domingo, 25 de marzo de 2012

Menos es mas, San Francisco 2012

Menos es mas

El tiempo pasa y nos vamos haciendo viejos dice una canción, desde hace mucho años recuerdo mi pasión por los viajes, aunque no han sido tantos como como me hubiera gustado año con año voy realizando alguno que otro viaje de esos que nutren el alma y con el pasar de los años se van recordando y volviendo a vivir.

Los viajes me nutren especialmente en momentos en que necesito vitaminas, muchas veces he recurrido a ellos en la memoria y me sorprende como poco a poco se fue logrando un ritmo.

Los primeros recorridos fueron sin duda espectaculares y medio improvisados y atrabancados, hace 25 años hice mi primer viaje por el sureste de México, aquel viaje de 7500 kms en un VW fue algo absurdo por la cantidad de lugares que visite todo me resultaba emocionante, así, conocí ruinas mayas, playas espectaculares pueblos de nombres extraños de origen maya en fin una lista grandísima de datos y experiencias nuevas en un corto periodo de 21 días que eran las vacaciones que en mi empleo tenía derecho.

En el primer viaje a Europa, en 1993, visite siete o mas países, Holanda, Inglaterra, Bélgica, Francia, Alemania, Austria, Italia y España; fueron tantas ciudades que aquello fue agotador, algunas noches la pase en los trenes, pero en ese entonces yo pensaba que no volvería a cruzar el Atlántico, la situación económica en México era muy inestable y un viaje a Europa era realmente una hazaña, al menos en mi caso, por lo tanto lo mejor era una actitud como la que se usa en un banquete, atacar que de esto no hay todos los días, pasaron los años y por suerte tuve oportunidad de regresar al viejo continente, el recuerdo de aquel primer viaje seguía presente pero la actitud era diferente, entonces opte por viajar mas lento y por tanto menos lugares, al fin me di cuenta que de cualquier manera corriendo no disfrutaba, solo acumulaba imágenes en mi cámara fotográfica y pretender conocer todo Europa en 21 días era absurdo, para mi siguiente viaje solo programe dos ciudades, la idea era disfrutarlas por una semana completa para poder repasar sus calles, sentarme tranquilamente a ver pasar a la gente ya fuera en los cafés o pasar días enteros en un solo museo; una semana en Londres y una semana en París, al siguiente año Madrid y Barcelona una semana en cada ciudad despues fue Milán y Roma y así algunos mas en los que si bien hubo mas ciudades estas eran mas pequeñas como Sevilla, Córdoba y Granada en una semana, o bien Ávila Toledo y Segovia en la madre patria.

La experiencia a sido realmente deliciosa, pasear lentamente es fantástico, este año el destino es Estados Unidos particularmente San Francisco, será mas de una semana la que pasaré en la joya de la bahía, quizá solo salga de la ciudad a pasar un día en el famoso valle de Napa y otro día en el Parque Nacional de Yosemite, los demás serán dedicados a los barrios y puntos de interés de la famosa capital del mundo hippie, desde luego no es fácil dejar de la lado otros lugares, inicialmente paso por mi mente la idea de hacer un recorrido que desde hace años tengo ganas de hacer y consiste en viajar por tren por los Estados Unidos pero al final repasando los pocos días que tengo para vacacionar este año decidí dejar para otro momento la experiencia en los trenes americanos y concentrarme en exprimir los mas posible la ciudad y pasear lentamente en tranvía, comer langosta con calma, ir al teatro, visitar el museo de arte moderno de la ciudad atravesar varias veces el Golden Gate que tantas veces he visto en el cine y la televisión visitar la antigua prisión de Alcatraz y no se que mas se va a presentar.

Menos es mas, todavía recuerdo aquel viajero americano con el que converse alguna vez en el barco por las aguas de rio Sena en París y que me contaba que a él le gusta mucho París pero que cada día regresaba a dormir la siesta al hotel y paseaba lentamente, al fin las vacaciones eran su periodo de descanso.


Fernando Romero
www.cubrebocas.com
Tel (33) 3156 6465

Enviado desde mi iPad

domingo, 18 de marzo de 2012

"Microcosmos", de Claudio Magris | Letras Libres

"Microcosmos", de Claudio Magris

El paraíso triestino

Claudio Magris, Microcosmos, Anagrama, Barcelona, 1999, 322 pp.

