At every turn
there is an effective view. Through a tunnel-like alley of shrubbery the
towers of St. Ignatius, with crosses pointing to the sky, loom like
spires from one of the cathedral towns of France. As you swing 'round
you obtain glimpses from different angles of the skyscrapers of San
Francisco, with every now and then a stretch of glistening water. From
the summit of Buena Vista you see, on three sides, expanses of ocean and
bay. To the left is the diamond of Lake Merced in its setting of
bluegreen eucalyptus and its surrounding waves of sand, ribboned with
roads extending to the ocean beach. Beyond is the emerald stretch of
Golden Gate Park, with buildings in demi-outline through the changing
tones of foliage. Above and beyond are the rolling hills of the
Presidio, and in the distance Tamalpais rears its friendly bulk, a dark
blue shadow against a cerulean mantle, crowned at times with filmy
gonfalons of cloud like a color print by Hokusai. Lone Mountain and its
cross, visible far out at sea, is here in conspicuous range.

To see San Francisco in a series of highly colored pictures suggestive
of Maxfield Parrish or Dulac go to the scenic boulevard that winds over
Twin Peaks. You may motor there, walk or take a street car to the foot
of this city mountain, the ascent either way being easy. You may scale
Twin Peaks from the flank within view of Market street, climbing along
the side and over the shoulder by way of the boulevard. Or if you
prefer, you may climb up from Sloat Boulevard via Portola Drive through
one of the city's restricted residence sections. On the summit of Twin
Peaks you feel at the top of the world, and you see San Francisco spread
out below you as multicolored as a rug of Kermanshah. No other city in
the two Americas, not excepting Quebec or Rio de Janeiro, so overwhelms
the beholder with its vistas--with its luminous enchantments. At night
the lights of the city zigzag in patterns of distracting loveliness, and
Market street reaches from the foot of the mountain to the Embarcadero
like the tail of some flaming comet athwart a sea of stars.

Parks and Open Spaces

Surmounted by a freighted galleon, with streaming pennant and
wind-filled sails, a granite pedestal "remembers" Robert Louis Stevenson
in Portsmouth Square, cradle of San Francisco's civic history. This
square, the Plaza of the early city, was the forerunner of a chain of
parks, children's playgrounds and open spaces that chec