Independence Day Weekend

Last Friday was the fourth of July—Independence Day—which meant a prolonged weekend. On Friday, I went to a picnic in Dolores Park with Tom, his girlfriend Jen, and a bunch of people I never met before. Picnicking is really popular here: everyone brings something to eat or drink and you just hang out for a couple of hours talking, playing cards, frisbeeing and what more. The weather was beautiful so the park was pretty busy:

Around 6 PM we returned to Tom’s place. Tom only moved from Atlanta to SF a couple of weeks ago. Therefore, he still lives in a temporary apartment rented by his company. The complex includes a heated outdoor pool with Jacuzzi, a sort of “mini-cinema” with a HUGE flat screen, but far more importantly: a pool table…

We decided on playing a couple of rounds, not aware that a Chinese inhabitant of the complex had planned a party in the entertainment area. (Afterwards we found out that he had actually reserved the place for it, so we really “crashed” his party—albeit unknowingly.) I think he had invited about half the Chinese population of SF, and that means a lot of people: the Chinese were “imported” by the thousands to work on the transcontinental railroad in the late 1800s. They stuck around ever since, which is why SF has the largest Chinatown in the world.

So there we were in the middle of this merry crowd of partying Chinese. We decided to play pool in teams of two, Tom and I played together. The winning team would always stay on for the next game, the loser was to be replaced by a new team. With an enormous amount of luck Tom and I stayed on for about 7 games, after which—still unbeaten—we “generously” gave our position away. By then we were amply supplied with beers, Korean BBQ, hamburgers and excellent roast beef by the impressed Chinese.

Shortly after dark, you are supposed to go and see the fireworks for Independence Day. However, San Francisco is often pretty cloudy with a fireworks-visibility factor approaching zero. Therefore, Tom and I decided we could just as well spend our time on some more practice—a little quieter this time as all the Chinese were out:

After a while the Chinese came pouring back in. By the time we planned to leave, the beer had rendered most of the chatter into Chinese. Upon leaving, I could just not resist asking them “为什么你们说汉语?”—I know, vanity… ;-) Anyhow, the effect was startling. The crowd went nuts, I had to tell them were I studied Chinese, why on Earth I started it, if I had already been to China, what I thought about it and so on and on. Never before have I been offered so many beers in such a short time span. I’m definitely going to use this trick this again—next time I will just think about it a little earlier in the evening…

Consequently, you can understand that Saturday was bound to be a quiet and lazy affair. By Sunday anyhow, I was ready to discover another piece of SF. I had an appointment with Reya to pay both Jimmy’s and my rent. As we had agreed to pay cash, and as the ATM machines only deliver 20-dollar bills here, I went there with this huge wad in my pockets: $1700 in small notes, go figure… We met on 2nd and Market and decided that it would not be wise to make the transaction in the street. So we found a quite, dusky corner in the nearest Starbucks—which was obviously not far off. There I shoved the wad, folded in a paper, towards Reya for her to count it—again such a “movie-moment.” We had to recount three times each before we were finally convinced that it was the right amount, but then the case was settled and I could go on discovering.

I started off at Union Square, the area where most major hotels are situated and therefore the place to be if you want to do some serious shopping:

Then I passed by the Yerba Buena Gardens, where an open-air opera concert was going on:

It was an amazing spectacle—in a truly unique environment:

After a quick burrito in one of those small “taquerias,” I continued to Civic Center, where SF’s town hall is situated:

In this neighborhood you can also find some charming bookstore annex coffee shop places. The urge was too strong: I went in and bought On The Road by Jack Kerouac—if I was ever to read it, the moment could not have been better. I spent about an hour reading the first chapters with a nice espresso. However, I promised myself that this was the last book I bought in a “physical” bookstore as on Amazon.com they only cost approximately half as much…

Afterwards I wandered around a little by bike, amazed by the abundance of charming, beautiful houses:

I really did not expect this kind of homes in a huge city like SF:

Anyhow, on I went, down Van Ness Avenue towards the Bay. Tom warned me that Fisherman’s Wharf is really a tourist scam and I cannot deny that. Compared to the rest of the city it is really super- and artificial. However, I did like the sight of the sea lions basking in the sun at Pier 39:

And I must admit that, for all its kitsch, this little floating restaurant looked quite cozy for a waterfront candle-lit dinner:

Anyhow, it was not for me to try that evening as Tom and Jen called me to come over and  have dinner in the “21st Amendment”: a bar/restaurant with its own micro-brewery:

After dinner I passed by the Embarcadero for a last glance of the Bay Bridge by night:

and then I hopped on the BART to return to Berkeley. Another exciting weekend in SF had come to an end…