San Francisco
Mar. 17th, 2012 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peterbirksWell, it was hardly a wonderful portent when I arrived at San Francisco airport to rain that was, at time, almost horizontal. All thoughts about getting the BART to Montgomery went straight out of the window. I got a cab.
That took me through Sixth St and then Taylor St, before turning right at Bush St and dropping me off at the Petite Auberge -- which was, of course, shut. I had to walk a couple of houses down to the White Swan Hotel to pick up my key.
The taxi ride was interesting. Just south of this hotel the area is, er, 'seedy' (as opposed to 'edgy'). Although I walked through part of this area this morning, I wouldn't be keen on doing so at night.
The flight had not been too bad. No crying babies (despite quite a few being on the plane) and perhaps a few too many Italians, but the movies choice was excellent. I could have watched many more than the three I chose -- My Week With Marilyn (Michelle Williams was brillant), Contagion (Gwynneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet weren't brilliant, but Jennifer Ehle was) and Anonymous (Rafe Spall hilarious as Shakespeare, Rhys Ifans a revelation as Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford). Anonymous wazs total bollocks from start to finish, but was great fun.
Of the three, I will probably not bother again with Contagion, but the other two will be worth seeing on the bigger screen (where, these days 'bigger screen' equals the TV at home).
Oh, and two of the middle-aged Italian couples, fully fledged fans of 'life angle-shooting' when it came to queue-jumping to get through immigration, promptly paid the price by getting called over at customs, while everyone else sailed by -- one of the men's furious gesticulations - presumably so successful in Rome - getting him nowhere with the US customs guys.
The food was standard BA fare, although the cabin staff were not the most efficient that I've ever seen -- at one point I actually had to ask for more coffee than the two dessertspoonfuls that had been put into my cup). But I did manage two and a half hours' sleep. That, added to my eight hours' sleep that I forced on myself last night, saw me getting out of bed at 6am and starting my walk when it got light at 7am.
I headed west along Bush St, away from downtown, with the aim of reaching Haight-Ashbury and a couple of famous houses which the 60s children among you will immediately recognize.
However, despite San Francisco being 'a great place to tour on foot', this turned out to be rather further than I anticipated. So I got as far as the 'Painted Ladies' (see below) on Alamo Square, and started heading back.
I picked up some reading glasses, an SD card for the camera, and more traditional pharmacy stuff at Walgreen's, before arriving back at 10am for breakfast. Soon I shall be heading out to buy some bus passes, perhaps catch a glimpse of the St Patrick's Day parade, and thence to the airport to meet my friend Barb, who is flying in from Chicago.
Should be a fun day.
Me in front of City Hall.
City Hall (or "the Civic Centre" as I believe it is called)
Looking away from City Hall in a Westward direction. On the left on the other side of the green is the SF Opera House. Out of view to the left is the SF Concert Hall and to the right is the California State Building.
Me in front of the "Painted Ladies", seven mysteriously famous (and expensive) houses opposite Alamo Square. The house on the corner came on market for $4m a couple of years ago. There are many equally nice houses nearby that would probably cost a quarter of that, and without the sightseers.
A view of the City Hall from near to Alamo Square, looking east.
An early-morning soccer game. If I'd taken this photo half an hour later, I would probably have been arrested, as some 12-year-old girls were setting up for the lacrosse game that would have been taking place on the pitch nearer to me. This was a short walk north from the "Painted Ladies" and looked a rather privileged area of the city
It just seemed so typically Californian.
The once-a-week Farmer's Market on Fillmore. Some early asparagus in evidence, plus wild smoked salmon, cheeses -- most of the normal stuff that one sees in Farmer's Markets worldwide (except in Nice, that is, where it is called "the market").
The Japan Centre on Geary St. This small area of San Francisco was artificially created as a kind of apology for the forcible evacuation of so many Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbour, but, in a reversal of the normal manner of urban development, it has now become the centre of about 12,000 residents in the city.
