Cultured Travel Guide Books - Stairway Walks in San Francisco |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 917.94610453 EAN: 9780899971841 ISBN: 0899971849 Label: Wilderness Pr Manufacturer: Wilderness Pr Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 173 Publication Date: 1995-03 Publisher: Wilderness Pr Studio: Wilderness Pr |
| Spotlight Customer Reviews: |
Customer Rating:      Summary: San Fran - the city - as you have not seen or known it Comment: I found this book (rather thick - 251 pages) on the shelves of my local Santa Cruz library shelves. At first I thought it was rather boring - the cover is dizzying to look at. Then as I opened and perused thru more pages, I realized that this was a work of love - Adah Bakalinsky's love (a San Francisco local, and an emigrant to the US).
Adah Bakalinsky has expended previous editions and the January 2007 is the 6th edition.
What I liked about this book:
* informs the reader on some cool areas to walk in San Francisco, with cool architecture, and routes that will have your blood pumping.
* the 27 walks are all detailed with a map layout, interesting points of interest, photographs, and many factoids.
* Appendix 1 contains "An Informal Bibliography" (one pager with more info on the San Francisco)
* Appendix 2 lists all the staircases (across 36 pages) for each neighborhood in San Francisco and rates each one according to a 1 to 5 scale of combined: steepness, length, location, elevation, and beauty.
* and ... it was FREE.
Whether you are from out of town visiting San Francisco, a local denizen, or a Bay Area suburbian, you are sure to enjoy this book, even if not completing a walk from start to finish. The details are worth reading before each walk, as one is sure to add more mental details and moments of enjoyment as one walks across the beautiful city of San Francisco.
Customer Rating:      Summary: best S.f. guidebook Comment: I love this book!! We live an hour north of S.F. and when ever we go to the city we start with one of these great walks. We have gone and explored neighborhoods we never would have without this book. San Francisco is such a beautiful city and getting to the top of some obscure staircase always gives you a unique and beautiful view. It is a must for anyone who lives in or near S.F.
Customer Rating:      Summary: A Great Way to Fall in Love With San Francisco Comment: Adah's book is a great collection of walks all over the city. As the name implies, all the walks focus on the stairways for which San Francisco is so well known. This has two implications: one is that these walks will wear you out; the second is that, on sunny days, you get incredible views from the tops of all the stairways Adah has you climb.
For locals, the 27 walks cover the entire town from Glen Canyon to Lands End to Potrero Hill. No matter how long you've lived in San Francisco, I guarantee you'll see great spots you've never been to before.
Most of the walks are well off the beaten path for visitors, but a couple cover the classic tourist areas of North Beach, China Town, and Telegraph Hill. The Russian Hill North walk, done on a sunny day, will have anyone believing San Francisco is the most beautiful city on earth.
Adah provides maps, directions, and a great deal of color commentary for each walk. She tends to focus on eccentric details of the local architecture and flora for each walk, lending a whimsical quality to the whole experience.
Two last things to keep in mind. First, because the views are such a big part of these walks, Adah's trips are much better in good weather than in bad. Second, Adah is sometimes a little loose with her directions; I recommend cross checking the directions and the map often.
Customer Rating:      Summary: It's a 'must' for any San Francisco travel collection going beyond the general-interest city guide. Comment: San Francisco has over 50 hills with scenic vistas and small neighborhoods - so these nearly 30 urban walks are top picks for any who want to walk the city's byways. The revised expanded edition has been updated with new maps and color photos and adds three new walks, while an appendix lists the City's 600-plus public stairways. It's a 'must' for any San Francisco travel collection going beyond the general-interest city guide.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Customer Rating:      Summary: Fun book Comment: Great book to have for anyone who enjoys an adventure. Lots of walking options within the city
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| Editorial Reviews: |
One of San Francisco's little-known treasures is its more than 350 stairways. The author has combined dozens of her favorite stairways into 27 guided neighborhood walks. Each stairway walk contains a step-by-step route description that includes notes on historical background, architecture, and other points of interest. Accompanying every walk is an easy-to-follow map and a corresponding numbered outline, which includes information on taking public transportation to the beginning of the trip.
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