In the port city of San Francisco. San Francisco - history, geography, interesting places of the city

Named after the Catholic Saint Francis of Assisi. It is a tourist destination known around the world for its steep slopes, cold summer fogs and combination of modern and Victorian architecture. San Francisco's top attractions include the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island and Pier 39.

Now Okay THERE goes into more detail about the most popular attractions and things to do in San Francisco, with a map of each location.

1. Golden Bridge Gate

The main landmark of San Francisco can confidently be called the Golden Bridge Gate. It looks incredibly beautiful, in fact it is the calling card of the city. The bridge looks different at different times of the year, so the Golden Gate is worth a visit regardless of the season - it is always an amazing sight.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, USA

2. Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz Island was once a prison for high-risk, escape-prone prisoners. Now it has been disbanded. The island has been converted into a historical museum, which is visited by boats with tourists departing from Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. And Pier 39 is a shopping and entertainment center built on a pier in San Francisco.

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, USA

3. Asian Art Museum

The climate in San Francisco is somewhat specific. Constant fog and light rain are a very typical phenomenon for the city. One of the days would be worth dedicating to visiting one of the main attractions - the Asian Art Museum. Undoubtedly, City Hall is worthy of attention. A very beautiful building, although there is nothing to do there for more than 20 minutes.

Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA

4. Stroll Downtown

After City Hall, go downtown. You can even just walk around the city center to feel its atmosphere, because each city has its own, unique atmosphere.

Downtown, San Francisco, USA

5. Be sure to take a ride in the Cable Car

After sunset, be sure to take a ride in the Cable Car to see interesting places without leaving the cabin. These trams have retained their original appearance and can be used as public transport, although they mainly carry tourists. San Francisco is all on hills, so there are practically no horizontal streets.

6. Have breakfast with a view of the Bay Bridge

7. Pier 39

Pier 39 is impressive, or more precisely, not it itself, but sea ​​lion rookery, who have chosen all the approaches to it. California sea lions haven't always been here; they were first spotted on Pier 39 in September 1989. And the reasons for migration remain unclear. The pier was refurbished and everything possible was added to ensure that the animals could feel safe.

Already in 1990, there were so many sea lions that the owners of many yachts began to complain about them, in addition, there was a real threat of collisions between ships and animals. But the interests of tourists coming to see the lions outweighed, and the yacht mooring was moved to another territory.

Number of animals The people who live on the pier are constantly changing. In search of food, lions periodically leave their shelter, but invariably return back, usually in the spring. Scientists estimate that in total about 1,500 animals live on the pier’s rookeries.

There are also many restaurants on Pier 39 where you can have a delicious seafood lunch. Particularly popular Forbes Island restaurant, where you can taste sweets, fruits and ice cream of all kinds.

Pier 39, San Francisco, USA

8. Bike tour of the city

Bicycle excursions are very popular. You can rent a bicycle and explore the city on your own. This is exactly what most tourists do.

9. Visit the Conservatory of flowers

Don't miss the Conservatory of flowers - this is exactly the place that everyone should visit in San Francisco. A ticket costs about 5 dollars, for this money you will see a countless number of flowering plants from different parts of the globe in one place. America. Therefore, jeans are a traditional souvenir from San Francisco. In general, the tourism business here is very developed, so you will not have a shortage of souvenirs to choose from. To the extent that during a visit to the prison on Alcatraz Island you can purchase a set of prison clothes for $150.

Levi strauss & Co, San Francisco, USA

San Francisco residents are quite peaceful and loyal to tourists. According to statistics, the European and Mongoloid races predominate, although African Americans can also often be found. Unlike residents of Washington or New York, they will always help you find the place you are looking for, and also tell you where to go and what is worth seeing.

People also tend to spend most of their free time away from home, on the open terraces of numerous snack bars and restaurants. If a screen is placed outside and a match is being broadcast, then strangers who, for example, are waiting for their bus, can easily start a conversation and discuss the game, like old friends.

Another thing that amazes us about San Francisco is the freedom of morals. An ordinary bus ride turns into an attraction with crazy characters. There are no boundaries in clothing, as a means of self-affirmation: a college student in light green tights and a skirt or an old man in a leather vest over his naked body is a common thing in the city. San Francisco is still considered the world capital of the LGBT movement and the city of hippies.

There are, of course, not the most pleasant moments - homeless people sleeping on cardboard bedding near subway descents or in parks on benches and at bus stops. The warm climate attracts vagabonds like a magnet, and local authorities do not know how to deal with it.

But overall, as one song says: “This is San Francisco, a disco city!” An ideal city for relaxation, timeless and beyond prejudice.

How do they do it 08/17/17 114 647 15

Self-driving taxis, fog and insured dogs

California is known for Hollywood, Silicon Valley and two cities: San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Daria Korableva

lives in San Francisco

Technology corporations, startups, film studios are located here, and world celebrities and millionaires live here. And my husband and I and two dogs.

Prices and budget

Before moving to the USA, we lived in the Balkans for two years. It was then that the ruble fell, and we learned to save, plan a budget and got used to the fact that everything seems expensive. It seemed that the cost of living in the United States should not surprise us much.

It is believed that California is the most expensive state in the USA. According to Gobankingrates.com, California residents spend on average 35% more on living expenses than residents of other states. Housing costs are 92.7% higher than the US average, transportation costs are 30% higher, and food costs are 15.8% higher.

The prices surprised us while we compared them with prices in Russia and Europe. Once we stopped doing this and built a budget based on local income and expenses, everything became less scary. We began to spend much more money on food and services, but large purchases, on the contrary, became cheaper. Buying clothes, a laptop or a car here is much more affordable than in Russia or Europe. In general, prices in California are comparable to the average local income.

Visas and relocation

Millions of people try to move to America every year. Few succeed in this. In my opinion, American visa legislation can be described as follows: a lot of possibilities and no specifics.

Typically, professionals move to the US on an H1B visa. There are few such visas - several tens of thousands a year, but there are hundreds of thousands of applicants. Therefore, H1B is played in a lottery. You can qualify for H1B if you have a job offer in the US. At the same time, the employer must prove that he tried, but could not find among the Americans a specialist as good as you. In any case, you will have to participate in the lottery. No matter how much a company wants to hire an employee, H1B is a lottery, everyone is equal in its face.

There is an O1 visa, popularly called the “gifted visa.” It is given for talents and achievements: you need to prove that you are a recognized scientist, a respected artist in your homeland, a successful entrepreneur, and so on. You will need letters of recommendation, your published articles (or articles about you), evidence that you influenced the development of the industry in which you worked. The O1 visa is issued without a lottery. In addition, you can get a study visa with a part-time work permit, a fiancé visa, and so on.

American visa legislation is very extensive, it is impossible to understand it without a lawyer, so a lawyer is always involved in applying for any long-term American visa.

It is very difficult to understand US visa laws without a lawyer.

For support of the visa process, a lawyer will charge from $6,000 (360,000 RUR).

Many come to the United States on a tourist visa and stay illegally, and then legalize their status in the most unimaginable ways. The length of stay in the country is determined individually at passport control. Usually this is six months.

There is an opinion among migrants that the US visa legislation is deliberately so complicated so that either talented or very enterprising people come to the country, who managed to overcome all barriers, fit into society, find people who can vouch for them, and stay here by any means.

Climate and nature

California is the sunny state. However, unlike Los Angeles, where it is warm and +30 °C all year round, San Francisco is always cool and windy. Here you need to dress in layers, otherwise it’s hot in the sun and cold in the shade. There is a strong wind in the city, sometimes there is humid fog. Hot summers are very rare here. I love the heat, but for work and school, the same cool weather all year round is ideal.

The water in the ocean is cold, you can only swim in a wetsuit. Waves all year round. Locals do not lie on the beach, but go surfing, kiting and kayaking.

There are many animals in San Francisco. You can meet raccoons, hummingbirds, fur seals and lions, herons, and pelicans. Turtles and coyotes live in city parks. Within a 15-minute drive from the city there are deer, cougars, and wild turkeys. The trees here are huge: the famous redwoods, eucalyptus and sequoias are very beautiful and smell incredibly delicious.

The appearance of the city

San Francisco is divided into districts and communities - national or by interests. There is a business district, a jazz district, a crime district, Chinatown, Japan Town, Little Italy, Russian Hill, Mexican districts and so on.

The business district is similar to New York: dense buildings of skyscrapers and lack of greenery.

The city is very fond of Victorian-style houses. Most older residential areas are built with two- or three-story houses with bay windows and towers.

There are a lot of homeless people in San Francisco. It's a whole subculture here. On some streets - under overpasses or along railway tracks - entire tent cities have been set up. Many people live without tents, simply laying out their sleeping bag somewhere under a roof at night, and resting on the sidewalk during the day.

Homeless people in the city are full members of society. People around them do not avoid them. A passerby on the way to work can simply sit down next to such a tent and chat for a couple of minutes with a homeless person about life.

