|
There's
no longer a beach in North Beach. The finger of the bay that gave
the neighborhood its name was filled in the late 1870s. Sheltered by
Telegraph Hill on the east and Russian Hill on the west, North Beach is
a sunny, self-contained enclave with its own inns, restaurants,
theaters, shops, coffeehouses, churches, sidewalk cafes and bocce ball
courts. Despite every kind of counter-cultural incursion (bohemians,
beatniks, flower children, yuppies, Chinese newcomers), it remains a
microcosm of Italy.There are various approaches to North Beach from
downtown.You can walk the 10 blocks from Union Square; catch a Muni 30-
Stockton bus that cuts straight through Chinatown; or ride the
Powell-Mason cable car from Union Square, disembark at Union Street and
walk one block east to Columbus Avenue, the area's aptly named main
stem. From Fisherman's Wharf the Muni 39-Coit bus will take you to the
top of Telegraph Hill. It's all downhill from there. At North Beach's
heart is Washington Square [1],
a quaint pentagonal park ideal for sunbathing and snacking. Its
core is adorned with a statue of Benjamin Franklin donated to the city
in 1879 by Henry Cogswell, a dentist who struck personal gold fitting
the mouths of pioneers with gold teeth during the Gold Rush
era.Washington Square also plays host to periodic free arts shows (all
artists present) conducted by the Artists' Guild of San Francisco.The
twin spires overlooking the square belong to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul [2].The
spiritual home of San Franciscans of Italian ancestry nowadays offers
mass in Italian, English and Cantonese. It is also known as the
"fisherman's church," a reference to the livelihood of many of its
parishioners. Back at the square, Telegraph Hill looks like a pastel
layer cake with a big white candle on top. "Telegraph" stems from the
semaphore used in the 1800s to signal the approach of sailing ships off
the Golden Gate to the settlement below. For a close-up, station
yourself at the southwest corner of Union and Stockton Streets in front
of the Fior D'Italia restaurant and board an eastbound Muni 39-Coit
bus. It will carry you to the base of the "candle," Coit Tower [3].This
210-foot column was built in 1933 with a bequest for the city's
beautification from Lillie Hitchcock Coit, an eccentric fire buff. It
contains a public elevator and murals by 30 Depression-era artists.The
spectacular view from the summit is presided over by a statue of
Christopher Columbus, installed by the Italian community. Each October,
the community honors its hero with a series of events culminating with
a lively parade through the neighborhood. Cross the parking plaza in
front of the tower and proceed to the "Greenwich" sign behind the
statue.The red brick staircase leads down past cliff-dwellings and a
crenelated,wood restaurant, Julius' Castle, to Montgomery [4].The street here is a picturesque cul-de-sac divided into two levels. Follow the lower left (eastern) side to the Filbert Steps [5],worth
exploring in both directions.The stairs descend into a leafy
"island-in-the-sky," the Grace Marchant Garden, bordered by
pre-earthquake cottages.They ascend to a landscaped row of balconied
apartments in the 1300 block of Montgomery.The 1936 Art Deco building
at 1360 Montgomery is where Bacall hid Bogart in the 1947 movie, "Dark
Passage." Continue up Montgomery, exploring Alta Street and Calhoun
Terrace, both of which drop away to sparkling views of the bay and the
Financial District. Retrace your steps to Union and stroll two blocks
down (west) to Grant.This corner, framed by a venerable Italian meat
market, Italian bakery, pizzeria and Chinese beauty parlor, mirrors the
neighborhood's Marco Polo mix. Turn left (south) along Grant's
1400-1200 blocks, the stronghold of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and
other legendary "beatniks" during the mid-1950s.Today, old-time service
outlets share streetfront space with funky shops, cafes and watering
holes.Where Broadway and Columbus merge, turn left and gaze at a
fascinating mural [6]
on the outside wall of a restaurant. It is considered a microcosm of
life in San Francisco. Continue down Columbus for a look at such
hallowed North Beach hangouts as Tosca (242), where cappuccinos and
juke box sounds flow. Across the street stands Vesuvio (255), the
storied saloon with the faded "We are itching to get out of
Portland,Oregon!" sign; Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookstore
(261); and Molinari (373), the consummate Italian delicatessen. At
Columbus and Vallejo you'll find Rossi's Market, where the produce
positively glows, and St. Francis of Assisi Church, the first Roman
Catholic parish church in the city.The Columbus-Green intersection is
known as "restaurant gulch." (There are at least 25 Italianaccented
eateries in Columbus' 300-500 blocks and Green's 500-600 blocks). Club
Fugazi at 678 Beach Blanket Boulevard (Green Street) is the home of the
city's longest running musical revue (since 1974), the madcap "Beach
Blanket Babylon." The interesting North Beach Museum [7]
occupies the upper level of the Bay View Bank branch at 1435
Stockton.There you can visualize North Beach of the early century
through an excellent collection of vintage photographs. By now you're
well-acquainted with the Beach's finer points and ready to wander at
will. Distance: 18 blocks.
|