Para quien entienda la crítica como una de las últimas formas sobrevivientes de alta cultura es imposible olvidar al ensayista italiano Claudio Magris. Triestino nacido en 1939, Magris pasó de ser un competente germanista a convertirse en uno de los prosistas más sugerentes del fin de siglo. Su labor de reconstrucción e invención de la llamada Mitteleuropa fue emprendida, premonitoriamente, en las vísperas de la caída del Muro de Berlín. Tras  restaurar el prestigio de Joseph Roth,  Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hoffmansthal, Franz Blei, Italo Svevo o  Heimito von Doderer, hizo Magris la  tarea que compete a los grandes críticos: configurar una familia espiritual en términos contemporáneos y reunirla en un paisaje histórico.
     Con El Danubio (1986), ensayo-río, hizo del viaje fluvial una manera de componer con ideas el sitio para las  ciudades, los libros y los artistas. Pocos libros tan europeos como El Danubio, en el sentido en que esa universalidad puede ser propia de las postrimerías de la vigésima centuria. Desde Trieste, la cueva de Joyce, Magris traza estratégicamente la ruta para escapar de todos los nacionalismos. En Microcosmos, su obra más reciente, Magris insiste: "Si la identidad es el producto de un querer, es la negación de sí misma, porque es el gesto de uno que quiere ser algo que evidentemente no es y por lo tanto quiere ser distinto de sí mismo, desnaturalizarse, mestizarse."
     La admiración por Magris como  historiador de la cultura no implica  concederle la grandeza del narrador. Sus celebrados relatos breves, como Otro mar (1991) y Conjeturas sobre un sable (1992),  tienen las virtudes de la buena prosa y la arrebatadora devoción clásica junto al temperamento trágico del moderno.  Pero como le ocurre a otros críticos que hacen ficción, faltan en Magris esos  humores malignos de la sangre y del alma que distinguen al letrado talentoso del novelista de genio. Magris escribe argumentos que un Roth o un Svevo habrían desarrollado magistralmente. La nada despreciable grandeza de Magris está en dotar a sus penates bienamados de motivos de escritura que irremediablemente les será imposible realizar. Magris escribe para sus ancestros.
     No aprecio Microcosmos como "ensayo novelado", pues los fragmentos narrativos suelen ser aburridos y propicios al lugar común. A Magris le cuesta pensar fuera de la historia, y cuando se demora meticulosamente en los hombres y las bestias del Piamonte puede enternecer pero no conmover. Todo cambia cuando en este Microcosmos veladamente autobiográfico aparecen los temas capitales de Magris: los hombres desechados por la historia —los estalinistas italianos reprimidos por el mariscal Tito—, la ruptura entre el estilo y el yo —encarnada en Silvio Pellico, el viejo autor de Mis  prisiones— o la extraterritorialidad triestina que tiene en el crítico italiano a su evangelista. Siempre se coloca, como hombre de letras, en la frontera entre la cultura y la política; Magris es un vigía. Por ello, los ecos de las guerras de Croacia y Bosnia hacen de Microcosmos un testimonio  delicado y apremiante de esa barbarie que al transformar en murmullo, Magris torna insoportable.
     Hombre de ciudad y, si me apuran, uno de los escritores más ciudadanos de nuestra época, Magris enmudece frente a la naturaleza y la torna inevitablemente pintoresca. Microcosmos habla de lagunas, colinas y montañas, pero sólo cuando aparece la huella del hombre (y con él, fatalmente, de la historia), sus paisanos y pensionados cifran la condición civilizatoria que el crítico espera de cada hombre. Las páginas, tan divertidas, sobre las palomas que defecan sobre Trieste, resaltan por ser algo más que una intromisión de las aves sobre la polis.
     La claridad estilística de Magris es una forma de rigor moral. Por ello se aleja del novelista (o del cuentista, más  extraño aún a un "narrador" como él), que desea complicar la existencia y no dilatarla a través del Danubio o capturarla en tres o cuatro tópicos regionales. A cambio, la fuerza de las imágenes poéticas en Magris, al producirse, nos devuelven a su estatura de escritor. Queriendo escribir un libro sobre la sutilidad y el anonimato, Magris no resistió la tentación de invocar a Svevo. Ese error retórico salva a Microcosmos de sus limitaciones. El busto de Italo Svevo, en el Jardín Público de Trieste, está acéfalo. No hay mejor definición visual, dice Magris, del novelista de quien el crítico heredó la custodia del paraíso triestino. -



Fernando Romero
(33)3156 6465

Enviado desde mi iPhone

domingo, 4 de marzo de 2012

Recommended Tours | San Francisco | CitySeekr City Guide

segunda entrega de ideas para San Francisco

San Francisco - Recommended Tours

San Francisco is a unique city of steep hills and beautiful architecture, bordered by the Muir Woods, the Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Seeing everything is possible; the city is rather small, but the terrain often poses a challenge. Be sure to have a schedule in mind, and take advantage of the convenient public transportation options.