Professional migrants are coming to San Francisco in droves. There are more men here than women, the average age of residents is 25-40 years. There are very few elderly people and children in the city.

Here you constantly see new technologies being created. For example, a cafe with a robot bartender, shoes made from recycled plastic bottles or driverless taxis are all part of everyday life in San Francisco. It seems that the future is coming here earlier than in other cities.

Housing

San Francisco has very expensive housing, twice the US average. A one-room studio apartment with an area of ​​50 m² in a regular area costs from $2,600 (RUR 156,000) per month. An apartment with one bedroom and another room will cost $3,000 (RUR 180,000) per month. Finding an apartment within this budget is quite easy, because people in the city often change housing after work and new rental offers appear constantly.

2600 $

the cost of renting a one-room studio apartment

You can rent housing from a management company or a private individual. The management company has higher prices, but it will help if a pipe breaks, the refrigerator breaks, or the ventilation turns off. You can search for housing on any real estate rental website, but I recommend making a list of residential complexes in the desired area, calling their offices and asking them to find options for you. An apartment is usually found within a couple of weeks. We found a suitable apartment in four days.

To rent housing, a passport with any visa is enough (a tourist visa is also suitable). You will also need an American bank account and collateral. For Americans, the deposit is small, usually $200-400 (RUR 12,000-24,000). For visitors without a credit history, the landlord may ask for up to four monthly payments as a deposit.

You can rent an apartment with a passport with a tourist visa

In America, long-term rental apartments are rented unfurnished. Usually only the bathroom and kitchen are equipped. In the living rooms, apart from the furniture, there is no light or even hooks for a chandelier on the ceilings. Many people simply install floor lamps to save money. We were lucky: we had a equipped dressing room - with shelves and drawers. This saved us about $1,000 (R60,000) during the setup.

As soon as we rented an apartment, we immediately went to the store. I had to buy a mattress, blanket, pillows, bed linen, towels, lamps, chairs, dishes, a kettle, iron, hair dryer, and basic household chemicals. It took us about $1,500 (90,000 RUR). Next we had to buy furniture.

1500 $

we spent on basic necessities when we moved into the apartment

There are many companies in San Francisco that offer furniture for rent. Putting designer furniture (not Ikea) - a bed with a couple of bedside tables, a dining table with chairs, a TV stand and a sofa - costs from $600 (RUR 36,000) per month. You just need to tell us the dimensions of your apartment, the desired set of furniture and style.

The company itself will complete the sets, bring and arrange furniture in the apartment. Buy a set of furniture for living in Ikea - from $1,300 (78,000 RUR). If you want not the simplest furniture, then from $2000 (120,000 RUR).

Furniture for the apartment can also be ordered for rent.

In houses, everything is usually thought out for the leisure of residents: there is a barbecue, a swimming pool, and sports grounds. Our residential complex has two gyms, indoor facilities with billiards, ping pong, table curling, a climbing wall and a basketball gym. Yoga and fitness classes are offered. This is all free for residents and their guests.

A two-room apartment with an area of ​​70 m² in a residential area of ​​San Francisco costs $650,000 (RUR 39,000,000). And for a million dollars (60,000,000 RUR) you can buy the same apartment in the center, in a new building with a concierge and a gym. A house on the outskirts of the city on the ocean costs about the same.

Americans usually buy homes with a mortgage. Interest rates are constantly changing, but in general you can expect 3-5% per annum. The minimum down payment starts from 5% of the total cost of housing.

Pets

We moved to San Francisco with two small dogs. Finding an apartment here that allows you to live with a dog is difficult. When we finally chose an apartment and began to conclude an agreement, we were asked to fill out a separate questionnaire for each dog. It was necessary to indicate names, breed, age, personality traits, favorite food and familiar commands. This is necessary in case the management company needs to enter the apartment during our absence or so that in the event of an emergency evacuation they do not forget to evacuate our dogs.

Since we were checking in with dogs, the amount of our deposit tripled: without dogs we would have left 250 $ (15,000 R), and with dogs - 750 $ (45,000 R). The cost of rent has also increased: each pet costs $75 (4500 R) per month. We have two dogs, so we pay an additional $150 (9000 RUR) per month.

150 $

per month we pay the owner of the apartment for two dogs to live with us

You can go to a psychotherapist and get a certificate stating that you have emotional dependence on your animal. Then he will be given the status of service dog or emotional support animal. With such a doctor’s certificate, you are allowed to move into any apartment without restrictions, in addition, in most cases, the tenant is exempt from the extra charge on rent for an animal. This scheme was recommended to us by a realtor, but we didn’t use it because we think it’s fair to pay for lawn cleaning, plant replanting and dog packs in dispensers in the neighboring park.

Veterinary services in San Francisco are expensive. A doctor's examination costs $60 (RUR 3,600), and treatment of almost any disease or injury costs thousands of dollars. Therefore, many owners take out veterinary insurance for their animals.

60 $

It is worth checking the animal at the veterinarian

Our dogs are young and small, so insurance costs $40 (2400 RUR) per month for each dog. If the dogs were over 8 years old, the insurance would cost twice as much. Even with insurance, you will have to pay for treatment if something happens: the insurance plan covers 80% of the bill, has a payment limit of $10,000 (600,000 R) per year and a one-time deductible of $250 (15,000 R).

Pet insurance is required, otherwise treatment will cost thousands of dollars.

In addition, our insurance does not cover vaccinations, teeth cleaning, or routine tests for the animal. You can get unlimited insurance with full coverage, but it will cost from $120 (7200 RUR) per month for each dog.

Training, behavior correction, dog walkers, dog sitters and dog daycare - these services are used by most of our neighbors. This is the norm here. The social adaptation course is considered a basic need, therefore it is relatively inexpensive - $350-500 (RUR 21,000-30,000). Behavior correction is also a popular service. An hour and a half of work by a correction specialist costs $100-150 (6000-9000 R ), as in Moscow.

Most dogs in San Francisco are walked at least three times a day. During the day, 70% of people walking dogs are not owners. The services of dog walkers, or “dog sitters,” are very popular in San Francisco. There are 20 competing companies with a huge staff of dog walkers. Many people with shift schedules earn extra money this way.

The cost of an hour of walking is from $30 (1800 RUR). Dog daycare is more common in San Francisco than daycare for children. Every home has at least one within walking distance. Working owners take their dogs there all day long so they don't have to stay home alone. This service costs from $50 (3000 RUR) per day.

Dog walker is a very popular part-time job in San Francisco

We don't use daycare because our angry Russian dogs don't like to be socialized very much.

In America, you can leave dogs at home alone if they tolerate loneliness well. But if a dog barks or howls in an apartment for several hours in a row, then neighbors or the management company can call animal control. A service employee will take the dog to a dog hotel, and the owner will be charged for the hotel from $100 (RUR 3,000) per day, a fine of $300 (RUR 18,000) and a warning for cruelty to animals.

420 $

per month we spend on two dogs

Our average monthly budget for maintaining two dogs is $420 (RUR 25,200). The average San Francisco resident with a dog uses many more services than we do, and pays about $400 (24,000 RUR) per animal.

Payments

For water, house maintenance, and garbage removal, we pay approximately $90 (5,400 RUR) per month. Electricity costs another 50-80 $ (3000-4800 R). If you live in your own house, then you will pay about $100-150 for utilities (6000-9000 R ) per month.

In the USA, the Internet is expensive: for Wi-Fi in an apartment they pay $70 (4200 R) per month. Mobile communications with the Internet cost approximately $50 (3000 R) per month for one person.

It’s worth talking about the Internet in detail, because it is bad and expensive in San Francisco. We performed optics that are rare for California. The provider treats us like users of a new cool service. It’s surprising that in a city where Internet business rules the world, having constant access to the Internet is not perceived as something vital at all.

70 $

Wi-Fi in the apartment costs a month

One Saturday morning our internet went out. The support service arranged for us to visit a technician for the following Saturday - that is, it was assumed that we would be without a network for a week. As a result, it turned out that the Internet cable was damaged by road workers and the network did not work for the entire area. They fixed it three days later. During these three days, the provider's support service was torn with calls from angry residents of the area, most of whom work in IT.

Banks

A migrant's integration into the United States begins with a visit to the bank. You can open a debit account with a foreign passport and any visa confirming your legal stay in the country, including a tourist visa. The bank makes a card for the account for several days, after which it sends an envelope with the card by regular mail - it will be put in the mailbox, left with the concierge, or stuck in the door gap. For security, it will be written on the envelope that there is personal data inside. Opening someone else's envelope is a crime.

I was surprised by online banks and mobile banking applications: they have an outdated interface, limited functions, and a transfer between your accounts can take several days, especially if you send it on a Friday after two o'clock in the afternoon.

An “electronic payment” for rental housing may look like this: go to your personal account, click the button to transfer funds, the bank receives the request, prints a check, puts it in an envelope and mails it to the leasing company.

