I am travelling in Europe currently and missing San Francisco like crazy. Thus, I looked around Pinterest for some San Francisco stuff and found the awesome "San Francisco LOVE" board.
If you need some inspiration for San Francisco pictures, art and impressions come here:
It
is summer again in San Francisco - the fog is rolling into our lovely city and
people who have never been to the City by the Bay before are wondering what
happened to the sunny days in San Francisco.
As a San Francisco
resident I feel quite lucky that at least a few months a year we have the fog
come visit. Why? Because I finally have an excuse to stay in and watch TV
series or go to the movies.
July is actually a perfect month for the movies because there is a lot
happening in our film scene. And in preparation for a wonderful month of movies
and popcorn I found a great summary of the upcoming film festivals by Tyler
Gosnell on San Francisco Travel. My two highlighs are the San Francisco Frozen
Film Festival as well as the San Francisco silent Film Festival:
Blood Brother: This documentary
(winner of the Sundance Audience Award for Best Documentary), is a profound
tale of a journey to rescue HIV positive orphans in India. Directed by Steve
Hoover, this trip quickly became more than the gap-year soul searching
experience he intended.
The Frozen Film Festival is dedicated
to creating avenues for independent filmmakers from underserved communities to
come together and exhibit their work to the widest possible audience. The
Festival aims to create a lasting and sustainable network exhibiting movies
made by artists and youth without the means to get their films large exposure.
Check out the full lineup here.
The Kings of
(Silent) Comedy: This collection of silent shorts and clips will
be sure to get you laughing with clips including Charles Chaplin, Buster
Keaton, Charley Chase, and of course Felix the Cat.
The Silent Film Festival is San Francisco’s celebration
of some of the first movies ever made. These silent shows range from comedies
to dramas, and usually include a musical accompaniment. You can find more silent films here.
As being a sailor myself I just have to give you a heads up that some of the most spectacular events is coming up shortly in San Francisco: The America's Cup
The America’s Cup ‘Summer of Racing’ kicks off on July 4th and includes three months of hard-fought competition, culminating with the best two teams in the world dueling for the oldest trophy in international sport. A schedule of all racing events can be found here.
To get an idea what to expect during the America's Cup watch this video:
To get in the mood for America's Cup you can treat yourself as well to some Nautical Eats and 7x7 has the overview: Starting in July, some nautically-themed treats and cocktails will be anchored onto the menus of Coqueta, Hard Water, La Mar Cebicheria Peruana, and The Plant Café Organic—all a part of the loftily named America’s Cup Culinary Collection, presented by The Piers. My favorite is La Mar on Pier 1.5: La Mar Cebicheria Peruana's chef Diego Oka works his seaside magic with traditional ingredients that are familiar to anyone who’s lounged away in Peru. The Regatta ($19.95) includes cebiche mixto (with Mexican yellowtail), calamari and shrimp in an ají amarillo leche de tigre with Peruvian corn and yam. Causa pulpo olivo blends tender octopus tartare with Peruvian black olives, red pepper and onions over yellow potato causa with avocado purée. Or try the Arroz Criollo, a combo of wok sautéed rice with aji panca, choclo, shrimp, calamari and mussels.
Last week the first
hackathon in the skies took place. I was lucky to be selected by British
Airways and its partners to participate in the so-called UnGrounded flight, the company’s
inaugural Innovation Lab in the Sky - aboard a private British Airways flight
from San Francisco to London. With this hackathon in the skies I joined more
than 100 innovators from leading VC firms, Google X, IBM, Vodafone, Ebay and
various startup companies to collaboratively address the global STEM skills gap
with the goal of accelerating global innovation.
Participants were nominated by global technology leaders in both
Silicon Valley and London, with primary input from the UnGrounded advisory board.
The advisory board is made up of senior representation from RocketSpace,
Silicon Valley Bank, Andreessen Horowitz, Stanford University and Innovation
Endeavors.
Here you can find some more highlights from the program:
Upon landing, the ideas and solutions created on the flight were
presented to the United Nations ITU Secretary General at the DNA Summit, in
association with the G8 Innovation Conference, in London, where -amongst others
- David Cameron, Richard Branson and Eben Upton (Founder of Raspberry Pi) talked
about their views on innovation & entrepreneurship.
You can find a selection of
the winning ideas from our teams here:
Overview
An online
community that leverages the power of pipeline programs to advise, advocate,
and accelerate women into STEM university programs and STEM companies. The
community taps women leaders in STEM companies, retirees, and former
participants to advise and advocate. AdvisHer reduces attrition rates in STEM
university programs, increases the funding of women startups as well as the
number of women in STEM-related companies and VCs.
