way and it is actually not just a declarative statement about the shortcomings of the "other side".
So I went ahead and made a list of all the things I am missing while being far away from beloved San Francisco:
People in SF seem more optimistic and energetic to me
The intensity of the San Francisco sun (even though fog is expelling the sun frequently in the summer)
A true love for the country - I am not speaking about patriots, but I would love to see more "Heimatliebe" in Germany
A stronger idealism and fight for new ideas & innovation (with people building way more appealing websites)
The colorful mix of different cultures and ethnic groups living together on 49 square miles
Hearing the cable car roaring and rattling up the hill
And then there are some more things I miss in a very practical sense:
So many opportunities to be active in and around San Francisco
Much lower gasoline prices (although I don't even have a car - but zipcar and on-demand ridesharing lyft get me anywhere in San Francisco)
Open shops on Sundays
Wider streets in a very logical structure
a lot more public wifi
Free water refills in restaurants and lots of drinking fountains in public parks
being able to use my credit card everywhere
The genius of integrated closets
And when I had listed the most important factors I miss about San Francisco (and still could go on for hours), I noticed: San Francisco - this is where I belong and stop complaining about "the other side"!
Imagine you get in a kayak at night and paddle out onto mystical Tomales Bay in the dark - just hearing the kayak sliding through the water and some birds chirping in the trees along the shore. That's already a romantic and relaxing experience by itself - but it becomes a show of magical beauty with the so-called 'Bioluminescence'. That's exactly what my friend and I did last weekend.
To get an idea about what was expecting us I asked Dallas, a tourguide atBlue Water Kajakingin Point Reyes. "You will paddle through water, which will light up in blue, white and green colours - just move your paddles and you will see the bioluminescence. Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms and you observe it as bluish white flickers in the water, coming from blooms of bioluminescent "dinoflagellates"".That sounded like an adventure and so we got on the water - just prior to dusk and after a short introduction on how to use the kajaks in a safe way. In a group of eight people we paddled across Tomales Bay - filled with excitement for the night and the bioluminescence to start its show. Dallas told us, that it reaches its peak every year around August and September "This year is the strongest ever", he told us and pointed on the dark surface of the water.
An then - when we reached the other side of Tomales Bay and it was dark, we were able to experience bioluminescence first hand: When you move with your paddle through the water the tiny dinoflagellates emit short flashes of light. Light produced during day in the process of photosynthesis is generated and can be experienced as a phosphorescent trail when you create movements in the water. I reached my hand into the water and a chatter of herons was swimming by. Later in the tour we spottedseals, osprey, pelicans, jellyfish and kingfishers. There was even a moment when a huge bat bat ray was right below our kajak and jolted the boat from beneath. Just a few minutes later - just right in front of our boat we witnessed a leopard shark - which got disturbed by us and hastily swam away - followed by a lite-brite green shooting star-like arc. During the tour Dallas gave us more information and we learned that the bioluminescene was not the only thing specialty around here. "Do you guys know what kind of ground you are kajaking upon?", Dallas asked and an older guy had the answer instantly: "On San Andreas Fault". Exactly! “The world is made up of seven major tectonic plates." He draw the line of plates into the dark night sky and added: "The San Andreas Fault—the line along which the Pacific and the North American plates met, is thousands of kilometers long. And right at Tomales Bay you are on top of it. Suddenly, with the thought that I was now paddling over one of the world’s most active earthquake zones, I felt a little unsettled. But Dallas calmed us down: "Don't worry guys - we consider the water to be one of the safest places during an earthquake. So if something should happen: you should be fine!"
We paddled along the bay for about 2 hours and got back to the shore at around 10.30 pm - it was an spectacular trip and totally worth driving up from San Francisco on a Friday night.
But if you want to extend your Point Reyes and stay for longer in the area, make a day trip out of the Point Reyes experience. In the morning head to theBear Valley Visitor Center. From there you can hike different trails, such as the Earthquake Trail or the Palomarin Trail. Notice that with 11.5 miles the Palomarin Train is the longest of all the trails offered. If that's too much for you, try the Arch Rock and Wildcat Camp trails - they’re only about half as long. Later in the afternoon you can head up to the Point Reyes Lighthouse. Grab some sandwiches at Inverness afterwards or Oysters at one of the Oyster spots (such as Tomales Bay Oyster Company) and then get ready to experience the highlight of the day: Bioluminescence padding.