Transfers between your accounts can take two days

American banks are trying to adapt to urban communities and neighborhoods. An ordinary American bank in Chinatown operates in an office that looks like a pagoda temple, but in the LGBT district, the Castro Bank is decorated in rainbow colors.

Credit history

A credit history in the US is a record of your responsibility. It records not only timely loan payments, but also paid bills for mobile communications and the Internet, for rent and housing and communal services. Based on the credit history, decisions are made on signing a rental contract, on the conditions for issuing a loan and enrolling in studies.

Every organization that wants to verify your reliability has the right to access information about your credit history.

There is a vicious circle: if you do not have a credit history, then you will not be issued a credit card. And if you don't have a credit card that you regularly demonstrate ability to spend and pay back, you won't have a credit history.

Credit history is the most important characteristic for a US resident

Some banks in America have an unusual “credit” plan for beginners - Secured Credit Card. You get a credit card and put $500 (RUR 30,000) on it. You forget that this is your $500 and pretend that this is your credit limit on the card. You can take this money “on credit”, you have a payment schedule, according to which you must spend and return the money to the card. This way you demonstrate to the bank that you are a conscientious person and remember your mandatory payments. After six months or a year of such a performance, your credit limit can be expanded to $1000-1500.

Medical service

Medicine in America is always a big expense. Treatment for almost any injury or illness costs thousands of dollars. Therefore, it is extremely important to have health insurance.

Health insurance here is catastrophe insurance. Insurance reimburses most of the costs of medical care, but does not cover them entirely; you will still have to pay out of pocket.

Insurance costs from $350 (21,000 R) to $800 (48,000 R) per month per person. When choosing an insurance plan, you need to focus on three main numbers:

• the amount of the monthly payment for insurance;
• amount of payments when visiting a doctor;
• maximum potential cost per year.

For example, you can save on the insurance itself and pay less per month, but then your bills for each doctor visit will increase. And if you want to monitor your health in general and regularly visit a doctor, you will have to include money for this in your monthly budget.

For comparison, a visit to a doctor for a person without insurance will cost from $150 (9000 RUR), for an insured person - from $20 (1200 RUR). An X-ray without insurance will cost from $300 (18,000 RUR) to several thousand. Some companies in San Francisco and Silicon Valley cover their employees' insurance and any additional medical costs.

150 $

It's worth seeing a doctor if you don't have insurance. If you have insurance - $20

Products and shopping

For the first few months, I went to grocery stores like I was going to a museum. I can’t say that our food preferences have changed much, but there are a lot of new dishes that we cook at home. In any chain store you can find dozens of types of meat, a hundred different sauces, excellent fruits and vegetables, and Californian cheeses and wine are so good and varied that we still haven’t tried everything.

You won’t be able to go to the store for less than $50 (3000 RUR). The average check is $70 (4200 RUR).

70 $

our average bill at a grocery store

We spend $500-600 (RUR 30,000-36,000) per month on groceries and household chemicals.

The water in San Francisco and Silicon Valley is clean and drinkable from the tap. Therefore, during lunch, most people do not order drinks with their food, but simply ask for a glass of water - it is free.

Bringing your own bottle of water to a diner or cafe is also quite normal. If you order only food, then you can have lunch for $15-20 (900-1200 R). Coffee or tea - another 2-4 $ (120-240 R).

San Francisco tap water is safe to drink

Coupons and discount cards in the USA are power. This is where they really work. If you get discount cards from different stores and pay attention to bonuses and coupons from time to time, you can save up to $15 (900 R) per receipt.

Sales in stores are organized for every possible occasion, holiday or event such as the victory of a favorite city sports team. And also without a case: discounts are sent by mail, there are discounts on days of the week for certain credit cards, the discount can be found on the store’s website. If you really like an item, but there is no discount, then you can always find it in another store at a discount, or just wait a couple of weeks - and it will cost less.

During the move, we brought three suitcases of things with us. But these clothes were not enough for life, so we bought a significant part of the wardrobe and spent $800 (48,000 RUR) on each due to sales on Black Friday.

Transport

Residents of San Francisco mostly get by without their own car. The city is small, many places can be reached on foot, by bicycle or scooter, especially since the weather allows this to be done all year round. There are also problems with parking: it is scarce and expensive. A parking space in our house costs $300 (RUR 18,000) per month. You won't be able to abandon your car on the sidewalk: you are guaranteed to be towed and fined.

300 $

a parking space in our house costs a month

Many city residents are abandoning cars in favor of bicycles, hoverboards and motorized skateboards.

If you travel far, it is better to use public transport. The city has buses, trams, and metro. The metro has five lines, they connect with cities on the other side of the bay.

There are also convenient and inexpensive taxis in San Francisco. Every second car in the city is an Uber or Lift. If you share a trip with other passengers in Uber Pool, you will pay 5-10 $ (300-600 RUR). A regular trip to Uber-X costs 7-20 $ (420-1200 RUR).

From San Francisco to any city in Silicon Valley, you can travel on Caltrain - it's like an electric train. During rush hour, Caltrain resembles a subway, only all the passengers here write code on a laptop, check tasks in Trello, or generally sit in glasses-monitors.

You can get from San Francisco to Palo Alto in 40-60 minutes and $8 (480 R). To San Jose - 1-1.5 hours and 17 $ (1020 R). Many companies are located in Silicon Valley, so when choosing housing it is better to focus on the location of the office, otherwise up to $20 (1200 R) per day will be spent on travel alone.

8 $

cost of a train ticket from San Francisco to Palo Alto

On weekends, we rent a car for trips out of town. There is no traditional car sharing, but there is the Zipcar service and analogues, the disadvantage of which is that the car must be returned to the same place where you took it; book a specific number of hours and drive no more than 180 miles per day. Renting a car costs 9-12 $ (540-720 R) per hour or 100-150 $ (6000-9000 R ) for the whole day, this price includes gasoline. If you travel more than 180 miles, you will have to pay an additional 45 cents (27 R) for each extra mile.

Entertainment and services

San Francisco has good museums. They often bring interesting and unusual exhibitions. Entrance to the museum costs about $30 (1800 RUR). Each museum has free admission days, such as the first Tuesday of the month. There is also a schedule of free days by city district or for cardholders of a certain bank. But there is a problem with these promotions: on free days the lines at popular museums are longer than at Picasso in Pushkinsky, so it’s easier to pay $30.

30 $

average cost of a museum ticket

There are a lot of jazz clubs in San Francisco. All of them are worthy of attention. Almost any concert in the auditorium will cost $50-100 (3000-6000 R) per ticket. Classical events are more expensive, and the cost of tickets, for example, to the ballet will be 100-300 $ (6,000-18,000 RUR).

Surprisingly, the beauty industry in the USA is always a problem. Finding a good manicurist is difficult; his work costs from $60 (3600 RUR), and finding a salon near your home that would meet sanitary expectations is almost impossible. I bought manicure equipment and do my own manicure at home. These costs were recouped in two weeks.

60 $

average price for manicure

We reduce the budget

Living in San Francisco is interesting, but expensive. If you rent a studio, don’t get sick, don’t buy clothes at all, and once a month entertain yourself with trips out of town in a rented car, then for a family of two people you need about $5,000 (RUR 300,000) per month.

With a budget of $8,000 (480,000 R) you can live more freely, but with children and traveling abroad it will be difficult. A comfortable budget for living in San Francisco is from $10,000 (600,000 RUR) per month.

We really like it in San Francisco. There is good weather, a dynamic environment and many business and career opportunities. I want to do more and achieve more. At the same time, we do not feel a crazy rhythm, overload or irritation from the people around us. Here there is a time for everything and people do not forget to relax and devote time to themselves and their hobbies.

It is also rightly called the “pearl of the West Coast.” Elegant and luxurious, modern and ancient, provincial and cosmopolitan, every traveler will discover a special side of this amazing city. San Francisco is stunning with its gabled gables, numerous turrets and magnificent Victorian buildings that blend perfectly with the sunny coastline, summer fogs and steep hills. Despite the fact that San Francisco is a true American metropolis, with its compactness and some special charm it resembles a seaside European city, where you want to forget about all the problems and enjoy the light and relaxed atmosphere.

Climate and weather

San Francisco has a Mediterranean climate, characterized by mild, rainy winters and warm, dry summers. The city is surrounded by water on three sides, so the weather is significantly influenced by cold ocean currents. In summer the average air temperature is +15...+24 °С, and in winter - +10...+15 °C. The rainy season lasts from November to March, snow falls extremely rarely. At the end of summer and from September to October, the city, especially its western regions, is enveloped in fogs that may not subside throughout the day.

The best time to travel to San Francisco is the dry period from mid-May to October.

Nature

The city is located on the west coast of California, on a small peninsula, which is located near the Golden Gate Strait, connecting the picturesque San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. In addition, the city's jurisdiction includes the island Alcatraz And Treasure Island, as well as the uninhabited Farallon Islands and part of the island Red Rock. A feature of the urban landscape is a large number of hills, for example, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Pacific Heights, Telegraph Hill, Potreto Hill and etc.

