compare and contrast
My parents are coming to visit from Montreal (et environs) tomorrow! I'm excited to tour around San Francisco together while they enjoy a respite from the cold and snow and, undoubtedly, compare this city to their hometown. When visiting a new place, it seems like human nature to construct an impression based on the familiar. Indeed, having had a few months to explore this city I find myself subconsciously comparing it to the other cities in which I've lived.
My preliminary conclusion is that San Francisco is a nice hybrid of Vancouver and Montreal. It has a west coast vibe but also the artsy, cultured, historical elements of Montreal. Using a food simile (the best kind of simile, if you ask me), Vancouver is like a lightly-dressed salad while Montreal is like shepherd's pie (or, as the Québecois refer to it, pâté chinois). And San Francisco is like shepherd's pie and lightly dressed salad, together in a tortilla, à la burrito. Yum (assuming that the beef is pasture-raised and organic, of course).
I don't seem to be the only person comparing San Francisco to Montreal. I came across this blog post, in which the author postulates that historic Montreal and San Francisco bear many geographical similarities based on these two photos:
Among the many differences that the blogger fails to note is that, with the exception of Mount-Royal, Montreal is way flatter than San Francisco. Google should include contour lines for its maps of San Francisco, or at least advise when walking will suddenly transition to stair-climbing.
