a day in San Francisco

There's a music series I'm on the mailing list for, held at a small church in the City, but for which the timings are usually awkward so I can rarely go. But this Saturday morning they were holding a children's program, and I had to go up to the City anyway for a concert at Herbst that evening, and the program for the children's concert was Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals, which I like, so I thought, why not?

Because I often have difficulty forcing my body to be ready to go out in the mornings, that's why not, but this time it co-operated and I was there. It was only about half an hour, but the arrangement for one piano, violin, viola, and bass worked fine - Meena Bhasin on viola playing "The Swan," as far as I could tell in the same register as the original cello part, was particularly good, and it was fun watching the tiny children cavorting to the music.

The evening concert was the Calidore String Quartet, which previously I've found very impressive, but either I was too tired out or they were, because otherwise why would a program with Beethoven and Schubert in it sound dull and crabby, and the best piece in it was Jesse Montgomery's Strum? I've heard that before and thought it an outstanding piece; it was even better this time. The scherzo of Korngold's Third Quartet was also a moment that had life in it.

That left over eight hours with nothing to do besides meals, so what would I do with it? I decided to spend my time in North Beach, which is another neighborhood I rarely get to. Herbst is in the Civic Center which is here, and the kids' concert was in Noe Valley which is over there, and North Beach is way off in the other direction, but with knowledge of the city's bus and streetcar system, I got between the places OK.

There was a restaurant in North Beach that had been on my "try this" list for some time, and I walked over to examine from below two of the legendarily steepest street segments in the City which were nearby, but I spent most of my afternoon in the famous City Lights Bookstore, which was also conveniently nearby. I'd never bought anything at City Lights on my few previous visits, having not found anything that interested me, but it turns out that's because I hadn't noticed that there's a little staircase leading down to the basement, and that's where all the books are that are more my speed.

Good thing I brought a canvas bag, also for a couple bottles of interestingly flavored cider that I found at a little street fair back in Noe Valley.