It's worth noting that San Francisco is located next to two tectonic faults, so small earthquakes occur here from time to time.

Attractions

San Francisco has quite a large number of various attractions, many of which are of global importance. The main symbol of the city is a huge suspension bridge Golden Gate, which is equipped with a spectacular illumination system. Less known, but no less remarkable is the bridge Oakland Bay Bridge.

Lombard Street has become an interesting tourist spot in the city, which will appeal to lovers of walking. It is located on Russian Hill, and its main feature is considered to be a very large slope (27 °). The memorial tower is no less popular Coit Tower, which is dedicated to a local resident who volunteered to help firefighters. The most colorful area of ​​the city is Chinatown, where you can see original oriental-style houses, as well as visit Chinese restaurants and shops.

Also worth noting is the entrance to Chinatown, which features a stunning colorful gate. In addition, it is recommended to visit the old restaurant Cliff House, fishing pier with sea lion colony, Museum Walt Disney in and Museum of Russian Culture.

There are also interesting natural attractions in San Francisco, for example, two twin hills Twin Peaks, from the tops of which a stunning view of the city opens. Well, there are more than 200 parks of all kinds.

Finally, it is worth special mentioning the famous island Alcatraz, which is located near San Francisco. It is known that it once served as a prison, which was considered the most secure in the United States. Now the island is a historical monument.

Nutrition

San Francisco is a true gourmet city, with the number and variety of restaurants rivaling even New York. This is not surprising, because the conditions for running a restaurant business here are simply ideal: skilled chefs from all over the world, first-class wineries and numerous farms that supply the city with the freshest products. It’s worth saying right away that the continuous flow of emigrants has almost completely absorbed the local national cuisine, along with its wings and potatoes. Therefore, Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and other ethnic establishments are most often found here. Half of the city's restaurants are concentrated in the districts Chinatown And Castro. The latter, by the way, is notable not only for its popularity among sexual minorities, but also for its cozy cafes with summer areas, where they serve delicious shrimp and crab dishes, as well as bohemian coffee shops and chocolate shops. In addition, many fine restaurants are located at the shipyard Fisherman's Wharf. This is where they serve excellent seafood dishes, as well as juicy California steaks and famous sourdough bread.

Of course, San Francisco is full of fast food establishments offering hamburgers and hot dogs, but they are not as popular as in other US cities. There are also many small pastry shops where you can enjoy some chocolate dessert and a cup of coffee at any time.

San Francisco is also the real capital of wine. Moreover, Californian wines have an exquisite taste and are considered one of the best in the world.

Accommodation

San Francisco offers its guests a huge number of hotels of various categories. For those who want to save on accommodation, the best places for temporary accommodation will be hostels and hotels B&B, which are scattered literally throughout the city, for example, The Pontiac Hotel & Hostel(from 20 $) or Mission Inn(from $39.2).

The city also has many mid-price hotels (from $60) and expensive upscale hotels (from $300).

Entertainment and relaxation

San Francisco can offer its guests a lot of entertainment for every taste, so you definitely won’t get bored here. For example, a visit to the zoo is suitable for a family holiday. San Francisco Zoo or an aquarium Aquarium of the Bay. Lovers of outdoor recreation will also enjoy the city, as there is an incredible number of beautiful parks and gardens on its territory. Of these, the park is the most popular "Golden Gate", which is a real oasis in the city center. Another beautiful place in San Francisco is Baker Beach. Well, golf lovers are recommended to go to the park Lincoln, on the territory of which there is an excellent golf center.

Fans of cultural pastimes will also like San Francisco: opera, ballet and symphony concerts - San Francisco can offer you all this in a huge variety. Most performances take place in the opera house "In Memory of War" and the American Conservatory Theater (A.K.T.).

The nightlife of the city is no less intense, as there are more than a hundred bars, nightclubs, showrooms and blues cafes open here. In addition, San Francisco is a real city of holidays and festivals. Of these, the most popular are the Folsom Street Fair, the Chinese New Year Parade, Lovefest, Christian Carnival and Fleet Week. Moreover, almost all city neighborhoods have their own individual holidays.

Exciting excursions to the brewery can also be an interesting way to spend your time. Anchor Brewing Company and large wineries, as well as to the islands Alcatraz And Angel.

Purchases

San Francisco's shopping is considered to be some of the best in the world, so it's no surprise that tourists come here to shop. The most popular shopping places in the city are Union Square, Upper Fillmore, Sacramento Street, Hayes Valley And Mission. This is where the best shopping is located, from fashion boutiques and jewelry stores to ethnic shops and designer galleries. Well, among shopping centers, first of all it is worth highlighting Westfield San Francisco Center.

On its territory there are representative offices of such famous brands as Abercrombie & Fitch, Nordstorm's etc., as well as boutiques of the most popular companies ( Macy's, Bulgari, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, MaxMara, Diesel, Prada, Celine, Gucci, Escada, Guess, Agnes B., Wilkes Bashford etc.). In addition, it is recommended to visit the huge market Ferry Building and the colorful Chinatown district. In general, it is worth keeping in mind that literally every district of the city has a large selection of shops, shopping centers and supermarkets, many of them offering attractive discounts and promotions.

Transport

City public transport in San Francisco is represented by an extensive network of bus and trolleybus routes, surface and underground light rail Muni Metro, as well as trams. The cost of one trip is $1.5, all travel tickets can be purchased from drivers and at underground stations Muni. It is worth keeping in mind that they are valid for 1.5 hours on all types of transport, with the exception of cable trams and suburban metro BART. High-speed trams Muni Metro run from 5:00 to 00:00, but two lines (L and N) operate 24 hours a day.

In addition, there are a great variety of taxis in the city that operate at a single rate: $3.5 per ride and $2.25 per mile.

Connection

To call anywhere in the world, you can use one of the telephone booths that are installed on almost all streets of the city, as well as in many public places. Calls are paid in small coins (cents) or calling cards. In addition, you can make any call from a hotel or large restaurant.

Mobile communications have excellent quality and uniform coverage, but the frequencies at which they operate are not similar to European ones.

Internet access is provided in almost all hotels. There are also many access points in the city WiFi.

Safety

In San Francisco, as in almost any major city, pickpockets and all sorts of scammers operate. However, if you follow general safety measures and remain vigilant in public places, then the likelihood of any troubles is eliminated. The greatest caution should be exercised in the areas of Bayview-Hunters Point, Visitation Valley, Sunnydale, Fillmore District and Mission ( Mission).

It is also worth noting that there are many beggars and beggars in San Francisco, which it is recommended to simply ignore.

Business climate

San Francisco is the main financial center of the US West Coast, home to important institutions such as the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and Bank of America, as well as many offices of multinational banks, international financial institutions and large insurance companies. San Francisco encourages the preservation of small business, ensuring that 85% of the city's businesses are small companies with 10 or fewer employees. In addition, the city is home to the world-famous Silicon Valley, where the highest-class specialists are attracted for large-scale production of integrated circuits.

Real estate

According to many world experts, the San Francisco real estate market is one of the most stable and promising in the country. Moreover, both commercial and residential real estate are widely represented here. It is worth noting that the standard of living in San Francisco is very high, so the prices for local real estate are quite impressive.

However, investing in the local real estate market is one of the most promising business ventures in the United States today.

Budget travelers should keep in mind that San Francisco museums offer free admission several times a month. You can check the schedules of such events at any city tourism office. Also, those who expect to spend time on excursions and seeing all the sights are recommended to purchase a city welcome card ( Go Card or CityPASS), which entitles you to discounted tickets to local museums and galleries.

One of the most beautiful and popular cities in the world among tourists is located in the state of California, USA. Despite the crowds and thanks to its location near the water, the abundance of parks and hilly terrain, you rarely see more than a few blocks at once. In San Francisco, you always feel as if you are in a small town, and not in the center of a metropolis where more than 4 million people live.

Video: San Francisco

Basic moments

Many famous films were filmed in San Francisco, some of the most recognizable being Escape from Alcatraz and The Rock. San Francisco consistently ranks among the most visited cities in the United States. Just one visit and you will remember the famous lines: “I left my heart in San Francisco.”

Quite compact and the fourth largest city in California, San Francisco occupies only 18 km², making it the most densely populated city in America after New York. Despite this, its location near the water, hills and many parks make the city seem not so small.

The main feature of the city is the frightening and charming steepness of the streets at the same time. The first time you find yourself in San Francisco, you will definitely ask the question “how can everything be built so vertically when you can’t find a horizontal section longer than 100 meters in the city?” This city is not located on the hills, no, it is located on earthen waves, some of which can easily compete in steepness with the sea’s “ninth wave”, leaving far behind the most sophisticated “Roller Coasters”. Renting a car will make you feel like a surfing hero.

