San Francisco

I've come to the end of my week in San Francisco, and I have to admit to feeling a little ambivalent about this city. I think I am subject to the same sense of disappointment that some people express when visiting Paris...I had long wanted to visit here and fully expected to love this city, but instead I am feeling a little bemused.

I've had a productive week at work, and enjoyed the bits and pieces of sight-seeing that I squeezed in. I can't really put my finger on what it is about SF that has not lived up to my expectations. I think it is partly due to a sense of concern at the significant number of homeless people in and around the city. I'm not so ignorant as to not understand that all large cities have a proportion of marginalised and disadvantaged people who end up homeless or rough sleepers - it just seemed a much more widespread and evident issue here (certainly far greater than London, and more evident than any other US city I've been to). It was also saddening to see so many of the homeless population living with evident disabilities. In light if the arguments currently raging in the US media with regards to the Affordable Care Act, I am grateful that I live in a country in which health and disability services are easily accessible for all sectors of the population who need them.

But there is no doubt, that San Francisco is a vibrant and popular city. Here are some of my favourite elements...

And finally, I thought that my numerous attempts to see the Golden Gate Bridge were going to be in vain thanks to the notorious fog in San Francisco Bay.

My first attempt....completely obscured.

My second attempt....the tip of one end was briefly visible...

My third attempt....nothing, totally obscured.

Then finally, this afternoon on the ferry across to Sausalito I was rewarded with this view...

Off to Boston tomorrow for the final leg of my trip - I'm hoping that some beautiful foliage colour may still be there to be appreciated...