Life in Everybody's Favorite City

Gorgeous weekend walks - The Presidio, San Francisco, CA

On a sunny weekend, take the opportunity to explore the North side of San Francisco's beautiful and rugged coastline. The Presidio is the area located just below the Golden Gate Bridge, encompassing beach front property on either side. Many trails are available - however, the Batteries to Bluffs Trail is particularly stunning with panoramic views to the West and the Golden Gate Bridge to the Northeast.

Recommended as a must-do-at-least-once experience.

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General info:

http://www.presidio.gov/

http://www.nps.gov/prsf/index.htm

Great trail map:(includes Batteries to Bluffs)

http://www.presidio.gov/NR/rdonlyres/A26635BC-AE79-4EDA-846B-BF5700B926A5/0/TOMap.pdf

Chinese New Year Parade - Jan-Feb

Gung hee fatt choi

Chinese New Year is celebrated in San Francisco with a colorful parade featuring floats and performances by a mix of participants, including Chinese performing artists, elementary and high school groups and members of local government. For example, during the 2010 parade, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was walking along crowds of spectators, shaking hands and exchanging brief quips. 

The parade is a free cultural event worth experiencing at least once. It takes place in part of San Francisco's Chinatown, of course, which happens to be the largest Chinatown outside of Asia. Because the celebration is based on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the dates range between the end of January to the middle of February. In 2011, the year of the rabbit, the new year will be celebrated on February 3rd. See the relevant wiki article for future dates. 

Official Chinese New Year Parade site

Pictures below courtesy of Jacklyn Franklin, photographer and advertising art director  

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Ferry Building Marketplace

The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is a California certified farmers market operated by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA). The market is open on Tuesday and Saturday.More

via www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com

  

The Farmer's Market on Saturdays and Tuesdays is a San Francisco 'must do at least once' experience. Offering excellent locally-sourced, organic and original products, the market is good for a shop or simply to look around and people watch. It is obvious who lives nearby - they make a bee line for a few choice items and quickly leave. Plan for a few hours there to take it all in and enjoy a champagne brunch or lots of small quick items (e.g. falafel with jalepeno hummus).

Must try:

Blue Bottle Coffee (really good, popular, not sure if it was worth the 15 mins I had to wait in line though. Good thing there were New York Times papers available to read)

Slanted Door. Apparently the Hamachi is amazing. Long line queuing for the lunch service.

My new challenge:

Shop more at the Farmer's market instead of Costco or Safeway. Only buy meat products if it is possible to confirm the animal had a happy life, and look for locally-sourced fruit and veg that is in season.

 

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P.S.

You'll notice I bought pork sausages. More on the hunt for the perfect sausage later.