It
got a little quiet in the last two weeks around me - I know. But you can be
sure, that I have a good reason: I got married and was on honeymoon in Italy. Since
yesterday morning I am back to "business" and currently travelling
for some meetings in Berlin.
While strolling through Berlin, I was wondering
how Berlin compares to San Francisco. Obviously in terms of political and
cultural significance Berlin wins: Just visit Schloss Charlottenburg at
Spandauer Damm - an impressive palace from the 18th century. Or walk by Gedächtniskirche
at Breitscheidplatz in Charlottenburg - this church got destroyed by a bombing
in 1934 and is considered an important war memorial of the postwar period.
In
addition to that you should not forget to visit Brandenburger Tor, the town's
landmark. A former symbol of the divided city, it drew visitors who used to climb an observation platform in order to get a glimpse of the world behind the Iron Curtain, on the other side of the barren “death-strip” which separated east from west Berlin, geographically and politically.
But
in recent years Berlin's start-up importance has been rising as well. More and more entrepreneurs moved to the city to start their businesses. And it is a good environment to start a company in Germany: the country ranked 6th in competitiveness by the World Economic Forum's 2012 - 2013 report, and 3rd in its capacity for innovation.
Not having been in Berlin since my birth, I was inclined
to see where entrepreneurs hang out. I asked my friend Christop Räthke, himself an well-connected entrepreneur and founder of Berlin Startup Academy,
to show me around the city's tech spots. And this were the places he brought me
to:
Rosenthaler Platz
This
is where the magic happens! Near the Rosenthaler Platz subway station, signs of
the city's high-tech future blend seamlessly with its communist past. You will
find communal offices decked out in colorful IKEA furniture - converted from
decrepit breweries and stables.
Cafe Sankt Oberholz
We
visited "Sankt Oberholz" and sipped cappuccino while working and
being surrounded by many other like-minded people. This is one of THE meeting
spots for Berlin's tech scene - the other one would be Betahaus.
Hotel
Amano
If you need to stay overnight in
Berlin, you might want to try outHotel Amano. You can be sure to run into a few
entrepreneurs and creative minds while hanging out in the Hotel Lobby or having
a drink at the bar.
There a tons of more place, but I won't list all of them here - find out for yourself and explore Berlin. For me it was just a short escape to Berlin
but I know for sure: Berlin is the startup capital of Germany and it's hip and
cool and especially in the summer it wins over San Francisco in terms of the
weather :) (we have a lot of fog right now in San Francisco and it's cold and
windy)
According to Travel + Leisure San Francisco is the most
pretentious city - it doesn't just have some great restaurants, galleries,
and shops. How did
they come up with this ranking?They asked their readers to rank 35 major cities across the U.S., voting
on everything from how charming the local accent is to the quality of microbrews and the attractiveness of residents, the
quality of luxury shopping, the IQ of residents or how tech-savy the city
is. San Francisco ranked high with visitors on the snooty categories like
fine dining (#5, behind Charleston, New Orleans and New York, and tied with
Chicago), tech-savviness (#2, how could Seattle go first??), and the kind of judgey
eco-friendliness that makes those unused to curbside compost feel small (#4).
What do you think about this ranking and is this how you want
San Francisco to represent itself and be known in the world?
Do you want to know which cities follow San Francisco in the
ranking? Here they are:
I am travelling in Europe currently and missing San Francisco like crazy. Thus, I looked around Pinterest for some San Francisco stuff and found the awesome "San Francisco LOVE" board.
If you need some inspiration for San Francisco pictures, art and impressions come here:
It
is summer again in San Francisco - the fog is rolling into our lovely city and
people who have never been to the City by the Bay before are wondering what
happened to the sunny days in San Francisco.
As a San Francisco
resident I feel quite lucky that at least a few months a year we have the fog
come visit. Why? Because I finally have an excuse to stay in and watch TV
series or go to the movies.
July is actually a perfect month for the movies because there is a lot
happening in our film scene. And in preparation for a wonderful month of movies
and popcorn I found a great summary of the upcoming film festivals by Tyler
Gosnell on San Francisco Travel. My two highlighs are the San Francisco Frozen
Film Festival as well as the San Francisco silent Film Festival:
Blood Brother: This documentary
(winner of the Sundance Audience Award for Best Documentary), is a profound
tale of a journey to rescue HIV positive orphans in India. Directed by Steve
Hoover, this trip quickly became more than the gap-year soul searching
experience he intended.
