I Found My Heart in San Francisco

September 14, 2024

I arrived in San Francisco with a heavy heart. I had lost two out of my three, beloved hens in the two weeks prior to my American art road trip and just wanted to return home. I got up the next day and decided to walk, which is as much a healing meditation for me as it is a means of discovery.

 

I started the day with a hearty American breakfast at Mel's Diner and headed over to the first of many iconic landmarks I was to see that day and that feature in my San Francisco Artwork: The Ferry Building with amazing views of the Bay Bridge. 

Looking up, was skyscraper heaven.

I wandered past the Trans American Pyramid Building ....

and up to Coit Tower, completing the 274 steps to get the most amazing view yet the vista from the ground floor stole my heart, as did the almost vertical walk through Filbert Street gardens.

  

Onwards to Fisherman's Wharf ...

and a boat trip across the bay, around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate bridge, which was shrouded in an eerie mist, making it even more marvellous and memorable.

I took a cab over to the Golden Gate Park and was rewarded by the most beautiful flora: gardens of fern, peaceful ponds, Aids Memorial Garden and more.  I stepped in to the de Young Museum to see a collection of American art including a few favourites of mine by Georgia O Keefe but it was the  contemporary and bold vision of Leilah Babirye that captured my attention. 

I strolled back through parks and the Haight Ashbury neighbourhood that harks back to San Francisco's hippy days, and reflected on what a peaceful and beautiful city SF is. My heart was lifted. Thank you SF :-)

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