You can safely forget about the gas pedal in San Francisco; the main thing is to take care of timely braking. You have to brake often. You can start laughing, since the figurative meaning of braking willy-nilly will accompany you, especially the first hours of getting to know the city and its habits as a driver.

Whether you're looking for sightseeing, dining, culture and history, exercise, or simply enjoying the views, you'll love San Francisco.

San Franciscans openly love their way of life, and at every turn you find confirmation of their assurances that this is “the city everyone loves.” The very location on the hills around the bay makes it an unusually cozy place; There is an invigorating freshness in the air, and even the sea fog covering the city gives it not an ominous, but a romantic coloring, while the haze creeping over Twin Peaks, enveloping the Golden Gate Bridge or Golden Gate Park creates a bewitching view.

Psychedelic drugs, innovative technologies, gay rights, environmental movements, freedom of speech and gastronomic experiments have all become commonplace in San Francisco a long time ago. After one hundred and sixty years of ups and downs, the favorite pastime of the locals has become the Rebel Run with very liberal views on clothing, gay pride parades and idleness on Baker Beach on hot sunny days. It’s not customary to be shy here: in a crowd of eccentrics of all stripes, no one will notice traces of a swimsuit. Goodbye, prohibitions. Hello San Francisco.

Sights of San Francisco

All the sights of San Francisco

Story

Until 1848, the tables of the inhabitants of the Mexican settlement of San Francisco included, at best, oysters and acorn bread - but only a year and a few gold nuggets later, these tables were already laden with champagne and Chinese stew. Thanks to gold discovered in the neighboring foothills of the Sierra Nevada, a coastal village with eight hundred inhabitants turned into a port city of one hundred thousand, where miners, swindlers, prostitutes and honest people tried to earn their conscience - and only luck could tell who was who. A friendly bartender might slip drugs into your glass and you'd wake up a mile offshore, on some ship that was taking you off to slavery in Argentina.

By 1850, California had been taken from Mexico and hastily annexed to the United States, and San Francisco attempted to subjugate two hundred saloons and an untold number of brothels and gambling establishments. When Australia flooded the gold markets in 1854, panic ensued and an absurd fury descended upon the Chinese community of San Francisco. From 1877 to 1945, the United States had anti-Chinese laws that limited the rights of Chinese Americans to live and work in Chinatown. The main way to pay off debts was to build railroads, dangerous because of the bandits and thieves who mined the tracks, blew them up with dynamite to clear the way to the Golden West, and built magnificent mansions in Nob Hill above Chinatown.

The city's considerable ambitions and more than 20 theaters were destroyed in 1906, after an earthquake, when a terrible fire claimed the lives of three thousand people and left one hundred thousand homeless. Much of the city turned to dust - including almost all of Nob Hill's mansions. Theater companies and opera divas performed downtown among the smoldering ruins, beginning a tradition of free public concerts in parks.

In the 1930s, ambitious public projects continued as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and government-funded muralists brought influences from leftist politics into painting, as can be seen in some 400 murals in the Mission District.

The Second World War brought global changes to the city. Women and African Americans working in the San Francisco shipyards sparked a new economic boom. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Emergency Order 9066 authorized the forced removal of the city's historic Japanese American community. What followed was a forty-year trial that ended with an unprecedented apology from the American government. San Francisco became a testing ground for civil rights and free speech when, in 1957, beat poet Lawrence Ferlingeggi fought a court ban on the publication of Allen Ginsburg's marvelous, incendiary work, Howl and Other Poems.

US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hoped that an experimental drug called LSD would turn test subject Ken Kesey into a fighting machine, a fighter without rules, but instead, the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest got his friends hooked on LSD and thereby ushered in the era of the psychedelic 60s. The "Summer of Love" meant freedom in food, love and music in the Haight-Ashbury until the '70s, when enterprising gay hippies founded the Castro (Castro) gay community. In the 1980s, San Francisco witnessed the devastating toll of AIDS, but the city rallied and showed the world how to treat and prevent the disease.

In the mid-1990s, geeks and cyberpunks gathered in San Francisco. They created the Internet, giving rise to the dot-com boom - until the bubble burst in 2000. However, San Francisco loves risks and continues to launch new ideas. And while recession reigns elsewhere, the city is developing social media, mobile applications and biotechnology

What to see and try

San Francisco's forty-three hills and over eighty museums will keep your feet and your imagination busy with (literally) breathtaking scenery. The 11.2 x 11.2 km city is built on a conservative plan, but its main street, Market Street, heretically diagonal. All downtown attractions are located near Market Street, but be very careful and prudent, especially around the South of Market areas (SoMa) and Tenderloin (between 5th St and 9th St). The main historical attractions are located in the Mission district, and the most interesting of the newest ones are in Golden Gate Park.

San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest Chinese community outside of China, begins at the entrance to the ornate colored gates at Bush and Stockton streets. There are a great variety of tea shops and groceries, shops selling the most incredible trinkets, pharmacies, restaurants, bakeries, flower stalls and markets where they sell animals, a veritable sea of ​​​​people splashing around and a cacophony of exotic sounds and aromas raging.

Not far from Chinatown is North Beach, which is called “Little Italy”. Poets Alan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac loved to come here and perform at the City Light bookstore. There is Washington Square Park with a wonderful church, street fairs, and many restaurants with authentic Italian cuisine and coffee shops where you can refresh yourself before continuing your walk.

From nearby Fisherman's Wharf, where sea lions can be seen, ferry rides to Alcatraz, the world's most secure prison where the world's hardest criminals were once imprisoned, and a visit to historic Angel Island, home to a national park. From here you can also go to two fashionable coastal resorts - Sausalito and Tiburon.

On the slope of Russian Hill is located one of the most crooked streets in the world - Lombard Street. The slope of this small and winding street is 27%, so traffic is one-way and limited to eight kilometers per hour.

The Embarcadero, a tree-lined, palm-lined boulevard near the new ferry building, is home to organic fairs, some of the most incredible restaurants, bars and shops, all somewhat reminiscent of European train stations. Stop here and spend the morning sampling the best local cheeses, fruits and breads before heading to Golden Gate Park. Often shrouded in fog, the park is famous for its beautiful botanical garden, ponds and lakes. Golden Gate Park is home to a museum and one of the best botanical gardens in the world, and is a great place for a picnic. A herd of bison also lives here.

On the edge of the park is Haight-Ashbury, another colorful area where hippies of the 1960s and 1970s made free love. Teenagers and organic café regulars still hang out here, so a walk around the Haight feels like traveling back in time.

Another well-known district is the Castro, home to much of the city's gay population, and is also known for its abundance of cafes and many small art galleries.

In front of the Letterman Digital Arts Center is Marina Green, a location famous for its golf courses, running trails and beautiful beach, which offers the most spectacular views of the famous Golden Gate Bridge.

Be sure to visit Alcatraz Island and the prison that is said to be impossible to escape from. Be sure to take a ride over the Golden Gate Bridge, just go there on a sunny day.

The Museum of Modern Art is housed in a stunning building in the South of Market, while the Palace of Fine Arts is in Pacific Heights and also houses a popular science museum. The Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park is interesting for its European paintings. Other museums include the Museum of the African Diaspora, the History of San Francisco, Crafts and Folk Art, Mexican, Chinese, and Jewish Culture.

Take a ride on the cable cars—starting at Fisherman's Landing or Union Square and ascending to the wealthy mansions of Nob Hill.

Other attractions include the luxury Fairmont, Huntington and Mark Hopkins hotels, fine boutique shopping in the Marina/Cow Hollow area, and Fillmore Street, which goes up, up, up - past the mansions of the rich and famous. city ​​residents.

The best way to see the city from afar is to take the scenic Mile 49 Highway, passing through parks and beaches to discover many historical and scenic attractions. You should also definitely take a ride on one of the famous trams, so don't forget to bring your camera!

Hills of San Francisco

San Francisco is famous for its 40 hills. Getting to know Nob Hill (by cable car from Powell Street or California Street)(by bus) and Russian Hill (on a cable car) will give you a complete picture of the past and present luxury of wealthy citizens.

The majestic Victorian buildings of the Nob Hill residential area, where the nabobs, that is, the nouveau riche, lived, were destroyed by the 1906 earthquake, sparing only the luxurious brown sandstone mansion of James Flood, which now houses the prestigious Pacific Union Club. You won't get there, but you can (with a sedate look) check out two notable hotels: Fairmount and Mark-Hopkins. The latter houses a bar with a 360-degree view; ordering an overly expensive drink is worth the view, especially at sunset, and the bartenders will not let you down with a cocktail.

The climb to Telegraph Hill is justified by the breathtaking view from the observation deck of Coit Tower. The tower, built in 1934 in honor of the firefighters of the local fire station with money bequeathed by the local widow Lillie Hitchcock Coit, was supposed to resemble a fire hose in its appearance.

