If you're going to San Francisco...

... toss the car and bring a good pair of walking shoes.

I just returned from a very spontaneous three day excursion to downtown San Francisco for a UC Berkeley Extension course on Embedded and Real-Time Linux. The course itself was a lot of fun and very interesting, but I also got to see a lot of the city while I was there. I had been to San Francisco probably three times prior to this without a lot of opportunity to get in the trenches and experience the San Francisco city life myself, but this time proved different. The last time I was in San Francisco, I didn't like it much. Without a map, my friends and I got so lost and were eternally frustrated at the high parking rates that we vowed never to return. I was more used to Los Angeles where a car is often necessary because the city is so spread out. This time I now know - when in San Francisco, toss the car.

Flew in Sunday night and took a cab to the hotel. Class began early monday morning and went until about 5pm. Even though my coworker had rented a car, we agreed it was best to leave the car and walk from the hotel on Cyril Magnin St. (near Market and 5th) down to the UC Berkeley Extensions center on the corner of Market and Fremont. That night, I met an old friend and ventured into Chinatown and later to North Beach, the Italian district (Little Italy), for dinner at Steps of Rome.

Tuesday, again we had class early in the morning until around 5. After I got back to the hotel, I set out on foot for my own walking adventure to see Union Square and the surrounding area. Finding Bush street, I decided to walk down the street to St. Dominic's Catholic Church, renowned for its High Mass Schola Cantorum. They had actually planned a Choral Music concert that evening, but I didn't intend on staying since I had to walk back to the hotel. However, when I finally got to the church, I could not pull myself away, especially when I found out what the content of the music concert would be. So I convinced myself to stay. No regrets. The choir was positively magnificent.

Some pictures of St. Dominic's:


The concert began with Leon Boellmann's composition of the Prière à Notre Dame and also included several compositions of the Ave Maria by Tomas Luis de Victoria, Robert Parsons, Igor Stravinsky, Anton Bruckner, and Franz Biebl in addition to other motets, such as Bogoroditze Dievo by Sergi Rachmaninov and the Totus Tuus by Henryk Gorecki. The concert ended with Leon Boellmann's composition of Menuet Gothique. It is a little known fact that de Victoria's Ave Maria is one of my favorites. After the concert, I made my way back to the hotel to enter back into what was going on in the world around me.

On Wednesday, my last day, we checked out of our hotel and again went to class until 5pm. Afterward, my coworker and I cruised the streets of SF in our rented mustang convertable, top down of course. An unusually beautiful and clear day in SF allowed us to see the fully city and bay with remarkable ease. Our driving excursion ended with me at the airport ready to fly back in to Santa Barbara.

A lot more walking than I was prepared for, and lots of hills no less, so needless to say, I am perfectly exhausted today. I wish I would've had more time to explore the city and visit with all of my friends up there!