The Frozen Film Festival is dedicated
to creating avenues for independent filmmakers from underserved communities to
come together and exhibit their work to the widest possible audience. The
Festival aims to create a lasting and sustainable network exhibiting movies
made by artists and youth without the means to get their films large exposure.
Check out the full lineup here.
The Kings of
(Silent) Comedy: This collection of silent shorts and clips will
be sure to get you laughing with clips including Charles Chaplin, Buster
Keaton, Charley Chase, and of course Felix the Cat.
The Silent Film Festival is San Francisco’s celebration
of some of the first movies ever made. These silent shows range from comedies
to dramas, and usually include a musical accompaniment. You can find more silent films here.
As being a sailor myself I just have to give you a heads up that some of the most spectacular events is coming up shortly in San Francisco: The America's Cup
The America’s Cup ‘Summer of Racing’ kicks off on July 4th and includes three months of hard-fought competition, culminating with the best two teams in the world dueling for the oldest trophy in international sport. A schedule of all racing events can be found here.
To get an idea what to expect during the America's Cup watch this video:
To get in the mood for America's Cup you can treat yourself as well to some Nautical Eats and 7x7 has the overview: Starting in July, some nautically-themed treats and cocktails will be anchored onto the menus of Coqueta, Hard Water, La Mar Cebicheria Peruana, and The Plant Café Organic—all a part of the loftily named America’s Cup Culinary Collection, presented by The Piers. My favorite is La Mar on Pier 1.5: La Mar Cebicheria Peruana's chef Diego Oka works his seaside magic with traditional ingredients that are familiar to anyone who’s lounged away in Peru. The Regatta ($19.95) includes cebiche mixto (with Mexican yellowtail), calamari and shrimp in an ají amarillo leche de tigre with Peruvian corn and yam. Causa pulpo olivo blends tender octopus tartare with Peruvian black olives, red pepper and onions over yellow potato causa with avocado purée. Or try the Arroz Criollo, a combo of wok sautéed rice with aji panca, choclo, shrimp, calamari and mussels.
Last week the first
hackathon in the skies took place. I was lucky to be selected by British
Airways and its partners to participate in the so-called UnGrounded flight, the company’s
inaugural Innovation Lab in the Sky - aboard a private British Airways flight
from San Francisco to London. With this hackathon in the skies I joined more
than 100 innovators from leading VC firms, Google X, IBM, Vodafone, Ebay and
various startup companies to collaboratively address the global STEM skills gap
with the goal of accelerating global innovation.
Participants were nominated by global technology leaders in both
Silicon Valley and London, with primary input from the UnGrounded advisory board.
The advisory board is made up of senior representation from RocketSpace,
Silicon Valley Bank, Andreessen Horowitz, Stanford University and Innovation
Endeavors.
Here you can find some more highlights from the program:
Upon landing, the ideas and solutions created on the flight were
presented to the United Nations ITU Secretary General at the DNA Summit, in
association with the G8 Innovation Conference, in London, where -amongst others
- David Cameron, Richard Branson and Eben Upton (Founder of Raspberry Pi) talked
about their views on innovation & entrepreneurship.
You can find a selection of
the winning ideas from our teams here:
Overview
An online
community that leverages the power of pipeline programs to advise, advocate,
and accelerate women into STEM university programs and STEM companies. The
community taps women leaders in STEM companies, retirees, and former
participants to advise and advocate. AdvisHer reduces attrition rates in STEM
university programs, increases the funding of women startups as well as the
number of women in STEM-related companies and VCs.
Overview
Backpacks carried by travelers act as mobile hotspots and
are carried to more rural/remote areas by backpackers. Solar-powered backpack
features internet access and is pre-loaded with videos, multimedia content, and
game-powered educational tools to be shared with locals. Travelers act as STEM
ambassadors and help people engage more easily with the technology and its
content.
Overview
A web platform
that connects business-ready STEM talent to potential employers via a global,
standardized-quality assessment. Combines quantitative and qualitative
approaches, including portfolio showcase and evaluation, in an effort to
demonstrate and develop both hard and soft skills. The platform encourages
global STEM talent to prepare and build a market-ready digital presence that
exposes them to employers for more accurate vetting.