Russian Hill is not as luxurious as the other two, but its gardens and neat houses look very nice. The name comes from the Russian colony that settled here. The humpback streets of San Francisco reach their highest point on Lombard Street, between Leavenworth and Hyde streets. Once you've navigated the dizzying ups and downs of the winding street with its seven hairpin bends, you won't mind that it's the world's crookedest street.

A convenient means of transportation through the hills of San Francisco is the famous cable car. This is the most pleasant form of transport in the city, since from here you can admire the local views slowly unfolding before you. Night trips are especially romantic. The routes are shortened at this time, and the night environment is especially enchanting. Cars run until 22.00.

The funicular first started operating in 1873, and one of the carriages of that time is now in the Cable Car Museum (Cable-Car Museum; Washington and Mason streets), which is also the control room of the operating cable car. The hand-built carriages are constantly being refurbished and repaired, so don't be surprised if a line doesn't work. It is forbidden to enter the ice cream car due to the shaking of the road, so as not to dirty the passengers.

Festivals and events

Chinese New Year Parade

Chase a 200-foot dragon and see costumed dancers and kung fu kids in February. Details at www.chineseparade.com

San Francisco International Film Festival

Every April, stars and directors begin their premieres at the country's oldest film festival. Details at www.sffs.org

Rebel Run

Take part in the race (in a suit or naked) from the Embarcadero to Ocean Beach on the third Sunday in May as runners in pink make their way. Registration for the race will cost $44-48. More details at www.baytobreakers.com

Carnival

Are they Brazilians or fake tan and oil? Shake things up at the Mission the last weekend in May. More details www.carnavalsf.com

Gay Pride in San Francisco

One day for pride is not enough: June begins with the International LGBT Film Festival (International LGBT Film Festival; www.frameline.org) and ends in style with the Dyke March (Dyke March; www.dykemarch.org) on “Pink Saturday” of the last weekend and a crazy gay pride parade for thousands of people (www.sfpride.org).

Do not miss

• Coit Tower.
• Cable trams.
• Drive to Auckland across the bay.

Should know

• Don't call the city "Frisco", the locals don't like it.
• San Francisco is considered the gay capital of the world.

Hotel deals

Excursions from San Francisco

Bay area

North of San Francisco, at the southern end of Marin County, are two cute port towns, Sausalito and Tiburon, accessible either by car via the Golden Gate Bridge or by ferry. The quietest of them is Tiburon, although it also has a vibrant Mediterranean atmosphere. Nearby, you can see the famous giant sequoias that stand like a wall in Muir Woods National Park. Some trees are a thousand years old and reach 75 meters in height.

Vinogradarsky region

Wine lovers will love driving through the vineyards of Napa Valley and along the Sonoma Valley, hidden behind the Mayacmas Mountains. Napa, located less than 50 miles northeast of San Francisco, lies between the Mayacmas and Howell mountains, stretching from Napa in the south to Calistoga in the north. The main road through the valley is Highway 29. The Silverado Hiking Trail, which runs parallel to the highway, is a slower, quieter, more scenic route. The wineries offer tours and wine tastings in the cellars, as well as picnics among the vineyards. The largest wineries are Sterling, Mondavi, Martini, Beaulieu and Beringer in the Napa Valley, as well as Sovereign and Sebastiani in the Sonoma Valley.

Homesick French wine lovers might want to visit the Domaine Chandon vineyard, owned by the renowned Moët et Chandon winery. Small, family-run wineries offer exceptional wine tastings in their showrooms in a relaxed atmosphere. Napa Valley Information Bureau (Napa Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau; 1310 Town Center Napa; men.: 707-226-74-59; www.napavalley.com) will provide you with maps and necessary information. The best restaurants in this area are usually closed on Tuesdays.

From San Francisco, head south on Highway 101, ending at Castroville on Pacific Coast Highway 1. (Pacific Highway, Route 1), and you will find yourself in Monterey - the ancient Spanish and Mexican capital of Upper California. The local bay was discovered back in 1542, but began to be populated only in 1770, when the Franciscan monk Junípero Serra founded a mission here under the protection of the garrison of the fortress of Governor Gaspar de Portola. Monterey was a windswept region where disease was rampant, so Portola advised handing it over as divine punishment to the Russians, who also laid claim to Monterey. But the Franciscan Serra was not afraid of adversity, taking up the conquest of the wild places of Monterey. His statue stands guard on Corporal Ewing's route.

In the city, you can take a guided tour of the historical buildings of the old city, following specially installed signs, including the period of Mexican rule in the 19th century. and the beginning of American rule. Here there are two-story houses with a balcony, combining features of both adobe Spanish buildings and wood-clad American colonial-style buildings: this mixture is called the “Monterey style”. At the Monterey Chamber of Commerce (380 Alvarado Street; tel: 831-648-53-60; www.mpcc.com) you can get a map showing the main buildings.

Visit the Larkin House Museum (Jefferson and Calle Principal streets), place of residence of the first (and the last one) US consul in Mexico's Alta California in the 1840s. Thomas Oliver Larkin, and the Robert Louis Stevenson House Museum (530 Houston Street), the hotel where the writer lived while working on Treasure Island. On Church Street you will find the site of the mud-brick church of Friar Serra; in the building built in its place in 1795, the Royal Fortress Chapel, otherwise known as the Cathedral of San Carlo Borromeo, is now located. To the left of the altar is a statue of the Virgin Mary from the 18th century. from Spanish Mexico.

Closer to the water on Customs Square stands the Pacific House with a nice shady courtyard planted with flowers and fenced off with arcades, as well as the customs house itself (1827) - the first federal building on the Pacific Coast.

The First Theater in California has a more pronounced American look. (First Theatre; Scott and Pacific streets)- a cabin built from pine in 1847 by Jack Swan as a saloon with furnished rooms of dubious purpose above. Visitors were attracted (and attract) Victorian melodramas, but there are no rooming houses anymore.

Fisherman's Wharf, like the landmark of the same name in San Francisco, is the same collection of shops and restaurants on a pier, only the boats bob closer. The fish here is always fresh, but it won't change the shabby appearance of Cannery Row. From 1921 to 1946, it was the premier sardine production site in the entire Western Hemisphere, but by 1951 there were no sardines in these waters. Today, the wooden cannery buildings made famous by John Steinbeck house restaurants, fashion stores and art galleries.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a great success. (tel.: 831-648-48-00; www.mbayaq.org), containing the inhabitants of the bay. In the 4.5 million liter aquarium of the Outer Bay exhibition hall (Outer Bay) spectators are surrounded inside and out by barracudas, Californian triple-tooth sharks, anchovies and graceful jellyfish. During feeding, divers put on a diving suit and, once underwater, tell visitors something through a microphone.

A little further on is a toll scenic road that winds its way through the Monterey Peninsula. (27.5 km) where it is prohibited to ride a motorcycle. However, you can go straight south to Carmel - a wonderful resort town that was once an artists' colony. This is a place created for relaxation and shopping.

Just outside the city is the entrance to Cape Lobos State Wildlife Refuge, a collection of intricate weathered rocks, tiny beaches and dramatic cliffs. To the southeast of the city lies the restored mission-fortress of Carmel in the form of the church of San Carlo Borromeo de Carmelo, where the Rev. Father Serra is buried. The coastal road from Carmel to Big Sur is only 30 miles long, but takes an hour of careful driving to complete, with each hairpin turn revealing another scenic view.

The Town of Big Sur and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park offer excellent opportunities for outdoor recreation, camping, hiking and fishing on the Big Sur River. This place, where writer Henry Miller was born, allows for privacy.

The road winding along the rugged coastline will take you 105 km to San Simeon, where newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, immortalized by Orson Welles in his cinematic masterpiece Citizen Kane, built his dream home, called Hearst Castle. (Hearst Castle; guided tours, advance reservations recommended; tel.: 800-444-44-45; www.hearstcastle.org). Hearst himself called the 50 hectares of land with a castle, guest palaces, terraces, gardens, Roman baths, his own menagerie and tennis courts an “estate.” Construction began in 1919 and was still not completed when the tycoon died in 1951.

The estate, with an area of ​​110 thousand hectares, is located among hilly terrain at an altitude of 500 m above sea level. After leaving your car in the parking lot, you board a tour bus that takes you past the zebras, maned rams and goats grazing on the slopes - all that remains of Hearst's menagerie.

Architect Julia Morgan of San Francisco built the "manor" according to Hirst's instructions as a "convenient showcase" for his art collection. The scope of the collection itself becomes clear even at the sight of a 30-meter swimming pool with a Greek colonnade and a cast of the Florentine statue of David by Donatello on two baroque Venetian fountains of the 17th century. Above the huge main entrance stands an authentic 13th-century statue. Madonna and Child.

Information

Emergency and medical services

American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine; tel: 415-282-9603; www.actcm.edu; 450 Connecticut St; 8:30-21:00 Mon-Thu, 9:00-17:30 Fri & Sat) Acupuncture and herbal medicine.

Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic (Haight Ashbury Free Clinic; tel: 415-746-1950; www.hafci.org; 558 Clayton St) free doctor visits by appointment; drug and alcohol addiction support and mental health services.

Pharmaca (tel: 415-661-1216; www.pharmaca.com; 925 Cole St; 8am-8pm Mon-Fri, 9am Sat-Sun) Pharmacy and naturopathic medicines.

Police, fire and ambulance (tel.: 911) San Francisco General Hospital (San Francisco General Hospital; ER 415-206-8111, 415-206-8000; www.sfdph.org; 1001 Potrero Ave) Open 24 hours. Trauma and Violence Rehabilitation Center (Trauma Recovery & Rape Treatment Center; tel: 415-437-3000; http://traumarecoverycenter.org) 24/7 hotline. Walgreens (tel: 415-861-3136; www.walgreens.com; 498 Castro St; 24 hours) Pharmacy with branches throughout the city (see website).

Internet

There are free Wi-Fi hotspots scattered throughout San Francisco - find your nearest one using www.openwifispots.com. Free signal in Union Square, most cafes and hotel lobbies.

Apple Store (www.apple.com/retail/sanfran cisco; 1 Stockton St; 9.00-21.00 Mon-Sat, 10.00-20.00 Sun) Free Wi-Fi and internet terminals.

San Francisco Main Library (http://sfpl.org; 100 Larkin St; 10.00-18.00 Mon and Sat, 9.00-20.00 Tue-Thu, 12.00-17.00 Fri and Sun) Free Internet access for 15 minutes; Wi-Fi is available in some places.

mass media

• KALW 91.7 FM (www.kalw.org) National Public Radio affiliate (National Public Radio, NPR).
• KPFA 94.1 FM (www.kpfa.org) Alternative news and music.
• KPOO 89.5 FM (www.kpoo.com) Public Radio; jazz, rhythm and blues, blues and reggae.
• KQED 88.5 FM (www.kqed.org) Branch of the National Public Radio and State Television Broadcasting (Public Broadcasting, PBS), podcasts and video streaming.
• San Francisco Bay Guardian (www.sfbg.com) The free alternative weekly covers politics, theater, music, art and film.
• San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfgate.com) Main daily newspaper; news, entertainment and events posters.

Money

Bank of America (www.bankamerica.com; 1 Market Plaza; 9.00-18.00 Mon-Fri)

Mail

Post office in Rincon Center (Rincon Center post office; www.usps.com; 180 Stewart St; 8.00-18.00 Mon-Fri, 9.00-14.00 Sat) Postal services plus historical frescoes.

Tourist information

San Francisco Visitor Information Center (tel.: 415-391-2000; www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com; lower level, Hallidie Plaza; 9:00-17:00 Mon-Fri, until 15:00 Sat-Sun)

Web sites

• Craigslist (http://sfbay.craigslist.org) San Francisco Resource; work, dates, free stuff, Buddhist babysitters and whatever.
• Yelp (www.yelp.com) Review site for shops, bars, services and restaurants. Join the local verbal battles.

Transport

Information about transportation routes in the Bay Area (Bay Area) and flight schedules can be found by calling 511 or visiting the website www.511.org.

Transportation from San Francisco International Airport

BART (www.bart.gov; one-way ticket $8.10). Fast, direct connections to downtown San Francisco.

SamTrans (www.samtrans.com; one-way ticket $5). The KX Express will take you to the bus station (Temporary Transbay Terminal) in about 30 minutes.

SuperShuttle (tel: 800-258-3826; www.supershuttle.com; one-way ticket $17). Door-to-door vans depart from the baggage claim terminal. Most areas of San Francisco are 45 minutes' drive away.

Taxi. The cost of a trip to downtown is $35-50.

Transport from Auckland International Airport

The cheapest way to travel from Oakland Airport to San Francisco is by BART. AirBART buses ($3) every 10-20 min. depart to Coliseum Station, where you can catch the BART train to downtown San Francisco ($3.80, 25 min.). The cost of a taxi ride from Oakland Airport to Oakland averages $25 and to San Francisco about $50-60. The cost of a trip to downtown in a multi-person SuperShuttle van is $25-30 (tel: 800-258-3826; www.supershuttle.com). Airport Express Buses (tel: 800-327-2024; www.airportexpressinc.com) follow the schedule every 2 hours. (from 6.00 to 0.00) from Oakland Airport to Sonoma County ($32) and Marin ($24) .

Vessels

Blue & Gold Ferries (www.blueandgoldfleet.com) depart Alameda - Oakland from Pier 41 (Pier 41) and ferry terminal (Ferry Building). Golden Gate Ferry (www.goldengate.org) go to Sausalito and Larkspur (Larkspur) in Marin County (Marin County), departing from the ferry terminal (Ferry Building).

Cars

Try not to drive in San Francisco: parking is harder than finding true love, and the meters are merciless. Downtown parking is located at the Embarcadero Center on Fifth Street. (5th St), Mission Street (Mission St), Union Square (Union Sq), Sutter Street (Sutter St) and Stockton Street (Stockton St). National car rental agencies have offices at the airport and downtown.

Public transport

To the municipal transport network MUNI (Municipal Transit Agency; www.sfmuni.com) includes buses, trams and funicular lines. Two cable car lines begin at Powell Street (Powell St) and Market Street (Market St), the third is on California Street (California St) and Market Street (Market St). A detailed MUNI Street & Transit Map can be downloaded for free from the website or purchased for $3 at a kiosk (Powell MUNI kiosk). The standard fare for a bus or tram ride is $2, for a funicular ride $6. MUNI Passport (for 1/3/7 days $14/21/27) gives the right to unlimited travel on all types of municipal transport, including the funicular; it is for sale at the San Francisco Tourist Information Center (San Francisco's Visitor Information Center) and at the TIX Bay Area ticket kiosk in Union Square. Seven Day City Pass (adult/child $69/39) gives the right to travel on municipal transport and to visit five attractions.

BART electric trains connect San Francisco to the east side of the Bay. They go under Market Street (Market St) and follow Mission Street (Mission St) and south to San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae (Millbrae), where they intersect with the CalTrain line.

The rate is approximately $2.25 per mile; the amount on the meter at the beginning of the trip is $3.50.

• DeSoto Cab (tel: 415-970-1300)
• Green Cab (tel: 415-626-4733; www.626green.com)
• Luxor (tel: 415-282-4141) Yellow Cab (tel: 415-333-3333)

Road there and back

By plane

San Francisco International Airport (San Francisco International Airport, SFO; www.flysfo.com) located 22.4 km south of the city center, next to the highway (Highway) 101. Accessible by Bay Area Rapid Transit. (BART).

By bus

Until the new terminal is completed in 2017, San Francisco Intercity will remain Temporary Transbay Terminal (Howard St and Main St). AC Transit buses depart from here (www.actransit.org) to eastern Bay Area (East Bay), Golden Gate Transit buses (http://goldengatetransit.org) go north to Marin and Sonoma counties and SamTrans (www.samtrans.com) carries passengers south to Palo Alto (Palo Alto) and on the Pacific coast. Greyhound buses (tel: 800-231-2222; www.greyhound.com) depart daily to Los Angeles ($56.50.8-12 hours), Truckee (Truckee) at Lake Tahoe ($33, 5.5 hours) and in other areas.

By train

Amtrak trains (tel: 800-872-7245; www.amtrakcalifornia.com)- this is not only a low emission of pollution into the environment, but also a quiet road to San Francisco and back. Coast Starlight sails an exciting 35-hour route from Los Angeles to Seattle with a stop in Oakland. California Zephyr is coming (51 hours) from Chicago via Rokis (Rockies) to Auckland. Both trains have sleeping cars and dining cars (bars) with large windows. Amtrak also includes free shuttle buses to the ferry terminal (Ferry Building) in San Francisco and the CalTrain station.

Cal Trains (www.caltrain.com; corner of Force Street (4th St) and King Street (King St)) connect San Francisco with Silicon Valley and San Jose.

Calendar of low prices for air tickets

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1. Cities of the world

Samarkand stands on 10-15 meters of thickness of the ancient settlement of Afrasiab. The settlement is named after the legendary ruler of the Central Asian nomads who lived more than 2,000 years ago in the hills of modern Samarkand. In the records of the conquest of Alexander the Great there is a settlement located on the site of the ancient settlement of Afrasiab, which...

2. Like many old cities in Europe, Warsaw was born in ancient times, almost immemorial. Rivers were then of great importance for the emergence of cities: people settled in places where there was a high bank, to which it was more convenient for ships to moor. There is such a place nearby...

3. Olive is a sacred tree for the Greeks, the tree of life. Without it, it is impossible to imagine the Greek valleys, sandwiched between the mountains and the sea, and even the rocky mountain slopes themselves, where olive groves alternate with vineyards. Olives climb almost to the very tops, they dominate the...