The Pagoda on Geary St
The Cathedral of St Mary, just up the road from the Peace Pagoda and just down the road from the main Unitarian church
This should be an interesting road later today (St Patrick's Day)
That took me through Sixth St and then Taylor St, before turning right at Bush St and dropping me off at the Petite Auberge -- which was, of course, shut. I had to walk a couple of houses down to the White Swan Hotel to pick up my key.
The taxi ride was interesting. Just south of this hotel the area is, er, 'seedy' (as opposed to 'edgy'). Although I walked through part of this area this morning, I wouldn't be keen on doing so at night.
The flight had not been too bad. No crying babies (despite quite a few being on the plane) and perhaps a few too many Italians, but the movies choice was excellent. I could have watched many more than the three I chose -- My Week With Marilyn (Michelle Williams was brillant), Contagion (Gwynneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet weren't brilliant, but Jennifer Ehle was) and Anonymous (Rafe Spall hilarious as Shakespeare, Rhys Ifans a revelation as Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford). Anonymous wazs total bollocks from start to finish, but was great fun.
Of the three, I will probably not bother again with Contagion, but the other two will be worth seeing on the bigger screen (where, these days 'bigger screen' equals the TV at home).
Oh, and two of the middle-aged Italian couples, fully fledged fans of 'life angle-shooting' when it came to queue-jumping to get through immigration, promptly paid the price by getting called over at customs, while everyone else sailed by -- one of the men's furious gesticulations - presumably so successful in Rome - getting him nowhere with the US customs guys.
The food was standard BA fare, although the cabin staff were not the most efficient that I've ever seen -- at one point I actually had to ask for more coffee than the two dessertspoonfuls that had been put into my cup). But I did manage two and a half hours' sleep. That, added to my eight hours' sleep that I forced on myself last night, saw me getting out of bed at 6am and starting my walk when it got light at 7am.
I headed west along Bush St, away from downtown, with the aim of reaching Haight-Ashbury and a couple of famous houses which the 60s children among you will immediately recognize.
However, despite San Francisco being 'a great place to tour on foot', this turned out to be rather further than I anticipated. So I got as far as the 'Painted Ladies' (see below) on Alamo Square, and started heading back.
I picked up some reading glasses, an SD card for the camera, and more traditional pharmacy stuff at Walgreen's, before arriving back at 10am for breakfast. Soon I shall be heading out to buy some bus passes, perhaps catch a glimpse of the St Patrick's Day parade, and thence to the airport to meet my friend Barb, who is flying in from Chicago.
Should be a fun day.
Me in front of City Hall.
City Hall (or "the Civic Centre" as I believe it is called)
Looking away from City Hall in a Westward direction. On the left on the other side of the green is the SF Opera House. Out of view to the left is the SF Concert Hall and to the right is the California State Building.
Me in front of the "Painted Ladies", seven mysteriously famous (and expensive) houses opposite Alamo Square. The house on the corner came on market for $4m a couple of years ago. There are many equally nice houses nearby that would probably cost a quarter of that, and without the sightseers.
A view of the City Hall from near to Alamo Square, looking east.
An early-morning soccer game. If I'd taken this photo half an hour later, I would probably have been arrested, as some 12-year-old girls were setting up for the lacrosse game that would have been taking place on the pitch nearer to me. This was a short walk north from the "Painted Ladies" and looked a rather privileged area of the city
It just seemed so typically Californian.
The once-a-week Farmer's Market on Fillmore. Some early asparagus in evidence, plus wild smoked salmon, cheeses -- most of the normal stuff that one sees in Farmer's Markets worldwide (except in Nice, that is, where it is called "the market").
The Japan Centre on Geary St. This small area of San Francisco was artificially created as a kind of apology for the forcible evacuation of so many Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbour, but, in a reversal of the normal manner of urban development, it has now become the centre of about 12,000 residents in the city.
The Pagoda on Geary St
The Cathedral of St Mary, just up the road from the Peace Pagoda and just down the road from the main Unitarian church
This should be an interesting road later today (St Patrick's Day)
