The Hills Have I
Mar. 23rd, 2012 03:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peterbirksI've got a bit behind on this. The reason is simple. The writing takes about half an hour, and the pictures take about three hours. When there are a large number (I was going to say 'a lot', but there are some style pedants out there who jump on the smallest error, even if you are writing a comment for Facebook on a mobile phone when sitting on a bus) of photos, the task becomes even more daunting. First you have to decide which ones to use. Then there might be some minor editing. Then you have to export them to another folder as 640 x 480s, and then you have to upload them to Photobucket. Finally, you have to copy the code for each photo and post it into the body text -- with commentary. And quite often the little comment requires a bit of research in the Rough Guide just to make sure that you don't make a mistake (for 'style pedant', see also 'fact pedant').
There's also no easy way to type in this room. I have a chest of drawers, but no desk. And there's no 'getaround' that I can see.
Anyhoo, on Wednesday morning I set off north from the hotel and uphill. The weather was, for the first time, what could be described as 'pleasant'. One needs a combination of light to no cloud and light to no wind, and they don't often come together.
With San Francisco it isn't just a matter of getting a map of the city in your head. What you need is a three-dimensional map of the city in your head. That took me a bit longer than the two-dimensional map.
I had just walked up four or five blocks north from the hotel to reach this point at the peak of Nob Hill.
In the park on real Nob Hill, surrounded by Grace Cathedral, the Fairmont and the Huntington, the Chinese ladies practise their early morning exercises.
Meanwhile the dog-walkers meet to discuss doggie-related matters.
This cathedral was only completed in the 1980s I think -- it's almost pure pastiche and, in places, not particularly good pastiche. It's made of concrete, but the doors look as if they have been bought in from another cathedral entirely.
From here I continued my walk, heading upwards and northwards wherever possible. I found an excellent little café (10 second delay while I press fn+f11, and alt130, all for a single fucking letter) called 'The Nook'. I enjoyed my coffee and bun.
Probably Filbert Street, looking down and east from Russian Hill towards Telegraph Hill. Damned steep road!
I was aiming for Lombard St Hill, the curvy road that has become a tourist attraction because it's so damned pretty.
A view from the top of the hill. Cars constantly turn up just to negotiate the road. I'm surprised that the residents haven't got it sealed off.
A 'clean' view from the top. Coit Tower can be seen in the distance, due east of here.
I'd hoped to get another picture of the daredevil skateboarders, but didn't manage it. Note the guys technique to stop the board speeding up to dangerously (and remember the sharp curves he has to navigate). Impressive.
On Hyde, with the steep hill to the right. Photo is therefore north(ish) of Alcatraz.
The cable car, manfully ignored by me this hit and sunny morning
This is meant to be an ordinary road, but the traffic does not run smoothly. The residents here must absolutely hate the tourists.
And, yes, I was no exception. Not an easy picture to take on your own when surrounded by Chinese and Russian tourists!
A 'clean' picture of the hill
And another.
Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, taken from Russian Hill, looking due east.
You can just about see Coit Tower in the background.
I chose to make my way to Telegraph Hill from Russian Hill via Greenwich Street. You descend sharply to Columbus, walk across near Washington Square, and then start climbing, with the road gradually getting steeper.
On the north side of the tower at the top of the residential area on Greenwich St, looking north-east.
A view from Greenwich St down across Columbus St in the valley, and then back up towards Russian Hill and the squiggly Lombard street.
Some pleasant houses on Greenwich St
Once I reached Coit Tower the number of people increased dramatically -- I assume that they came up via the Guide Book-recommended Filbert St Route.
The views from the base of the tower are good -- it's probably not necessary to pay the $7 entrance fee or whatever it is. Indeed, buying the entry ticket is struggle enough, with the man behind the gift shop counter selling the tickets,although that counter is far harder to find than the elevator. So there are signs pointing ambiguously in the direction of the counter. Then, when you have your ticket, you give it to the elevator man (who had hopefully placed a 'gratuities accepted' jar in the lift).
From Coit Tower, a picture of the boat that leaves pier 33 for Alcatraz
Pier 29 and Pier 31, with Pier 29 1/2 in between -- presumably some bright spark in marketing's idea when it came to naming a restaurant. The football pitch on the right gives some idea of scale.
The Bay Bridge with the Ferry Terminal (where we breakfasted with Peter Berlin and Camille on Tuesday) and low-odd numbered piers beneath.
The TransAmerica Tower and the Financial District. This is almost due south from the Coit Tower, with the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge out of sight to the left>/i>
A longer-distance view of the Financial District
The Coit Tower viewing platform
The tower.
At the base of the tower
From the base of Coit Tower, a view North-East to Alcatraz in the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge (just out of picture to the left -- I hadn't realized that I had cropped it out!).
From base of the Coit Tower, one of the medium numbered Piers
A picture that gives a better idea of how the financial district ties in with the Bayside coast (the Embarcadero) This is looking south-south-east.