San Francisco is family-friendly and there a lot of fun things for you to explore in big-family style.
1. The recently openened Exploratorium on the waterfron offers interactive science exhibits.
2. The California Academy of Sciences is the only museum globally which houses an aquarium, planetarium and natural history muesum all under one (living) roof.
3. You can as well dive into the Aquarium of teh Bay on Fisherman's Wharf: stroll through two tunnels where 20,000 aquatic animals swim above, visit the new river otter exhibit and pet baby leopard sharks.
4. Fisherman's Wharf is touristy, but you can't visit San Francisco without stopping by at the Pier 39 and its playful sea lions - this is a must!
5. If your kids need to get rid of some energy visit the House of Air, a trampoline park in the Presidio
6. or stroll through the San Francisco Zoo.
7. If you want to go on quite an adventure with your kids, I would recommend to go and explore bustling Chinatown. You can stop by at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory which is easy-overlooked as it is nestled into a small side street.
8. If you are in the city by car you have to drive down crookey Lombard Street, the "crookedest" street in the world.
9. Afterwards you can let the former prison inmates guide you on a audio tour of the infamous Alcatraz Island.
10. And once you are back from the island you can finish up the afternoon with some ice cream at hte Ghiradelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop - your kids will thank it.
The question you rather should ask in San Francisco is: When to
not visit San Francisco or "Fog City"?
And the nickname "Fog City" brings us right to the
topic! I have to say that I actually love our fog as it is quite
a phenomenon but I understand that tourists might disagree: as they
wouldn't be able to spot Golden Gate Bridge, the top of Transamerica Pyramid,
more than a white wall on top of Coit Tower or freeze in their shorts although
it is July.
So why are the months between June to August so foggy and
cold?
The frequency of fog and clouds which feel as if they walk right
through the city is due to California’s extraordinary geography.
In general, the state has a Mediterranean climate, with mild, wet
winters and dry summers. But that general type is locally modified by special
features of the landscape. The Golden Gate is the only complete breach in the
Coast Range, which borders the Pacific for most of California’s length. The city
is bordered on three sides by water, framed like a jewel between the Pacific
Ocean and the San Francisco Bay. As a result, the Bay Region is the meeting
place of continental and oceanic air masses. Through the funnel of the Golden
Gate and San Francisco Bay, the immense aerial forces of sea and land wage a
continual war, and the tide of battle often flows back and forth with
regularity. The line between the two types of air masses, particularly in
summer, may zigzag through the streets of San Francisco and extend in similarly
erratic fashion across the entire region.
Meanwhile, the summer temperatures of surrounding cities, like
those in the East and North Bay can cook in the summer months, with
temperatures easily reaching into the low 90s to low 100s F (32.22-37.78 C).
The heat produced by inland temperatures, combined with the cool water of the
Bay and Pacific Ocean, and the winds coming in from the water, turn San
Francisco into a paradise for lovers of fog. North Bay and South Bay residents
also benefit from fog creeping in at night to cool down hot temperatures.
Makes sense, right? That is the reason for our awesome summer fog! So if you want to visit and have a lot of sun: best time is the Indian Summer between September and Oktober!
coming just fresh from my translator I would love to provide you with a preview of chapter two and three of the upcoming book "How to love San Francisco".
What is the book about?
This book shall let you dive into the world of a
European girl searching for the American Dream in San Francisco. When Hanni,
the 27-year old character, lands a job offer to work in California she decides
to leave Germany behind to explore San Francisco. It is the story of a girl
coming to “The City by the Bay” to live her dream and falling in love with the
city, which has so many bewildering differences to Europe.
Why you might want to pre-read chapter 2 & 3?
1. You will get beta access to the book as I won't be releasing the book before Q3 2013.
2. You will help me making the book better for all of you . in case you would not just read it but as well give me feedback if there are certain sentences or phrases which still can be improved (in terms of their translation).
3. You will be mentioned on my blog in a new category called "Community" and be mentioned as one of the "San Francisco lovers"
Said this, I would love to hear your feedback on the translation - remember it is the first version of it - so consider it a beta-version :). Feel free to make any comments into the Google Doc which you find here.
