San Francisco Revisited
By Girija Madhavan
I recently visited San Francisco after a gap of seventeen years, having settled meanwhile into retirement in Mysuru, enduring the pandemic and personal loss.
I was mesmerised again by the beauty of craggy hill sides sloping down to the Bay, the majestic redwoods, the vivid red towers of the Golden Gate Bridge wreathed in mist; Alcatraz, a dark and sinister shadow on the horizon; feeling lucky to glimpse a seal or otter bobbing among the waves and pelicans flying on their ordained trajectories.
Indigenous people, called Ohlone were the original inhabitants, living for millennia on this land. Their descendants, in small numbers, are still found here. Spanish and Mexican influences are interwoven into the history of San Francisco.
In 1769, the Spanish occupied the San Francisco area and established a settlement here naming it “Yerba Buena” after a local plant. The city was renamed “San Francisco” in honour of St. Francis of Assisi in 1847.
This country of scenic charms also produces a wealth of fine wines. In the scenic Napa wine country, I saw a locomotive chugging through the vineyards. It was an old train, now restored, named the “Napa Valley Wine Train.” Offering wine tours with locally sourced gourmet food. A 38-mile round trip on it from Napa provides fine dining and winery visits.
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