San Francisco - Day 11

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Ed slept in and I took an early morning walk up Nob Hill to the Fairmont, passing the trolleys which are not too crowded at this hour. 

The Fairmont looked the way it always has, elegant and traditional, whereas the St. Francis has tried to go modern — which has changed the ambiance. 

I then walked through Chinatown.  I have always loved watching the shops in this neighborhood wake up to the residents and tourists. Even on a Sunday, I was not disappointed.

I went by St. Mary’s Church, built in 1854, which was one of the few buildings to survive the 1908 earthquake.

Another beautiful day and I caught some great views.

Then Ed and I split a sandwich at one of the small cafes across the street in Union Square. While walking to the bus stop, we noticed this fountain outside the Grand Hyatt.

It tells the visual story of San Francisco created by world renown SF artist Ruth Asawa. Completed in 1972, it is 14 ft. in diameter and is composed of 14 bronze panels. She enlisted visitors and school children to fashion many of the pieces out of baker’s clay, then glued them to the clay panels, before sending it to the foundry. Reminds me of Louise Nevelson’s work. It was funded by the Hyatt which is why there is an “HH” on it.

We then caught a local bus to meet our group for the North Beach/Little Italy Food Tour by local Tastes of the City. It was a good thing we had a snack, because from 2:00-3:30 we were only given some bites of meat and cheese and 3 pieces of fudge.  We have taken these tours in at least 10 cities and they have all been great. This one should have been but it was not good.  Our guide acted like he was doing us a favor and spent a lot of time taking us to non-food places, like a hat shop, and walking us around Washington Square, which was torn up. He was really boring. We only went to 4 food stops — the usual has always been 6. So here’s the line-up:

Palermo II Delicatessen (Sicilian style) for one plate of cheese and meat to share with 12 people.

Z Cioccolato for 3 pieces of fudge in a bag.

Acquolina for pasta. The cheese sauce was unique because the proprietor poured hot vodka into a round of cheese and then scraped the cheese into a liquid. He then added the pasta into the round to complete the dish.

Mona Lisa Restaurant for pizza and half a cannoli.

By now it was 5 pm so we headed back to the hotel for a respite. We went up to a higher floor to catch a view. 

By dinner time, we weren’t really that hungry after all that pasta and pizza, so we had wonderful salads at a little place down the street called Honey Honey Cafe. Had to get to bed early because we have a very early morning.