Overview
Backpacks carried by travelers act as mobile hotspots and
are carried to more rural/remote areas by backpackers. Solar-powered backpack
features internet access and is pre-loaded with videos, multimedia content, and
game-powered educational tools to be shared with locals. Travelers act as STEM
ambassadors and help people engage more easily with the technology and its
content.
Overview
A web platform
that connects business-ready STEM talent to potential employers via a global,
standardized-quality assessment. Combines quantitative and qualitative
approaches, including portfolio showcase and evaluation, in an effort to
demonstrate and develop both hard and soft skills. The platform encourages
global STEM talent to prepare and build a market-ready digital presence that
exposes them to employers for more accurate vetting.
San Francisco is family-friendly and there a lot of fun things for you to explore in big-family style.
1. The recently openened Exploratorium on the waterfron offers interactive science exhibits.
2. The California Academy of Sciences is the only museum globally which houses an aquarium, planetarium and natural history muesum all under one (living) roof.
3. You can as well dive into the Aquarium of teh Bay on Fisherman's Wharf: stroll through two tunnels where 20,000 aquatic animals swim above, visit the new river otter exhibit and pet baby leopard sharks.
4. Fisherman's Wharf is touristy, but you can't visit San Francisco without stopping by at the Pier 39 and its playful sea lions - this is a must!
5. If your kids need to get rid of some energy visit the House of Air, a trampoline park in the Presidio
6. or stroll through the San Francisco Zoo.
7. If you want to go on quite an adventure with your kids, I would recommend to go and explore bustling Chinatown. You can stop by at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory which is easy-overlooked as it is nestled into a small side street.
8. If you are in the city by car you have to drive down crookey Lombard Street, the "crookedest" street in the world.
9. Afterwards you can let the former prison inmates guide you on a audio tour of the infamous Alcatraz Island.
10. And once you are back from the island you can finish up the afternoon with some ice cream at hte Ghiradelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop - your kids will thank it.
The question you rather should ask in San Francisco is: When to
not visit San Francisco or "Fog City"?
And the nickname "Fog City" brings us right to the
topic! I have to say that I actually love our fog as it is quite
a phenomenon but I understand that tourists might disagree: as they
wouldn't be able to spot Golden Gate Bridge, the top of Transamerica Pyramid,
more than a white wall on top of Coit Tower or freeze in their shorts although
it is July.
So why are the months between June to August so foggy and
cold?
The frequency of fog and clouds which feel as if they walk right
through the city is due to California’s extraordinary geography.
In general, the state has a Mediterranean climate, with mild, wet
winters and dry summers. But that general type is locally modified by special
features of the landscape. The Golden Gate is the only complete breach in the
Coast Range, which borders the Pacific for most of California’s length. The city
is bordered on three sides by water, framed like a jewel between the Pacific
Ocean and the San Francisco Bay. As a result, the Bay Region is the meeting
place of continental and oceanic air masses. Through the funnel of the Golden
Gate and San Francisco Bay, the immense aerial forces of sea and land wage a
continual war, and the tide of battle often flows back and forth with
regularity. The line between the two types of air masses, particularly in
summer, may zigzag through the streets of San Francisco and extend in similarly
erratic fashion across the entire region.
Meanwhile, the summer temperatures of surrounding cities, like
those in the East and North Bay can cook in the summer months, with
temperatures easily reaching into the low 90s to low 100s F (32.22-37.78 C).
The heat produced by inland temperatures, combined with the cool water of the
Bay and Pacific Ocean, and the winds coming in from the water, turn San
Francisco into a paradise for lovers of fog. North Bay and South Bay residents
also benefit from fog creeping in at night to cool down hot temperatures.
Makes sense, right? That is the reason for our awesome summer fog! So if you want to visit and have a lot of sun: best time is the Indian Summer between September and Oktober!
coming just fresh from my translator I would love to provide you with a preview of chapter two and three of the upcoming book "How to love San Francisco".
What is the book about?
This book shall let you dive into the world of a
European girl searching for the American Dream in San Francisco. When Hanni,
the 27-year old character, lands a job offer to work in California she decides
to leave Germany behind to explore San Francisco. It is the story of a girl
coming to “The City by the Bay” to live her dream and falling in love with the
city, which has so many bewildering differences to Europe.
Why you might want to pre-read chapter 2 & 3?
1. You will get beta access to the book as I won't be releasing the book before Q3 2013.
2. You will help me making the book better for all of you . in case you would not just read it but as well give me feedback if there are certain sentences or phrases which still can be improved (in terms of their translation).
