Feb. 17, 2006 - 5S1L
Instead of the legendary rain and fog, San Fran delivered up the finest of spring days. Colin started to check the weather in Montreal, and it only made the sun shine hotter.
San Francisco is a city of visionaries. When other cities decommissioned their old streetcars, SF snapped them up and put them on a tourist route downtown. Here’s one from Cincinnati, I believe, a cousin to the old Red Rockets I used to ride as a kid in Toronto.
We wandered all over downtown, savouring the light and heat. San Francisco has the classiest farmers’ market ever, featuring heritage beans and organic oranges that taste like a whole new kind of fruit.
There’s also crazy public art: This fountain is by a Canadian artist named Vaillancourt. Vintage 1972 ugly. But I think it carries an important message about water pollution (?). It is also a liability nightmare, full of opportunities for bonebreak falls and child drowning. That’s what won me over... A full-participation danger fountain. It’s also flaking and rusting away. Who knows if city council will fork out the bucks to repair it, or just replace it with some message-free child-safe water park.
I’m excited to get to know this town better in the coming months. And I think I’ve met the Willy Wonka of the whole operation – Colin will fill you in on our fantastic driving tour of SF courtesy of Miro Wiesner. The best of everything, from dim sum to vintage vinyl now laid out at our feet. As the Governator used to say, ‘I’ll be back.’
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