Looking north-east from the Coit Tower to the Golden Gate Bridge.
I now began my descent, aiming to walk down the steps and, I hoped, getting to the bottom near the bay shore.
Looking up the steps to the Coit Tower.
Looking down the steps from near the top. Notice the house on the right (it will reappear later).
Looking up to the Tower from the dead end road at the top of Montgomery, I think. This is the nearest these cliffside residents can get to their apartments. It's about hhalf-way up the cliff.
Looking down the steps to the base.
And from the bottom of those steps, more steps.
Until eventually, you are at the bottom.
There was a Starbucks at the bottom of the steps (where, in that odd US way, it became Greenwich St again!), but most of the people there appeared to be workers rather than tourists. This was because I was close to the Levi Strauss buildiong.
The Levi Strauss headquarters on Battery St, which runs north-south very close to the Embarcadero.
Inside the Levi Strauss building.
All very civilized.
A view from the plaza up to the Coit tower, which is to the west-north-west. The buildings just beneath it are those you walk past on the steps up to the Tower.
From here I walked south down Battery Street, which is one of the north-south streets that runs closest to the shore (and is, therefore, one of the flattest). As I said, you get a three-dimensional map as well as one that is two-dimensional. As the north-south streets move further inland, they have higher altitudes to surmount, until you get to Hyde, which probably has the biggest bit of up-and-then-down. Eventually the names end and, as you move west, they become numbers, running from 1st Avenue to 48th Avenue. A couple of streets act to confuse things further - Columbus,which runs north-west to south-east towards Downtown, and Market, which runs in a south-westeroy direction from Downtown, acting as the "bottom point" of all the main north-south streets. South of Market Street are thenumbered streets (not to be confused with the numbered avenues). These run perpendicular to Market (i.e., north-west to south-east, rather than north-south).
I planned to look as some of the "hidden parks" so touted by The Rough Guide, but whoever compiled this guide seems to have had an odd agenda, because none of them was much to write home about.
This is a view of the Transamerica tower from the public space garden at the bottom. The trees are semi-mature redwoods.
The fountains in the public space.
Frogs.
After that I walked back to my hotel. I spotted some rather posh restaurants (I knew of one of them already - Masa's) on Bush Street. And I also came across a kind of "blue plaque".
Robert Louis Stevenson might not have stayed here long, but, hey, go with what you've got.
And that was my rather long morning. I'll post later about Wednesday Afternoon/Evening (Ocean Beach) and Thursday (Twin Peaks and the Castro). For now, I'm going to head down to breakfast. Must admit, am getting a bit weary of "oh, I have to do this, because I'll never get the chance again" mode. Didn't dream too happily last night either -- not sure why.
Final questions. How do people learn to drive here? I don't see any Driving Schools advertised, or 'L' plates,, or people evidently being taught how to drive.
Interesting observation. Two buskers on Union Square singing a track my Neutral Milk Hotel from the album "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea". Obscure, or what? (Makes a change from 'Wish You Were Here', being strummed out on the platform of Powell Muni.
________________
There's also no easy way to type in this room. I have a chest of drawers, but no desk. And there's no 'getaround' that I can see.
Anyhoo, on Wednesday morning I set off north from the hotel and uphill. The weather was, for the first time, what could be described as 'pleasant'. One needs a combination of light to no cloud and light to no wind, and they don't often come together.
With San Francisco it isn't just a matter of getting a map of the city in your head. What you need is a three-dimensional map of the city in your head. That took me a bit longer than the two-dimensional map.
I had just walked up four or five blocks north from the hotel to reach this point at the peak of Nob Hill.
In the park on real Nob Hill, surrounded by Grace Cathedral, the Fairmont and the Huntington, the Chinese ladies practise their early morning exercises.
Meanwhile the dog-walkers meet to discuss doggie-related matters.
This cathedral was only completed in the 1980s I think -- it's almost pure pastiche and, in places, not particularly good pastiche. It's made of concrete, but the doors look as if they have been bought in from another cathedral entirely.
From here I continued my walk, heading upwards and northwards wherever possible. I found an excellent little café (10 second delay while I press fn+f11, and alt130, all for a single fucking letter) called 'The Nook'. I enjoyed my coffee and bun.
Probably Filbert Street, looking down and east from Russian Hill towards Telegraph Hill. Damned steep road!
I was aiming for Lombard St Hill, the curvy road that has become a tourist attraction because it's so damned pretty.
A view from the top of the hill. Cars constantly turn up just to negotiate the road. I'm surprised that the residents haven't got it sealed off.
A 'clean' view from the top. Coit Tower can be seen in the distance, due east of here.
I'd hoped to get another picture of the daredevil skateboarders, but didn't manage it. Note the guys technique to stop the board speeding up to dangerously (and remember the sharp curves he has to navigate). Impressive.
On Hyde, with the steep hill to the right. Photo is therefore north(ish) of Alcatraz.