Union Square

Union Square is a haven for shoppers: look in any direction and you will see upscale department stores. Nearby, visitors can hop onto a cable car on Powell Street, or walk up Stockton Street to the pagoda-style roofs of Chinatown. The St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral can be found here. Explore the many shops with their inexpensive wares and souvenirs, then grab a bite at the nearby Imperial Palace.

North Beach

The Saints Peter and Paul Church is North Beach's defining feature, and its lawn is the site of many summertime picnics and pickup football games. City Lights Bookstore, a shrine of the "Beat" culture, can be found nearby. The store features a collection of literature, poetry, and avant-garde theory and criticisms, some of it published under the City Lights label, which you won't find anywhere else. The Tosca Cafe and the Caffe Trieste are former Beat hangouts that offer tasty dining options. Take note of the sign for the Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard, and if you're in the mood for satirical sketches, stop in for a show.

Coit Tower

The climb to Coit Tower is very steep, be warned. You can stop at the Liguria Bakery for a bite before. At the top of Coit Tower, take in the spectacular panorama from Nob Hill past the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, and the East Bay. Then hop on a bus and visit Fort Mason and Ghirardelli Square.

Fisherman's Wharf

A trip to Fisherman's Wharf on the Embarcadero is on every visitor's to do list. Shop at Pier 39 and be sure to try the fresh seafood at Lou's Pier 47. Ferries embark to Alcatraz Island and Angel Island State Park from the Ferry Building Marketplace. Be sure to check out the culinary shops and restaurants while you wait for your ferry.

Yerba Buena Center

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is located in the area south of Market Street. The unique, temporary exhibitions here draw huge crowds. If you are in San Francisco for a convention or other event at the Moscone Center, it's just around the corner. Above the Moscone Center, whose business end is underground, is the successful Yerba Buena Center complex and Yerba Buena Gardens. The Yerba Buena Ice Skating and Bowling Center features a year round, indoor skating rink. It's a handsome and airy facility with a glass wall that faces the skyscrapers Downtown. Across Howard Street, you can see the back end of the imposing Metreon, Sony's four-story, sixteen-screen entertainment megalith.

If you're looking for an affordable way to hit all San Francisco's hotspots, try one of these tour companies.

Walking Tours

Barbary Coast Trail ( +1 415 454 2355/ http://www.barbarycoasttrail.org/ )

Alcatraz Island ( +1 415 705 5555/ http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/ )

A San Francisco Walkabout with Gary Holloway ( +1 415 357 1848/ http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/programs/holloway.html )

City Guides ( +1 415 557 4266/ http://www.sfcityguides.org/ )

Heritage Walks ( +1 415 441 3000/ http://www.sfheritage.org/events+tours.html )

San Francisco Parks Trust Golden Gate Park Tours ( +1 415 750 5105/ http://www.sfpt.org/ )

Flower Power Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour ( +1 415 863 1621/ http://www.hippygourmet.com/)

S.F.African-American Historical and Cultural Society Walking Tour ( +1 415 441 0640 )

Dashiell Hammett Walking Tour ( +1 510 287 9540/ http://www.donherron.com/ )

Ultimate City Tour ( +1 415 777 2288 / +1 888 868 7788/ http://www.supersightseeing.com/ )

Boat Tours

Farallon Islands Nature Cruises ( +1 800 326 7491/ http://www.oceanicsociety.org/whale )

Blue & Gold Fleet ( +1 415 705 8200 / +1 415 705 5555/ http://www.blueandgoldfleet.com/ )

San Francisco Duck Tour ( +1 415 435 3825/ http://www.bayquackers.com/ )

Bus Tours

Mr. Toad's Tours ( +1 877 467 8623/ http://www.mrtoadstours.com/ )

Yosemite with Green Tortoise ( +1 415 956 7500/ http://www.greentortoise.com/yosemite.national.park.html )

Gray Line Tours ( +1 888 428 6937/ http://www.sanfranciscosightseeing.com/ )

Starline Tours ( 1-800-959-3131/ http://www.starlinetours.com/san-francisco-tours.asp )

Bike Tours

Bike & Roll San Francisco ( +1 415 771 8735/  http://www.bicyclerental.com/)

