1: Boudin Sourdough Bakery

160 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA   [415.928.8882]    website

Several located throughout California. Weekend brunch.

2: Blazing Saddles

2715 Hyde St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA   [415-202-8888]    website

Tour leaves 10:00 A.M. daily. Bike rentals available at all five locations. 24 hour bike return system

3: The Buena Vista Cafe

2765 Hyde St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA   [415-474-5044]    website

Home of America's 1st Irish coffee

4: Noc Noc

557 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA   [415 861-5811]    website

Highly recommended

By Dan

San Francisco– I flew into San Francisco where I hung out for a few days to do all the touristy things like Alcatraz (the boat ride out was cool, and on a clear day you can get some great photos looking back at the city but really not worth the queueing and cost), clam chowder in a sourdough bread roll from Boudin Sourdough Bakery at Fisherman’s Wharf (awesome!) and hiring a bicycle from Blazing Saddles to tour around the city (take their suggestion and head across the bridge, remember that this is the second “hilliest” city in the world, at one stage the road was so steep that I was lifting the front wheel off the ground just trying to pedal!). Nighttimes were spent enjoying my first ever Dirty Martini (martini with olive juice, sublime) which was cheap ($5 for the whole shaker) and served in a friendly atmosphere at The Buena Vista Cafe and exploring the street art/graffiti in Haight Street, where Timothy Leary and his Electric Kool Aid Gang used to hang out. There are plenty of cool little bars and restaurants, one of my favorites was Noc Noc Club (please, if you go to San Francisco make sure you check this place out, it has a great subterranean feel and always has a cool artist exhibiting in the bar).

I even gave art buying a go one night when I stopped in a little art gallery which was featuring a series of Dali etchings for sale, from his Alice in Wonderland Collection. Now I love Dali, and have always dreamed of owning one. An etching is a copy of an original piece, however, due to the processes involved every etching is unique, and one of the etchings called Pig and Pepper was chosen to be signed by Dali himself, which means it was one of the better examples. The saleswoman was very good at her job, and before too long she had me seated in a private viewing room, rapidly falling in love with a piece of art which she could “offer” to me for the discounted price of $8,350, plus shipping. As ludicrous as this might seem, I now understand that purchasing art is an emotive, not financial decision, and I promised her that I would consider it. Believe it or not, I did seriously intend to spend the evening justifying the cost to myself. Fortunately my parents always taught me to carefully consider and research any large purchase so I did a quick check on eBay and found an entire 12 etching set for just $7500….. needless to say, I didn’t go back the next day! I suppose that she was the American version of the Egyptian papyrus salesmen or the Turkish rug merchant. So the main take away is that whenever you are traveling and stop by a shop no matter if it is in Turkey, Egypt or I guess even San Francisco get out of the shop with your cash, go and have a drink, do a little research, possibly sleep on it and then if you still want the item, go back and get it.

Thanks for reading,

Dan