San Francisco Peace and Love Music Now Age Table of Contents Home
Gazing out my window through the fog at
the
Golden Gate,
she
languidly lifts her gray gossamer gown revealing
her golden
thighs. It is not difficult to wax
poetic about our city and
the many things there are to do and see here.
San Francisco is for me as
one poet described, the
living center of my universe.
I like to spend my lazy days in North
Beach, till fragrant with its Italian ambiance, the funky music
clubs on Upper Grant Ave., ghosts of the beatniks and
the living poets carrying on outside the Trieste cafe
enjoying their Cappuccinos and Spritzers.
Love to see the dapper older Italian gentlemen
holding forth with each other, the tourist families and lovers, poetry
on the sidewalks, Kerouac Alley, people practicing Tai Chi in Washington
Square. Strolling along Grant Ave window-shopping the newest boutiques, and
again feeling grateful that my fondly remembered spots from the past still
have miraculously survived. Art Shows, poetry readings, events at the
Beat Museum and City Lights books are a few of my favorite things
Nearby is Chinatown. It's narrow streets of discordant
sidewalks accompanied by the pungent odors of the unusual vegetables
in the abundant Chinese markets. Chinatown is full of novelties, lovely
linens, chinese Herbalists and exotic treasures from the Far East.
Near upscale Union St. and Chestnut St. is the majestic
Palace of Fine Arts with its swans and regal brides posing for their photos.
The Exploratorium is there too and it's really not just for kids.
Although I usually avoid Fisherman Wharf, I do enjoy the blues
music at Lou`s on Jefferson St and am consistently mesmerized by the
talented man in the street creating his amazing name-paintings.
There are
many music festivals and happenings on the lush
greens in Golden
Gate Park, which is an oasis for nature lovers
with its sublime Japanese Tea Garden, the lacey Conservatory of
Flowers and our truly splendid Strybing Arboretum.
San Francisco has all the museums and cultural attributes
one would expect in a world class city. My favorite Museum is
The
Legion of Honor, set like a little jewel in Lincoln Park. And
walking through Lincoln Park to the trail along the cliffs of
Lands End past the ruins of Sutro Baths is inspiring.
I have
walked this fair city up ,up, up its many hills and down
its secret steps and alleyways. I have searched out its treasure
spots for many years and still continue to find more.
The plethora of languages, colors, cultures living together
within forty nine square miles, getting along quite well with each other.
Tolerance, freedom of expression, and gay exuberance mixing and blending
into a tapestry representing inhabitants from every corner of the world.
I relish all the different neighborhoods and there are so many different
ethnic restaurants that you can eat in a different country every night for many,
many days. Some of the countries are no longer on the worlds maps but their
excellent cuisine continues thanks to the people who have come here.
San Francisco
struggles to remain the gracious and hospitable lady
she is in spite of all the urban problems she has in common with all cities
in these times. I am grateful to be able to live here on the edge of the
continent in what is for me the heart of the world.
