San Francisco Visit - December 2010 Visit - Rosen Center Berkeley

Cafe Du Soleil, 200 Fillmore Street, here off of Duboce where I walked from a Camera Shop in a mall on Market Street after getting a cable to download my photos. Here I had a warm tea and food in a sweet cyber cafe atmosphere. I local woman suggested this as this is where she goes. During the Wednesday break from the Rosen Method Intensive, I took BART under the bay into downtown San Francisco. I stopped by the World HQ of Landmark Education on California off the Embarcadero and noticed the cable car. On this rainy Wednesday, Dec 15, the ides of December, I decided to check out a meeting on Market Street, walking past a lot of street people, likely homeless stopping at an Information Center that is very multicultural, talking about ebooks, ipads and Kindles with a woman from the Netherlands. As an HIV educator in the GBTQ community it was important to stop by the San Francisco LGBT Community Center at 1800 Market Street. Had a nice meal nearby in a cyber cafe with a local man I met there. Sweet to be back in SF after so many years. Came here in the late 1970's and 80's.

Here is a typical home with a tree fern growing in the front yard in Berkeley as I walked from my motel on University and 8th, close to the Berkeley Rosen Center, to the N Berkeley BART Station. Temps 50- 70 degrees everyday. All the plants thrive here!

Typical progressive bumper sticker on a car in Berkeley on my walk to the BART Sunday Morning Dec 19th, after the Rosen Intensive ended on Saturday.

On Sunday, I returned to the Embarcadero, and this time took the California St cable car to Grace Cathedral pictured here. I lot of artists in the park and just beautiful people watching and chatting a bit.

Locals recommended a concert at 3 PM and the Fairmont Hotel decorated for the season. Beautiful!

Here is the Choir part of Grace Cathedral where a chamber group with harp, accompanied a traditional Men's and Boy's Choir in the Anglican - Episcopal tradition. I introduced myself to the new female Dean of the Cathedral, who was educated in Oxford, as from the First Cathedral in Faribault MN. She didn't seem familiar with our Prairie Lakes area of Central MN :-) lol

I walked from the Cathedral down to Market and found the City Office Building here lite up with Green and Red for the season. Noticed several gay couples having there photo taken here. This is the place where Harvey Milk was assassination November 27, 1978 along with Mayor Masconi.

Known for a large number of gays in SF, this is a place to buy cheap clothes and also doubles as a place to get tested for HIV. This is on Duboce where there are a lot of street cars and near the wifi cafe I returned to prior to a walk to a 12 step meeting on Castro Street Sunday evening prior to my BART trip back to Berkeley. Great walking city and fun to be back!