14/7: My date of departure from Duckworth Farm happened to coincide with a weekend. And as it happened, neither Anne nor Abbie had ever been to San Francisco. So, they decided to come with me and visit this beautiful city. And me, being the two-time veteran by now, I became their personal guide, up and down the steep hills.
The geographer in action. Being a guide is nothing that should be taken lightly, and not studying the map carefully would just lead to disaster. In my very biased opinion. (Picture borrowed from Abbie.)
Led by the map, I took the girls from the Civic Center to the Painted Ladies of Alamo Square. It doesn’t get more Victorian than that.
Then we climbed up to see the amazing view from Buena Vista Park. There, we met a young man from Los Angeles. His name was Leland. He was very charming and offered to show us some especially pretty houses on the street that he lived in Haight-Ashbury.
The trees in Buena Vista were big and beautiful.
So Leland took over the tour guiding role for a while, which I didn’t mind. How else would I have seen these amazing houses just one block from Haight street? I would’ve walked right by, never realising what I had missed.
Leland himself lived in this beautiful townhouse, on the second floor. It was a really beautiful place, and he was living there for the summer with seven other guys, two or three for each room. That’s how they could afford it, I guess. He invited us in for some water, and then we got to enjoy the sunshine in his backyard. Oh, how I love these San Francisco backyards. It’s like a secret world, behind the elaborately painted houses, orange trees and succulents in a green respite in the middle of all the city intensity.
Then, Leland took us to the best French bakery in the city and made Abbie all giddy by picking her brain about the American and Russian revolutions (the subject of her Bachellor’s thesis), before bidding us farewell. I had a mushroom sandwich with brie cheese. It was delicious. Who would have thought, with that combination? The pastries were good aswell.
So, I resumed my duties as guide, and took the girls down the steep hills to see the magnificent views of Castro and finally ended up letting them sit down and rest for a while in Dolores Park in the Mission. After some shopping on Valencia Street, I concluded the full day tour by taking them to the best taco place in town – Taquería Cancún on Mission and 19th.
They liked it. I love it. It was a wonderful day.
Katja Malmborg 