Kayak Tours

California Canoe & Kayak ( +1 510 893 7833/ http://www.calkayak.com/ )

Segway Tours

Segway San Francisco Electric Tour ( +1 415 474 3130 / +1 877 474 3130/ http://www.electrictourcompany.com/ )

Brewery Tours

Anchor Brewing Company ( +1 415 863 8350/ http://www.anchorbrewing.com/ )

Fire Engine Tours

San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures ( +1 415 333 7077/ http://www.fireenginetours.com/ )

Culinary Tours

Wok Wiz Chinatown Tours and Cooking Company ( +1 650 355 9657/ http://www.wokwiz.com/tours/index.html )

Ghost Tours

The Haunted Haight Walking Tour ( +1 415 863 1416/ http://www.hauntedhaight.com/)

Chinatown Ghost Tours (+1 415 793 1183/ http://www.sfchinatownghosttours.com/)






District Guide | San Francisco | CitySeekr City Guide


Las vacaciones están a la vuelta de la esquina, Semana Santa es una de mis dos temporadas vacacionales que disfruto cada año, la otra son las dos semanas finales del año, pero, esta Semana Santa he decidido ir a San Francisco, California; Los Estados Unidos país vecino lo he visitado en muchas ocasiones, hace varios años, casi diez para se exactos que no he viajado por sus ciudades, repentinamente apareció San Francisco en mis planes e impulsivamente compre mi boleto de avión esta semana,  ahora me encuentro en la investigación de los lugares de interés en la zona de la bahía,  esto es toda una aventura, a pesar de toda la vida ver imágenes en la televisión, en el cine y demás referencias es poco lo que sé sobre el entorno californiano por lo pronto aquí va algo de lo que he encontrado

ya poco a poco iré agregando algunas imágenes para el plan, por lo pronto si alguien tiene ideas y se anima escribirme me ayudaran mucho





San Francisco - District Guide

San Francisco is quite small, yet its hilly terrain and patchwork demographic profile gives it more distinctly defined neighborhoods than a city five times its size. As a result, the sights, sounds and flavors of this community—and even its climate—can change within a single block.

Castro Street & Noe Valley

The center of San Francisco's gay community and a landmark for gay culture everywhere, the Castro is full of bars, dance clubs, restaurants, and one-of-a-kind shops, located in the commercial area around 18th and Castro Street. There's arguably more street life in the Castro than anywhere else in the city, especially on weekends. The gleaming neon sign of the Castro Theater greets visitors as they make their way down the street, with its Spanish colonial architecture and various blockbuster and independent film screenings. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence sometimes make an appearance at special events (they're really men in nun drag) such as the Castro Street Fair, and take it from us—this is the place to be on Halloween. Trek up Castro to Liberty Street to see exceptional Victorian homes. Over the hill lies Noe Valley and its main shopping strip, 24th Street. Cute and relatively quiet, Noe Valley has enough great restaurants and gourmet food shops to make it sophisticated, but not enough many chromed-up bars and Italian clothing boutiques to make it stuffy.

Chinatown

The greatest single concentration of Chinese people outside of Asia—a population of roughly 80,000—live in the approximately 24 square blocks of Chinatown, making it the most densely populated area of San Francisco. As you walk around, you'll be richly rewarded by the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of this vibrant community. Grant Avenue is the decorative showpiece of Chinatown, each year hosting the Autumn Moon Festival Street Fair and the ever popular Chinese New Year Festival & Parade. The neighborhood is also known for its excellent Chinese dishes from freshly-prepared poultry and seafood, to the staple, Dim Sum.

Civic Center & Hayes Valley

Stately Beaux Arts buildings like the War Memorial Opera House and the domed, renovated City Hall are situated near the modern Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall and the Public Library's graceful Main Branch. The Asian Art Museum is also in the area, housed in the former Main Library building. Nearby Hayes Valley offers fine dining and apres-symphony toddies for concert-goers, as well as tastefully creative stores for clothing and gifts.

Cow Hollow & Union Street

The grand, imposing homes of Cow Hollow (so named for its original bovine residents) are nestled against the Presidio where Pacific Heights dives to the Marina. Spectacular views are the norm. Straight, single yuppies pack the Balboa Cafe, Sushi Chardonnay, and other bars and restaurants on Fillmore and Union Streets. Clothes hounds can easily fritter the day away in Union Street's many upscale and tasteful boutiques.