3. You will be mentioned on my blog in a new category called "Community" and be mentioned as one of the "San Francisco lovers"
Said this, I would love to hear your feedback on the translation - remember it is the first version of it - so consider it a beta-version :). Feel free to make any comments into the Google Doc which you find here.
You can send any feedback as well to my email address Hannibayers@gmail.com
As you might not know yet, but will know in a second: I met an American guy and we started to hang out - you probably could call it "dating" although I refuse to speak of dating as I just don't like the concept of it (if you want to find out more why that is you will find more in chapter June of "How to Love San Francisco").
Anyway, we had drinks the first time at Bourbon & Branch and he invited me to a fancy steakhouse called House of Prime Rib the last time.
Now, it seems to be on me to suggest the next place. I asked some friends for the best restaurants to bring a date in the city and this is the result of my little survey:
Frascati: For some reason most of the best dating places have some kind of an Italian background and Frascati is "the place". The reason for that is that both its location (in cute and up-scale Hyde Street in Russian Hill) and it's romantic coziness are just made for dates. If you want to enjoy a great tagliatelle or grilled swordfish while the cable car is stuttering by the window in its nostalgic style come here.
Anchor Oyster Bar Right in the heart of Castro district this easy-going place is great and nonbinding. This tiny little gem has been around since 1977 and it can be perfectly combined with watching a movie at the Castro Theater first and then snacking and chatting along some oysters, shrimp or crab cocktail. Anchor Oyster Bar always gets pretty crowded - so make sure that you sign up on the white board.
Zuni Cafe This place on 1658 Market Street is located in a rather rough area but still is worth going. It has been around for more than 25 years and if you go in the late afternoon you will enjoy the warm evening sunlight falling into the welcoming restaurant and onto your plate of Tuscan Chicken (for two) or Ceasar.
Foreign Cinema: If you walk down the candlelit hallway of grungy Mission Street you won't expect such a spacious outdoor patio and a film flickering on the back wall. You can share oysters and bubbles with your date and in case you shouldn't know what to talk about anymore: just watch the movie :).
Fleur de Lys This is not a normal dating restaurant - you should just come here if you have something very special to celebrate: like anniversary or big birthday... then it's totally worth it but pricey as well. Fleur de Lys is more than just a French Restaurant - it is one of the renowned restaurants of Herbert Keller and features a truly original cuisine of contemporary French cooking with Mediterranean accents.
It appears to me that everyone is constantly busy in San Francisco - are people working or just having too much fun? Probably a little bit of both... The Bold Italic was recently writing about the fact that San Franciscans are constantly in a hurry and came up with quite a few good reasons.
IMO, one is that I have at least one group dinner a week and we always have the same issue: To find a good restaurant in San Francisco which hosts more than five people.
This is why I came up with the Top 5 Group Restaurants in San Francisco (medium price range and about 10 people):
Ok, this is not my favourite place because it is German but because it just has the best beer in town (which by coincidence is German). You can even order big glass boots of beer (which we usually never do in Germany unless it is a pretty cheesy place) but here -far away from the real Germans- it is actually kind of fun. Their Schnitzels are tasty, too!! They even have a beer garden on the other side of the street - but so far I refused to visit it as it can't compare to a real beer garden and is rather a square area of asphalt surrounded by a hoarding and serving beer within.
I just LOVE their chicken and this is the only reason why I put this restaurant down on the list - of course along with the fact that it is great for eating out with groups. We went there a few times with a group of 8 to 10 people and the chicken is always the highlight (it is even better than the one that you can have at the German Oktoberfest) and that really means a lot.
No. 3: Dosa
If you are up for some South Indian Food try out Dosa on Fillmore Street. There is another Dosa Location in the city (on Valencia), but Fillmore is the newer and more stylish place. You will find an urban crowd and upbeat vibe and tasty cocktails as well as an extensive wine list. My favourite dish are the vadas (south Indian crab cakes)
No. 4: Perbacco
This Italian place allows you to have a Pietmontese celebration in one of their private rooms with house-made salumi and delicious pastas and flavorful wines. Located in the heart of San Francisco it is perfect for a night out with colleagues or friends.
Located on 260 Valencia Street you can have an awesome pizza party in this family-style place. They serve huge bowls of fresh salad and while you are waiting you can get creative on the paper tablecloth with colourful crayons.
Photo by KP Tripathi Dan Rosenbaum, a local San Francisco co-blogger has done a great overview of the best photo locations in the city. I tried his recommendations on Coit Tower, Twin Peaks and Marin headlands myself and can just agree with Dan – these are definitely one of the best spots in the Bay Area to take pictures of your beloved city.
