Tony Bennett released the song I Left My Heart in San Francisco in 1962 and his words are often associated with the beauty of this fine city by the sea. Tony wrote:
The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay,
The glory that was Rome is just another day,
I’ve been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan,
I’m going home to my city by the bay.
As someone who also thinks the wonders of the world hold nothing to this cultural explosion of hilly goodness, I hope I never leave my heart in San Francisco because that implies that I have left the city, never to return. Instead, I want my heart (and more importantly, my perfectly-chiseled body) to remain in this city by the bay as long as it can. I’ve moved around so much, and for the first time I finally have found an emotional and spiritual connection with a city.
Something that’s always been important to me is aesthetics. Urban planning, architecture, public art, mountains in the distance, dramatic sunsets… these things matter! I am someone who is inspired by what I see and when a city can offer me any combination of the above, I have found love. Yet San Francisco has managed to give me all of above plus cultural, artistic and dining experiences like I’ve never experienced in a climate that is never too extreme. This city truly has anything a person could want (with the slight exception that it will eventually break off and float toward Hawaii).
Just today I managed to walk in one of the largest parks in an metropolitan city (fact: Golden Gate Park is actually larger than Central Park in NYC), go food shopping one block from the ocean, eat coconut tofu and noodles in the heart of the hippie revolution and sit in a field where tons of people were openly smoking weed and no one seemed to care. The only things this city lacks are expansive parking lots and ugly surroundings. If you want those, please look elsewhere.
What excites me most about living here is that although San Francisco is only about 7 square miles, I feel like I can continually make new discoveries every time I step out of my home. I think part of the reason I keep moving is because I master a city and am ready to try something new. It’s refreshing to know that I can’t use that excuse this time.
I leave you with the rest of Tony’s song… may his words inspire you to come visit me soon.
I left my heart in San Francisco, high on a hill it calls to me
To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars.
The morning fog may chill the air, I don’t care.
My love waits there in San Francisco, above the blue and windy sea,
When I come home to you, San Francisco, your golden sun will shine for me.
