Urbanstomach Does the Eating So You Don't Have To (But You'll Want To)

A relatively new (to me at least) food blog covers the true San Francisco treats -- its humble (and some not so humble) eateries, street carts and more.

Check out Urbanstomach. It will leave you hungry for more.

A guide to the Ferry Plaza Market

The blog Bunrab is actually several blogs in one, a true destination site on the internet.
It's guide to the Ferry Plaza complex and its wealth of good eats is amazing.
You can find it here.

Consider this what Wikipedia calls a "stub. " I'll fill it out later with lots of links and some pix of the Ferry Plaza and its farmer's market.

Meanwhile, enjoy this taste courtesy Yummy Chow of Bunrab.

A Restaurant Resource

I was playing Blog-Go-Round tonight (where I go from food blog to food blog by trying links to unfamiliar sites or ones I haven't visited in a while) and found Confessions of a Restaurant Whore, which focuses on reviewing, quite tartly, candidly and humorously, the local San Francisco restaurant scene. She even has a directory of restaurants I thought you might find helpful.

SF in Your Ear -- Touring San Francisco with Your iPod

If seeing is believing, what is listening?

I thought it would be interesting to search out aural resources. Here’s some downloads for your iPods, MP3 players or just your computer to help you enjoy your trip to San Francisco.

This link is for Metroblogging San Francisco and has a good list of resources on how to “San Francisco-ize” your iPod, including tours, maps and music.

Another site with a good list of resources is the San Francisco Convention Center. It lists members' iPod and MP3 resources, many of them free. Among the offerings, free podcasts from Geogad for tours of several of the city’s attractions, including Fisherman’s Wharf, the Ferry Building and Union Square.

Sparkletack has an interesting list of podcasts, history or travel related. The S.F. history site also has its own quirky set of podcasts.

Pod City Guides are free (although you must register) and seem to be like a guide book in your ear. The guides are meant to function as a “travel book” with information on events, restaurants, hotels, sites and shopping.

AIA San Francisco has a series of what it calls ARCHCASTS highlighting significant San Francisco buildings. The free service has podcasts on the Federal Building, the JP Morgan Chase building as well as a tour of San Francisco’s common spaces and more.

Stroll San Francisco will give you a taste of its 33 walking tours for free. You can download one to sample, but the rest will cost you (but not all that much.) Chose from the 1906 earthquake, Carol Doda and San Francisco’s topless past, Chinatown, the Haight Ashbury, the cable cars or the Wells Fargo Museum.

City Story Walks offers a San Francisco “overview” for $9.99 and a comprehensive walking tour for ($19.99, or buy both for $24.99). You can check out a list of the 14 sites and check out a sample on the website. Also on the site is a sample of the overview with links to some of what City Story Walks considers insider information on where to shop, what to do with kids and more.

The San Francisco Chronicle invites users to “get behind the headlines” with its free podcasts and tours of the 1906 earthquake, North Beach and more.

If you plan on traveling with your cell phone instead of your iPod, this company offers downloadable walking tours for your mobile.

I guess I’ll make this Part One, still to come, more on food, art, culture, and well, just more.

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About the photo illustration (my first): It uses two free images from MS Clip Art.

SF Photos Worth Clicking About

Above is a photo I took just after midnight of fireworks exploding above San Francisco on January 1st.

I know that I like to "preview" a city before I travel to it and thought it might be helpful to feature photo sites that feature some "only in San Francisco" shots on Blog Appetit Does San Francisco.

Here's a few I found that I thought were worthwhile. I'll add to this list as I come across more.
If you know of a site with great Bay area photos, please leave a comment below to share it.

Flicker -- SF group

A different photo for every day

SF Axis has lots of photos as well as a lot of other information for tourists and locals. (See my post on SF web basics for more info.)

SF Photorama has wonderful photos. It sometimes takes a bit to load (at least on my computer with my dsl) but is well worth the wait. (Be sure to scroll down, the pix tend to be toward the bottom of the page.)

Some Basics for Those Who Want to Be in the Know -- Part 1 -- Including The Best Places to See Sunsets and How to Pay Less for a Cable Car Ride

This is a first in what will be a series of posts on websites to help you plan a San Francisco Bay area adventure.

San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau has a great site that puts a lot of emphasis not just on Fisherman’s Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge and other well known attractions but the charms of the city’s many neighborhoods. (After you pick out a San Francisco neighborhood to explore, take a look at SF City Guides to see if there is a free walking tour.)

The convention bureau site offers hotel, flight, car and dining reservations. It has an events calendar so you can enjoy the city’s cultural and social life and it has info on accessibility and other special needs. It includes a mapping function to help plan your explorations.