Alte Trinkerlokale in Nordstrand

Unter Pete Scully in San Francisco, Kalifornien

Shortly before Christmas, I took the train down to San Francisco for a day of sketching and…what more is there? Sometimes it is just nice to go to a different yet familiar environment and draw stuff. Above is the Ferry building, with its Farmers Market in full flow. The last time I was here it was too rainy to sketch this scene, and I had to sketch inside, but this time I was able to capture the skyline and all the hustle and bustle. There is a stand inside the building which sells amazing cannoli filled with chocolate and ‘bombolini’ little doughnuts, filled with lemon cream. They are the best. Once I had wiped the filthy mess and sugar from my face, I wandered off to North Beach.

This is the Savoy Tivoli on Grant Street. it wasn’t open, but I have been there before and sketched jazz musicians. This has been here for more than a century, opening after the 1906 earthquake. There are some nice little shops around here, and I did a little last minute Christmas shopping. I also witnessed a very-nearly-a-fight argument in the street. One of those shouting matches in which everyone in the street suddenly stops and looks towards it en masse. Nothing happened, but it probably added a bit of drama to the afternoon.

Further downhill is The Saloon, which has a sign outside claiming it to be the oldest saloon in the city. It was once
Wagner’s Beer Hall, named for its owner Ferdinand Wagner, an immigrant
from Alsace, back in 1860. It survived the 1906 earthquake, the
prohibition era (when it was the “Poodle Dog Cafe”), and went through a
few names before settling on “The Saloon” in 1984. It’s historically a
rough-and-ready part of the city this, not far from the old Barbary Coast, and some day I may pop in for a
beer and some history, but on this day I sketched outside. I had some
more drawings to go, and I didn’t want to stand around for too long so I
kept it quick.

This here is my favourite part of the city, I think. I stood for just over an hour sketching Vesuvio’s and City Lights Bookstore on Columbus Avenue until my hands hurt (and it started raining). At that point, I had to go into Vesuvio to shade in the windows, have a couple of pints of Anchor Steam, and of course do a sketch of the bar. I’ll come back and do a big interior sketch of Vesuvio’s one day because it is awesome, and a great place to end a very tiring day. I love San Francisco.