Downtown & Union Square

Union Square is the heart of San Francisco's bustling and stylish downtown shopping district. Posh department stores such as Neiman Marcus and Macy's ring the one-block square park. Hundreds of other exclusive stores, boutiques and shopping centers, such as the Westfield San Francisco Shopping Centre, lie within a three-block radius of the square. If you've shopped till you've dropped, pick yourself up at an outdoor cafe in tiny Maiden Lane, and restore the soul at one of the many art galleries on Sutter and Geary Streets. This is also the home of San Francisco's modest Theater District.

Financial District & The Embarcadero

"The Wall Street of the West": Bank of America, Charles Schwab, and the Transamerica Corporation (in its landmark, 48-floor Pyramid) are among the many banks and corporations headquartered here. The Embarcadero Center features dining, shopping, a fine art cinema, and a health club, while Justin Herman Plaza is the site of many New Year's Eve bashes. The Embarcadero itself fronts the Bay for miles on either side of the imposing Ferry Building Marketplace, modeled on the cathedral tower in Seville, Spain.

Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square & Aquatic Park

This area was once the thriving center of San Francisco's fishing industry. Many fishing boats still dock at the Wharf, but Fisherman's Wharf today is more of an extended tourist trap. Pier 39 is a great place to catch a view of the bay thanks to the delightful colony of sea lions. Aquatic Park features a beach, of sorts, and a long pier spiraling out into the Bay. Old sea-dogs will enjoy adjacent Hyde Street Pier, where several historic ships are docked, along with the Maritime Museum. Ghirardelli Square, a chocolate factory turned shopping and restaurant complex, features some of the city's better dining and views. This area is nice for an evening stroll.

Golden Gate Park

With 1000 acres of gardens, meadows, lakes, golf, archery, and internationally recognized art and science museums, Golden Gate Park offers endless recreational possibilities for visitors and locals. The DeYoung Museum and the Japanese Tea Garden are some of the main attractions of the famous park, drawing millions of visitors each year. At the western edge of the park, Ocean Beach, although unappealing for swimming, attracts hard-core surfers with its rough, frigid and unpredictable waves.

Lower Haight

At once, the area around Haight and Fillmore feels more bohemian and less unsavory than the Haight Ashbury to the west. The streets are usually packed with college-age inhabitants who tote guitars and well-worn paperbacks. Ethnic restaurants like Persian Aub Zam Zam, unpretentious cafes, and independent bookstores are mushrooming in this neighborhood. The street life is lively on nights and weekends at popular haunts like Nickie's and Toronado.

Nob Hill & Russian Hill

On impossibly steep Nob Hill, California's early industrialists built fabulous mansions that looked down upon the rest of San Francisco. While only the imposing Flood Mansion remains—now the Pacific Union Club—the area's five-star hotels bear the names of other Nob Hill denizens: the Mark Hopkins, the Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel, and the Huntington. Facing Huntington Park is Grace Cathedral, a 3/4 replica of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Adjoining Nob Hill is Russian Hill, where San Francisco's old money has a great view of the Bay. The "Crookedest Street in the World" resides here and snakes down Russian Hill for the 1000 block of Lombard Street. The traffic is generally impossible—walk it!

North Beach & Telegraph Hill

Originally settled by Italians, North Beach became a magnet for Beat Generation writers and poets in the 1950s. City Lights Bookstore and the cafes and shops on upper Grant Avenue still exude Beatnik funk. A new wave of entrepreneurial Italians has brought a sense of Roman style to exciting new restaurants along Columbus Avenue. On Broadway, barkers still pull tourists and sailors into charmingly seedy strip joints. Clapboard sea captains' cottages and mossy flower gardens seem to dangle in space from the cliffs of Telegraph Hill. Coit Tower, at 210 feet, commands a stunning panorama from the hilltop. The boardwalk Filbert Steps leads from the Tower down through the Grace Marchand Gardens to Levi's Plaza Park at the base of the hill.

Fillmore Street & Japantown

Fillmore Street, Pacific Heights' commercial spur, features noteworthy restaurants, epicurean food, and antique shops, all attended by a lively trade from young professionals. Fillmore and Geary has become a popular nightlife destination, thanks to John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom Room and the Fillmore Auditorium. Be advised that the neighborhood gets a bit sketchy to the south and west of Geary and Fillmore. The Kabuki Cinema and neighboring Kabuki Springs & Spa are part of the Japan Center, the commercial heart of Japantown. A sort of miniature Ginza, the Japan Center features a 100-foot pagoda, bonsai gardens, sushi bars and other businesses. Each spring it holds the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival.

