Tuesday, August 22, 2017

San Francisco day 7: Coit Tower, Market Street, Mission Dolores, Painted Ladies

Today is the last full day in San Francisco,  we decided to go to Coit Tower first



Coit Tower, also known as the Lillian Coit Memorial Tower, is a 210-foot tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, was built in 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco; at her death in 1929 Coit left one-third of her estate to the city for civic beautification

We hiked up to Coit Tower,  we then took the elevator up to the top

Here are some pictures from the top of Coit Tower


Panorama of the city San  Francisco Panorama

Marina and Alcatraz Marina and Alcatraz

Bay Bridge Bay Bridge



Here is also some art from inside the Coit Tower near the elevator


The Stockbroker

Coit Tower Art


Workers

Coit Tower Art


Train workers

Coit Tower Art


Street/Market

Coit Tower Art



From Coit Tower to Market Street
We then took a walk from Coit Street down to Market Street, here are some pics

My guess is that this is a topless cabaret

Hungry I Club


Cafe Trieste

Caffe Trieste

I don't know if it's true or not, but the lady who operates the elevator in Coit Tower told me that Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screen play for The Godfather in this cafe. Patti Smith is another frequent visitor back in the day


Cool looking record store
Record Store


The Hobart Building

Hobart Building


The new SalesForce headquarters

SalesForce HQ


Some office building

Office Building


Another office building

Office Building



After Market Street, we decided to go to Mission Dolores


Mission Dolores Basilica front

Mission San Francisco de Asís, or Mission Dolores, is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions. The Mission was founded on June 29, 1776, by Lieutenant José Joaquin Moraga and Francisco Palóu (a companion of Junípero Serra), both members of the de Anza Expedition, which had been charged with bringing Spanish settlers to Alta (upper) California, and evangelizing the local Natives, the Ohlone.


View from the cemetery

 Mission Dolores Basilica Frome Cemetery


Fra Junipero Serra

Fra Junipero Serra


View inside, note the orange glass

Mission Dolores Basilica inside


Another view

Mission Dolores Basilica inside orange glass


Side view

Mission Dolores Basilica sideview orangle glass



We took a stroll around Mission Dolores Park


Mission Dolores Park


People enjoying a perfect day in the park

Mission Dolores Park People


Nice palmtree

Mission Dolores palmtree

And we finished the day with a visit to the Painted Ladies

Painted Ladies near Alamo Square
Painted Ladies Street View

In American architecture, painted ladies are Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco Victorian houses by writers Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen in their 1978 book Painted Ladies - San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians


Painted Ladies with the financial district visible in the background
Painted Ladies San Francisco

Monday, August 21, 2017

San Francisco day 6: Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park and Twin Peaks

Today the plans were to go to Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden and Twin Peaks

On the way to the Japanese Tea Garden we passed this brown fire truck
Brown San Francisco Fire Truck
It was interesting to see a brown fire truck, normally they are red


Just so that you know if you get to the Japanese Tea Garden before 10 AM on a Monday, you get in for free, otherwise it is $9 per person.  The Japanese Tea Garden is inside the Golden Gate Park. We got to the Japanese Tea Garden around 9:30 AM


Japanese Tea Garden


The temple inside the garden
Japanese Tea Garden Temple

View of the tea houseJapanese Tea Garden Tea House

Some fortune stones that are for sale in the gift shopJapanese Tea Garden Stones

Some porcelain kittiesJapanese Tea Garden Kitties

Some more porcelain kittiesJapanese Tea Garden Kitties 1


Matcha
Japanese Tea Garden Matcha

I ordered this and it was good. Texture was interesting. It was served with a marshmallow textured like dessert which was filled with bean paste.  Matcha is finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea leaves. It is special in two aspects of farming and processing: the green tea plants for matcha are shade-grown for about three weeks before harvest and the stems and veins are removed in processing

Japanese Tea Garden Gate
Japanese Tea Garden Gate

Buddha Statue
Japanese Tea Garden Budha

Interesting Bridge
Japanese Tea Garden Bridge

Golden Gate Park

Interesting little bridge
Stow Lake Bridge

Chinese Pavillion
Golden Gate Park Chinese Pavillion

Interesting flowers




Twin Peaks

The Twin Peaks are two prominent hills with an elevation of about 925 feet (282 m)[1] located near the geographic center of San Francisco, California. Only 928 foot (283 m) Mount Davidson is higher within the city.

Picture of one peak taken from the other peak
Twin Peaks Peak

View of downtown San Francisco
San Francisco viewed from Twin Peaks

Panorama from Twin PeaksSan Francisco Panorama viewed from Twin Peaks

Financial District
San Francisco viewed from Twin Peaks Panorama 2

Another view of San Francisco
San Francisco viewed from Twin Peaks  1

Financial District
San Francisco Financial District  viewed from Twin Peaks

Some kind of tower
Engulfed In Fog

The one thing you will notice when you get up on Twin Peaks is that it is really windy, so make sure to hold on to your hats and phones


San Francisco day 5: Japantown, Missions District, Lands End

The plan for today was to visit Japantown and Lands End

Japantown is located 3 blocks from where we were renting a house, this made it very easy to get there :-)
There are a bunch of stores, restaurants as well as cultural showrooms and societies


Plaque to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Kanrin Maru



The Kanrin Maru, was the first Japanese ship ever to cross the Pacific, and its arrival in San Francisco made history

Some street signs in Japanese

Webster



Buchanan (Osaka Way)



These are 4 different pictures I put together from signs that are on various spots

Japantown signs

I came back to Japantown for 5 minutes at night, that is why these 2 pictures are nightshots

The Peace Pagoda



A restaurant in restaurant row



The fillmore music venue

The Fillmore

Some interesting houses
Cool Building

Interesting Building

Mural near the fillmore for the Boom Boom Room
Boom Boom Room Mural

Towards the Mission district, we passed City Hall
City Hall

Rogue One mural in the mission district
Rogue One Mural

In the Mission District I could not believe how many homeless people were roaming around. I was talking to a driver about this and he said there are a lot of them in San Francisco because of the weather. According to the driver, in the 1980s, a lot of mental institutions were closed and the people who were in the institutions were let out. A lot of them ended up homeless

We took public transportation to Lands End. By the way having lived in New York, the public transportation system in San Francisco is a total mess. They really should come up with some kind of clipper card which you can by at every station. right now for the Muni you have to buy tickets there for Bart somewhere else etc etc


Panorama from the visitor center

Lands End Panorama


Sutro Baths

Sutro Baths

The Sutro Baths was a large, privately owned public saltwater swimming pool complex, this is what is left now


A person meditating

Meditating

With a view like that, I am sure his troubles seemed far away even if for a little while


A giant camera obscura

Giant Camera Obscura


The beach with the black rocks

Lands End beach and rocks

We then hiked on the Coastal Trail, here are some pictures I took from that hike


Mile Rock Beach




A hazy view of the Golden Gate bridge




Another panorama

Land End Panorama


Eagle Point

The Hidden Labyrinth at Lands End, Eagle's Point

Hidden labyrinth at Eagle's Point, constructed by local artist Eduardo Aguilera

This what it for the day