There are still a lot of things that I haven't done in the city that I would like to do someday like watch the Beach Blanket Babylon, see the the San Francisco Symphony perform, run the San Francisco Marathon and more. Ok, perhaps the third one is a bit over the edge because I already did the Bay to Breakers and promised myself not to do the 8 mile run ever again, let alone a gruelling 27 miles.

Luck was on my side on Sunday because I didn't only see the SF Symphony perform but I saw them perform for free during the 4th weekend of the Stern Grove Festival.

The Salvadorean and I were here last year to see Khaled perform so we knew better to come here way earlier than we did before. The free concert starts at 2 p.m. We got here around 12:45 p.m. and still we were too late to scout an area with a much better view. People camped out in groups and brought lunch as early as 11 a.m. We could have come here at noon but we wanted to see the first half of the World Cup final. So up we went to the area under the redwood trees with our picnic mat, extra layers of clothing, a bottle of chardonnay, water, chips and a sandwich.

They played Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Opus 97 Rhenish, and Petite Suite from Bizet’s Jeux D’Enfants. They had a special guest, Time for Three, who joined in on the second part of the program.

The sun tried to peek but the fog was just too thick and did not burn off in that part of the city. I am impressed with the acoustics of the amphitheatre that the intruments, especially the wind and the stringed, sounded clear even when played outdoors.

During intermission, we heard from a group seating next to us that Italy won over France at the World Cup finals. We saw the game later that day from the reruns of the match on Channel 14.

The Spanish Harlem Orchestra will be performing on August 6 and we plan to be there at noon!