San Francisco, Take 2

I wish I could say I painted this colorful piece, but it's a dish towel that I bought from Sur la Table in San Francisco's Ferry Building last weekend. I'm going to try to replicate the casual, breezy style on some fabric this week.

Elsewhere in the market, I found this pile of photogenic tomatoes:

And here's a colorful mural in a downtown Mexican restaurant:

I'm mainly drawn to visuals, but this street musician's beautiful melody pulled me in. He told me the name of the instrument, but I can't remember now. His right foot operated a pedal connected to a bell. After the market closed, we saw him again in the BART station.

But what is San Francisco without something sassy?

As we strolled along the Embarcadero, our San Francisco friend (still carrying her work brief case) stopped in front of Teatro ZinZanni and said we HAD to see the show. After hesitating because of the cost and because I'm not that spontaneous, I agreed. The seating had just started, they still had openings even on a Friday night, and we got a great table. AND, that night's performance included Joan Baez!

Photography was not allowed during the show, but the ticket says it all:

"Love Chaos and Dinner"

It was nonstop top notch entertainment in the round, including acrobats, caberet, burlesque, jugglers, a singer from the San Francisco opera and Joan Baez. My friend Beth, who gave us the back-stage scoop because she knows some of the performers, said Joan Baez lives in the area and sleeps in a tree house. She looked and sounded spectacular. Beth also said the dancer who did the sexiest performance is married to someone from Guns and Roses.

It was dark and cold when we emerged and we couldn't get a single cab to stop, except a very brave pedicab driver who gamely took on the three of us. We couldn't quite squeeze all the way back in the seat and we kept apologizing for our combined weight, but he was cheerful and polite. We gave him a good tip.

To add to the last San Francisco post, here's another photo from the City Lights Bookstore:

The bottom sign says:

"Where the streets of the world

meet the avenues of the mind."

The green building above caught my eye as we had lunch at an outdoor table not far from City Lights. When I got home, I finally read my "Walking San Francisco" book and discovered that it's the Columbus Tower and is indeed clad in copper. It is headquarters for Francis Ford Coppola's film company, Zoetrope.

Speaking of food, if you're going to San Francisco, go, go, go to Bistro Aix in the Marina District, which was recommended by an acquaintance who knows the owner/chef. The food is SIMPLE PERFECTION ... fresh, local, perfectly prepared, absolutely delicious. Click here for a review that was in the SF Examiner.

I had a baby beet, greens and goat cheese salad followed by the best ahi tuna I have ever tasted (and I've tasted a lot). The tuna was crowned by translucent, crispy fried spinach that was light and wonderful. Then the chef brought out a rustic fresh blueberry pie that was to die for.

And here we are Saturday evening in Beth's backyard, where my camera batteries died after this shot just before the Summer Solstice Goddess party commenced. So I didn't get photos of us "goddesses" doing our yoga salutations by the pool.

The next morning was the VERY colorful Gay Pride Parade, but that's a whole other post.

Parting shot from the Ferry Building market:

Have a colorful day!