The Locations: San Francisco

Who doesn’t like the “City by the Bay”? San Francisco is exciting, multicultural and can be explored on foot or by public transport in large parts and is thus very different from the larger Los Angeles. In addition, the location on the peninsula on the “San Francisco Bay” is really fantastic. Well, perhaps one should concede that the weather in San Francisco is not always as sunny as further inland: when the clouds come in from the Pacific and hang over the city, it can get chilly. Besides, San Francisco is anything but an insider’s tip, so in summer the tourists crowd Market Street. And yet a visit is highly recommended.

We experienced this ourselves when, just like Erik and Frank in the book Rocky Mountain Railroad Odyssey”, we arrived in Oakland by train and took the bus across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. They come directly from Reno, Nevada to the Pacific coast. This is how passengers from the eastern US have been doing it for decades, except that passenger ships used to take them further into the city, where today they continue by bus. Golden Gate Park, which Erik visits, is a very spectacular green space because it is so big and yet it is in the middle of the city.

Erik and Amelia also immerse themselves in the city after moving into their fine hotel in the book. While there, they pay a visit to the Fishermans Grotto, this iconic restaurant on Fishermans Wharf. I’ve been fascinated by it for a long time. And even though it’s a bit touristy and not exactly cheap: it’s worth the visit, if you ask me. Maybe not the reason to visit San Francisco, as is sometimes claimed, but still an attraction on this tourist mile at the city’s old harbour.

I left my heart in San Francisco

In the book, the mood is cheerful: Erik and Amelia are very much in love with each other when they arrive from Portland. And of course we too have walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, and not just when visiting San Francisco. In the book, I actually wanted Amelia and Erik to walk along here too, but now Amelia had sprained her ankle in Oregon on Mt. Hood and they couldn’t cover this long distance on foot. But they do a lot of other things in the city before they get on the “Cal Train” at the station, which takes them south to San José and later on to Southern California. I hope you enjoy the corresponding chapter in the book or your next adventure in the “City by the Bay”. Of course, I can’t do without the song that follows now.

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay
The glory that was Rome is of another day
I′ve been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan
I’m going home to my city by the Bay

I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me
To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars
The morning fog may chill the air, I don′t care
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco
Your golden sun will shine for me
When I come home to you, San Francisco
Your golden sun will shine for me

Writer(s): George C. Jr Cory, George Cory, Douglass Cross Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com // Photo Credits: David Mark (Golden Gate) and PDPhotos (Cable Car) on Pixabay