San Francisco Weekend

We traveled down to San Francisco a few weekends ago to visit our son and had a lovely/ warm few days in the sunshine.  Our AirBnB was in an old house in the Hayes Valley, which was a new part of the city for us to spend time in.  Nearby is Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies that sit across from the park.  The apartment  building next door  is a beautiful building in itself, but gets no attention being next to its famous sisters.

The scale of the city is so pleasant and you can find a beautiful old building on every block to sketch.

Shopping on Valencia Street in the Mission District, I stopped to capture a few quick paintings while the others continued down the street.

I wanted to get a sketch of the cable cars, but only had a chance at the turn-a-bout down on Beach & Hyde.  The lines of tourist trying to get on made it impossible to catch a ride up the hill to our next destination.  We turned to Uber for a faster and cheaper ride (although less romantic).

Saturday morning we went to the Ferry Terminal to shop for our dinner that evening.  I found a shady spot where I could get a panorama of the city while watching the crowds at all the farmer's booths.  Lots of young families enjoying their morning in the sunshine.

Before helping out with cooking dinner that evening, I wanted to visit the "Church of the Eight Wheels".  This is a converted parish church into a family friendly disco roller rink used by many in the  neighborhood.  You can always have interesting conversations with people that stop and watch me while I sketch.

Sunday morning we crossed the bridge to have a coffee and pastry treat at the Sausalito Bakery and Cafe.  The fog was just lifting off the bay while I painted the street view.

Finally we ended our weekend in the North Beach neighborhood with an Italian meal at Acquolina Pizzeria and then stepped next door for gelato before heading to the airport. Can't wait for my next trip to visit my son and this beautiful west coast city.