You can send any feedback as well to my email address Hannibayers@gmail.com
As you might not know yet, but will know in a second: I met an American guy and we started to hang out - you probably could call it "dating" although I refuse to speak of dating as I just don't like the concept of it (if you want to find out more why that is you will find more in chapter June of "How to Love San Francisco").
Anyway, we had drinks the first time at Bourbon & Branch and he invited me to a fancy steakhouse called House of Prime Rib the last time.
Now, it seems to be on me to suggest the next place. I asked some friends for the best restaurants to bring a date in the city and this is the result of my little survey:
Frascati: For some reason most of the best dating places have some kind of an Italian background and Frascati is "the place". The reason for that is that both its location (in cute and up-scale Hyde Street in Russian Hill) and it's romantic coziness are just made for dates. If you want to enjoy a great tagliatelle or grilled swordfish while the cable car is stuttering by the window in its nostalgic style come here.
Anchor Oyster Bar Right in the heart of Castro district this easy-going place is great and nonbinding. This tiny little gem has been around since 1977 and it can be perfectly combined with watching a movie at the Castro Theater first and then snacking and chatting along some oysters, shrimp or crab cocktail. Anchor Oyster Bar always gets pretty crowded - so make sure that you sign up on the white board.
Zuni Cafe This place on 1658 Market Street is located in a rather rough area but still is worth going. It has been around for more than 25 years and if you go in the late afternoon you will enjoy the warm evening sunlight falling into the welcoming restaurant and onto your plate of Tuscan Chicken (for two) or Ceasar.
Foreign Cinema: If you walk down the candlelit hallway of grungy Mission Street you won't expect such a spacious outdoor patio and a film flickering on the back wall. You can share oysters and bubbles with your date and in case you shouldn't know what to talk about anymore: just watch the movie :).
Fleur de Lys This is not a normal dating restaurant - you should just come here if you have something very special to celebrate: like anniversary or big birthday... then it's totally worth it but pricey as well. Fleur de Lys is more than just a French Restaurant - it is one of the renowned restaurants of Herbert Keller and features a truly original cuisine of contemporary French cooking with Mediterranean accents.
It appears to me that everyone is constantly busy in San Francisco - are people working or just having too much fun? Probably a little bit of both... The Bold Italic was recently writing about the fact that San Franciscans are constantly in a hurry and came up with quite a few good reasons.
IMO, one is that I have at least one group dinner a week and we always have the same issue: To find a good restaurant in San Francisco which hosts more than five people.
This is why I came up with the Top 5 Group Restaurants in San Francisco (medium price range and about 10 people):
Ok, this is not my favourite place because it is German but because it just has the best beer in town (which by coincidence is German). You can even order big glass boots of beer (which we usually never do in Germany unless it is a pretty cheesy place) but here -far away from the real Germans- it is actually kind of fun. Their Schnitzels are tasty, too!! They even have a beer garden on the other side of the street - but so far I refused to visit it as it can't compare to a real beer garden and is rather a square area of asphalt surrounded by a hoarding and serving beer within.
I just LOVE their chicken and this is the only reason why I put this restaurant down on the list - of course along with the fact that it is great for eating out with groups. We went there a few times with a group of 8 to 10 people and the chicken is always the highlight (it is even better than the one that you can have at the German Oktoberfest) and that really means a lot.
No. 3: Dosa
If you are up for some South Indian Food try out Dosa on Fillmore Street. There is another Dosa Location in the city (on Valencia), but Fillmore is the newer and more stylish place. You will find an urban crowd and upbeat vibe and tasty cocktails as well as an extensive wine list. My favourite dish are the vadas (south Indian crab cakes)
No. 4: Perbacco
This Italian place allows you to have a Pietmontese celebration in one of their private rooms with house-made salumi and delicious pastas and flavorful wines. Located in the heart of San Francisco it is perfect for a night out with colleagues or friends.
Located on 260 Valencia Street you can have an awesome pizza party in this family-style place. They serve huge bowls of fresh salad and while you are waiting you can get creative on the paper tablecloth with colourful crayons.
Photo by KP Tripathi Dan Rosenbaum, a local San Francisco co-blogger has done a great overview of the best photo locations in the city. I tried his recommendations on Coit Tower, Twin Peaks and Marin headlands myself and can just agree with Dan – these are definitely one of the best spots in the Bay Area to take pictures of your beloved city.
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