4. 90 kilometers south of Baghdad lie the ruins of ancient Babylon, covered in the dust of centuries, which consist of four huge hills of rubble. Here in Mesopotamia, several thousand years ago, one of the first centers of human civilization arose with the famous “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” and…

5. In April 1624, the Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verazano, a subject of the French king Francis I, sailed on his ship "Dauphine" to the mouth of the Severnaya River. The Indians greeted the navigator very friendly, but J. da Verazano did not stay here long: he walked along the coast to the north,…

6. For many of us, St. Petersburg begins on May 16, 1703 - a date well known from school textbooks. Long before Peter I, the territory of the future St. Petersburg was simply strewn with Russian villages and hamlets. Along the mossy, muddy banks of Cherneli there are huts here and there.…

7. In the east was the kingdom of the Red Chuck - from there came a crimson scorching luminary; White Chuck reigned in the north - his icy breath brought snow and rain; Black Chuck lived in the west, where mountains blackened above the sandy deserts; and in the south, where they turned yellow...

8. In 1368 BC, Amenhotep IV, the most unusual of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, ascended the Egyptian throne, whose reforms gave rise to an extremely interesting period in the history of Egypt. Before him, the system of mystical and religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians was extremely complex and confusing. Worship to the many...

9. The Swedish capital opens up to the eyes of tourists with green and purple spiers of churches, palaces and rare modernist skyscrapers. Stockholm is located on islands and peninsulas, and wherever you go in this city, you will always come out to the sea. In the Old Town, the pointed bell towers of churches and the facades of palaces are reflected...

10. The origin of Yerevan is lost in the mists of time, but the name of the city, as is commonly believed, comes from the Armenian verb “erevel” - to appear. This is associated with the legend that this area was the first to appear to the eyes of Noah descending from Ararat, who built the first post-flood city here. ...IN…

History of the city of San Francisco

In March 1776, in the northern part of the peninsula, where the city of San Francisco is now located, the presidio was founded - the first Spanish military fort and the first Catholic mission - Mission Dolores. On forty unnamed hills grew the fragrant grass "Uerba buena", so the first settlement that arose here in 1835 was called - "Yerba buena" ("Good grass").

In 1846, this settlement was taken over by the Americans, who, in the hope of heaven's favor, renamed it San Francisco - in honor of Francis of Assisi. At first, only a few dozen people lived in the village, and its economic activity was less than in the Ross Fortress, founded 120 kilometers north by the Russian-American Company for the fishing of sea animals and the fur trade.

But Saint Francis did not disappoint: two years later gold was discovered here, and thousands of fortune-seekers rushed to the previously unknown Californian village with a population of only 500 people. If in 1848 only 15 ships visited the unknown port, then the next year - already 755. There was no railway here yet, but the adobe village with lightning speed turned into a city and soon became a port of world importance. Five years later, San Francisco already had 50,000 residents.

In order not to sleep in tents or under awnings, the settlers brought prefabricated houses with them: although there was plenty of forest around, people were in a hurry to search for gold. Several hundred ships on which the settlers arrived also served as housing, restaurants and even a prison.

"History of the City of San Francisco"

People of many different nationalities contributed to the development of San Francisco, and as a result of decades of the Gold Rush, it became a city of many religions, languages ​​and cultures.

The first urban plan for San Francisco was developed by the Irish engineer D.O. Farrell. He planned to create a large boulevard in the city similar to the Champs Elysees in Paris and therefore, despite numerous protests, he drew a wide Market Street diagonally to the already laid streets. It became the central thoroughfare of the city.

In 1856, the French architect Verseman transported the house from his homeland and built several more in San Francisco based on its model. Houses from Holland, England, Scotland appeared in a similar way; spacious buildings for restaurants in the 1850s were imported from Belgium, and granite houses were built exclusively by the Chinese, since only they could read the instructions attached to the stone blocks arriving from China.

Rich citizens usually invited world-famous architects to build their mansions. The city grew, developed and became more beautiful; magnificent buildings of public institutions and hotels, industrial corporations and banks were erected in it. Moreover, not only gold, but also silver, discovered in 1859 in the neighboring state of Nevada, ended up in the banks.

Architecturally, San Francisco was a bizarre mixture of old and new buildings. Many of them were built without any consideration for possible natural disasters, and yet the San Andreas Fault runs near the city - a kind of giant “scar” stretching through heterogeneous natural areas.

Since its founding, San Francisco has experienced many earthquakes, some of which even caused minor destruction. But none of the city residents thought about a serious danger.

In the early morning of April 18, 1906, there was also no sign of trouble: the weather the day before was fine, the warm evening attracted masses of people to the parks and theaters, restaurants and cafes were full of visitors even after midnight. Meteorologists predicted clear, calm weather, and the day promised to be cool. But at 5:11 am local time the first blow was heard, from which many residents woke up; it was followed by the second - the strongest and most destructive, after which there was a whole series of tremors, but weaker.

A terrible roar and crack of bursting buildings, like a crushing tornado, swept through the streets. The underground shock, which lasted only 40 seconds, shook multi-storey buildings, heaved alleys, broke power lines, burst gas and electrical pipes... The asphalt warped, cobblestones flew out of the pavement, tram rails were torn, carriages and cars overturned. A giant cloud of dust shot up into the sky and obscured the sun. The sudden darkness enveloped all of San Francisco, and only the bright glow of the fires flashed brightly and alarmingly. A beautiful city, located in a cozy green bay, the resort city turned into flaming ruins in a matter of seconds...

In memory of this earthquake, every year on April 18 at 5:11 a.m., residents of San Francisco gather at the “Lotta Fountain” located on Market Street.

"History of the City of San Francisco"

According to a long-standing tradition, they go to paint the “golden hydrant”, through which water was continuously supplied for three days to extinguish the fire.

The city was revived very quickly, and already in 1915 it hosted the Panama-Pacific Exhibition, held in honor of the opening of the canal. At the beginning of the 20th century, the first high-rise buildings began to be erected in San Francisco, many of which still adorn the city center today. The heart of the financial district is a forest of skyscrapers built from glass, steel and concrete. One of the symbols of the city was the building of the Transamerica Corporation - a pyramidal structure built in 1972.

The symbol of the city is the elegant orange-red Golden Gate Bridge, spanning the Golden Gate Strait - the longest suspension bridge in the world. It opened to traffic on May 27, 1937, creating a direct route between San Francisco and Marin County. That’s when those who insisted that such a bridge was impossible to build fell silent.

And the construction of the bridge was truly difficult: there were even accidents with workers who, in the most difficult conditions, struggled for 4 years with floods, fast currents and thick fog to build this 1,730-meter-long bridge. The most difficult task was laying the foundation for the southern piles of the bridge, but the builders coped with this task...

Golden Gate was painted from the very beginning with orange-red paint, which is always used when constructing steel structures.

"History of the City of San Francisco"

Such paints contain a lead component, which protects the steel from rust; in addition, the color of the bridge is clearly visible in the often thickening fogs.

North of Golden Gate is the famous San Francisco Park, whose first architect was W.H. Hall. After him, the park was looked after by the Scot D. McLaren, who planted about 2 million trees here and created many attractions in the park. He even developed special rules of conduct, for example, he forbade workers to wear gloves and smoke while working. D. McLaren was completely indifferent to park sculptures, and if they were installed, he tried to quickly hide them behind overgrown bushes.

The city park was built on sand dunes, and everything in it - hills, waterfalls, valleys, lakes, islands - was created by human hands. In the Golden Gate oasis there are, for example, several gardens at once - the Biblical Garden, the Garden of Aromas and others. There is also a Shakespeare Garden in the park, where trees that are mentioned in the works of the great English playwright are specially grown.

San Francisco, by the standards of Europe and Asia, is a very young city; its oldest stones are no more than 200 years old. Today's San Francisco is changing and becoming prettier, and at the same time the city carefully preserves the memory of times past. Here they try to preserve not only ancient houses, but even their individual details, for example, the facades of buildings damaged by earthquakes and fires.

In 1978, the San Francisco Civic Center, built in a neoclassical style, was declared a national landmark.

Several buildings made of gray granite are picturesquely located around the square of J. Marshall, the carpenter who first discovered the gold mine.

If you enter San Francisco from the south, the urban changes here are immediately noticeable. The plum and apricot orchards have disappeared, and entire villages of caravans line the road. Relatively few skyscrapers were built in the city, and when constructing modern buildings, architects tried to combine their architecture with the traditional style of the Spanish period.

San Francisco has changed less than other American cities in recent decades. This is a city of white two-story mansions built in the style of Victorian architecture. It seems that they all look alike, but in fact there are no similarities. When you look at San Francisco from Twin Peaks, almost the entire city appears in the clear air: white, sparkling, with bays and bridges in its eastern part and with the foggy outlines of the ocean in the western part. It’s not for nothing that America’s advertising brochures say: “You will leave your heart in San Francisco!”

18+, 2015, website, “Seventh Ocean Team”. Team coordinator:

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