Pacific Heights & Presidio Heights

Stately homes and high-rent apartment buildings line the ridge high above Cow Hollow in old-money Pacific Heights. Genteel, renovated Victorians ring the peaceful Alta Plaza Park. Washington Street between Presidio and Arguello features exceptionally palatial residences. Those fortunate enough to live here shop for antiques and dine in quiet refinement on a few understated blocks of nearby Sacramento Street. San Francisco's largest synagogue, Temple Emanu-el, can be found on Arguello Street.

SoMa

Once an unglamorous stretch of warehouses with a seedy undercurrent, an exciting modern San Francisco has emerged in the area South of Market Street—SoMa. Conventions, art, and entertainment possibilities abound in the Moscone/YerbaBuena Center area. Locals can be seen at leisure at the South Park Cafe, Brain Wash (a cafe/performance space/laundromat), or other fashion-forward restaurants and watering holes.

South Beach/China Basin

One of the city's most popular residential areas for young professionals, South Beach arose from a virtual wasteland at the southern end of the Embarcadero and the western edge of SoMa. Apartment complexes and boat marinas squeeze together between the foot of the Oakland Bay Bridge and the San Francisco Giants' waterfront baseball stadium, AT&T Park. Warehouses and factories have either been converted into stylish lofts or are being razed in a swath of development extending down Third Street to the Mission Bay development.

Haight-Ashbury & the Panhandle

This small, but densely concentrated cradle of the hippie movement has tried to retain much of its flower-power, peace and love appeal. While real Summer-of-Love generation hippies may be hard to find, young people, dreadlocked, skinheaded, or skateboard-crazy have continued to come to the Haight to break boundaries. The colorful bars and restaurants of upper Haight Street, however, are always packed with professional twenty-somethings. The annual Haight-Ashbury Street Fair is quite a scene. Architecture buffs will want to take a look at the regal Victorians on the Panhandle—the grassy, tree-lined strip extends east from Golden Gate Park along Fell and Oak Streets.

The Marina District

Tanned, fit and energetic twenty-somethings run and rollerblade along the Marina Green, a vast expanse of grass fronting the Bay between two yacht harbors. Mountain bikers crowd cafes, restaurants, and brunch hangouts along busy Chestnut Street after Sunday morning rides to Mount Tamalpais. The graceful Palace of Fine Arts houses the Exploratorium, the one-of-a-kind, hands-on science museum—a must-see for those with kids. At the southern end of the Marina Green is Fort Mason Center, a waterside arts and cultural center.

The Mission District

The nexus of Hispanic culture, and a mecca for edgy bohemians, the Mission now houses increasing numbers of young professionals and their sport utility vehicles. Mexican and Central American businesses line teeming Mission Street. Visit popular La Taqueria, and be assured that the wait is worth it. Along the Valencia Corridor, one block to the west, bars, cafes, and restaurants of every description, notably Casanova Lounge, lead to the buzzing 16th and Valencia hub. Paxton Gate stands as one of the most unique among the array of shops in this stretch. The neighborhood draws its name from nearby Mission Dolores, founded in 1776. The dolled-up, postcard-perfect Victorians on Dolores Street are worth a look—in the daytime—from adjacent Dolores Park.

The Presidio

14,000 acres of forests and beaches, 75 miles of bicycle-friendly roads, a golf course, and scenic grandeur without end make this the jewel of the Fort Miley Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Presidio was a military base from 1776 to 1994; antebellum Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge, is a favorite for cannon enthusiasts, as well as for surfers, sailboarders, and Hitchcock aficionados (it's the site of Kim Novak's attempted suicide in Vertigo).

The Richmond District

Fog-bound and quiet residential streets stretch to the Cliff House and Sutro Baths at the ocean, with the occasional Irish pub along the way. Some of the city's best Chinese restaurants are to be found in "Little Chinatown" on Clement Street, and Cyrillic lettering fills store windows around the imposing, gold-domed Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Cathedral on outer Geary Boulevard. Exclusive Seacliff, home to Robin Williams and other celebrities, is next to Lincoln Park, site of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and a spectacular golf course.

The Sunset

A quiet and intensely foggy residential district, the principal attractions to the Outer Sunset are the San Francisco Zoo and the natural amphitheater at Stern Grove, where free concerts are held on summer Sundays. As well as being home to the Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, the Inner Sunset features a lively stretch of shops on Irving Street, near 9th Avenue where students from nearby UCSF Medical School crowd ethnic restaurants of every stripe, from Ethiopian to Thai.



Fernando Romero Saldaña
cubrebocas@gmail.com