Bonita Street
Day 37
Neighborhoods Covered: Russian Hill
Streets Completed: Bonita, White, Rockland, Russell, Eastman, Allen, Warner, Sharp
After a relatively walk-less week, I drove to Russian Hill on Saturday afternoon and spent some time strolling before I was scheduled to meet with a client. It was a day so beautifully, stupidly perfect that I had one of those experiences where I feel so much love for San Francisco that it almost physically hurts, though in the best possible way. You know the feeling: you feel so much adoration for someone or someplace (or, I suppose, something) that your heart feels like it's been punched, though gently.
I'd missed that sensation, and it was really sweet to have it back for a while.
I zigzagged down from Hyde to Polk, where Russian Hillers were out en masse. As always, having used the temperature inside my house to gauge what I should put on before going out into the world (when will I learn?), I was significantly overdressed. Where others were walking around in shorts and t-shirts, or in sundresses, I had on jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, a sweater, and a light jacket. Even for ever-cold me, it was too much, and I actually found myself starting to sweat, at which point I gave in and took off the jacket.
By and large, Russian Hill is not my scene. It's too far from Hayes Valley to be a place I regularly go out (she says, as if she regularly goes out anywhere) and is, on the main, too expensive and boutique-y to be an appealing shopping destination. I've got expensive boutiques all around me in my own neighborhood, thanks.
But it seems to be an interesting mix of chains (Starbucks, Walgreens, Peet's, Crunch), hip restaurants and bars, the aforementioned upscale shop, and regular, unassuming places that have been there for years. And it's a really nice place to walk, what with the cable cars on Hyde and the bustle of the few main drags, provided you can handle a few hills.
On Polk Street, a saxophonist had set up in front of one of the coffee shops. The sun was everywhere, and the sidewalks were thronging with people. I walked a few blocks, ducked down tiny Bonita Street en route, and headed back uphill at Broadway, where I could still hear jazz floating through the air. I ping-ponged between Hyde and Larkin, focusing on side streets (and finishing seven of them) before going back to the car to drop off my jacket and pick up my tool kit.
And then, reluctantly, indoors
Neighborhoods Covered: Russian Hill
Streets Completed: Bonita, White, Rockland, Russell, Eastman, Allen, Warner, Sharp
After a relatively walk-less week, I drove to Russian Hill on Saturday afternoon and spent some time strolling before I was scheduled to meet with a client. It was a day so beautifully, stupidly perfect that I had one of those experiences where I feel so much love for San Francisco that it almost physically hurts, though in the best possible way. You know the feeling: you feel so much adoration for someone or someplace (or, I suppose, something) that your heart feels like it's been punched, though gently.
I'd missed that sensation, and it was really sweet to have it back for a while.
I zigzagged down from Hyde to Polk, where Russian Hillers were out en masse. As always, having used the temperature inside my house to gauge what I should put on before going out into the world (when will I learn?), I was significantly overdressed. Where others were walking around in shorts and t-shirts, or in sundresses, I had on jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, a sweater, and a light jacket. Even for ever-cold me, it was too much, and I actually found myself starting to sweat, at which point I gave in and took off the jacket.
By and large, Russian Hill is not my scene. It's too far from Hayes Valley to be a place I regularly go out (she says, as if she regularly goes out anywhere) and is, on the main, too expensive and boutique-y to be an appealing shopping destination. I've got expensive boutiques all around me in my own neighborhood, thanks.
But it seems to be an interesting mix of chains (Starbucks, Walgreens, Peet's, Crunch), hip restaurants and bars, the aforementioned upscale shop, and regular, unassuming places that have been there for years. And it's a really nice place to walk, what with the cable cars on Hyde and the bustle of the few main drags, provided you can handle a few hills.
On Polk Street, a saxophonist had set up in front of one of the coffee shops. The sun was everywhere, and the sidewalks were thronging with people. I walked a few blocks, ducked down tiny Bonita Street en route, and headed back uphill at Broadway, where I could still hear jazz floating through the air. I ping-ponged between Hyde and Larkin, focusing on side streets (and finishing seven of them) before going back to the car to drop off my jacket and pick up my tool kit.
And then, reluctantly, indoors
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