The cable car, manfully ignored by me this hit and sunny morning
This is meant to be an ordinary road, but the traffic does not run smoothly. The residents here must absolutely hate the tourists.
And, yes, I was no exception. Not an easy picture to take on your own when surrounded by Chinese and Russian tourists!
A 'clean' picture of the hill
And another.
Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, taken from Russian Hill, looking due east.
You can just about see Coit Tower in the background.
I chose to make my way to Telegraph Hill from Russian Hill via Greenwich Street. You descend sharply to Columbus, walk across near Washington Square, and then start climbing, with the road gradually getting steeper.
On the north side of the tower at the top of the residential area on Greenwich St, looking north-east.
A view from Greenwich St down across Columbus St in the valley, and then back up towards Russian Hill and the squiggly Lombard street.
Some pleasant houses on Greenwich St
Once I reached Coit Tower the number of people increased dramatically -- I assume that they came up via the Guide Book-recommended Filbert St Route.
The views from the base of the tower are good -- it's probably not necessary to pay the $7 entrance fee or whatever it is. Indeed, buying the entry ticket is struggle enough, with the man behind the gift shop counter selling the tickets,although that counter is far harder to find than the elevator. So there are signs pointing ambiguously in the direction of the counter. Then, when you have your ticket, you give it to the elevator man (who had hopefully placed a 'gratuities accepted' jar in the lift).
From Coit Tower, a picture of the boat that leaves pier 33 for Alcatraz
Pier 29 and Pier 31, with Pier 29 1/2 in between -- presumably some bright spark in marketing's idea when it came to naming a restaurant. The football pitch on the right gives some idea of scale.
The Bay Bridge with the Ferry Terminal (where we breakfasted with Peter Berlin and Camille on Tuesday) and low-odd numbered piers beneath.
The TransAmerica Tower and the Financial District. This is almost due south from the Coit Tower, with the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge out of sight to the left>/i>
A longer-distance view of the Financial District
The Coit Tower viewing platform
The tower.
At the base of the tower
From the base of Coit Tower, a view North-East to Alcatraz in the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge (just out of picture to the left -- I hadn't realized that I had cropped it out!).
From base of the Coit Tower, one of the medium numbered Piers
A picture that gives a better idea of how the financial district ties in with the Bayside coast (the Embarcadero) This is looking south-south-east.
Looking north-east from the Coit Tower to the Golden Gate Bridge.
I now began my descent, aiming to walk down the steps and, I hoped, getting to the bottom near the bay shore.
Looking up the steps to the Coit Tower.
Looking down the steps from near the top. Notice the house on the right (it will reappear later).
Looking up to the Tower from the dead end road at the top of Montgomery, I think. This is the nearest these cliffside residents can get to their apartments. It's about hhalf-way up the cliff.
Looking down the steps to the base.
And from the bottom of those steps, more steps.
Until eventually, you are at the bottom.
There was a Starbucks at the bottom of the steps (where, in that odd US way, it became Greenwich St again!), but most of the people there appeared to be workers rather than tourists. This was because I was close to the Levi Strauss buildiong.
The Levi Strauss headquarters on Battery St, which runs north-south very close to the Embarcadero.
Inside the Levi Strauss building.
All very civilized.
A view from the plaza up to the Coit tower, which is to the west-north-west. The buildings just beneath it are those you walk past on the steps up to the Tower.
From here I walked south down Battery Street, which is one of the north-south streets that runs closest to the shore (and is, therefore, one of the flattest). As I said, you get a three-dimensional map as well as one that is two-dimensional. As the north-south streets move further inland, they have higher altitudes to surmount, until you get to Hyde, which probably has the biggest bit of up-and-then-down. Eventually the names end and, as you move west, they become numbers, running from 1st Avenue to 48th Avenue. A couple of streets act to confuse things further - Columbus,which runs north-west to south-east towards Downtown, and Market, which runs in a south-westeroy direction from Downtown, acting as the "bottom point" of all the main north-south streets. South of Market Street are thenumbered streets (not to be confused with the numbered avenues). These run perpendicular to Market (i.e., north-west to south-east, rather than north-south).
I planned to look as some of the "hidden parks" so touted by The Rough Guide, but whoever compiled this guide seems to have had an odd agenda, because none of them was much to write home about.
This is a view of the Transamerica tower from the public space garden at the bottom. The trees are semi-mature redwoods.
The fountains in the public space.
Frogs.
After that I walked back to my hotel. I spotted some rather posh restaurants (I knew of one of them already - Masa's) on Bush Street. And I also came across a kind of "blue plaque".
Robert Louis Stevenson might not have stayed here long, but, hey, go with what you've got.
And that was my rather long morning. I'll post later about Wednesday Afternoon/Evening (Ocean Beach) and Thursday (Twin Peaks and the Castro). For now, I'm going to head down to breakfast. Must admit, am getting a bit weary of "oh, I have to do this, because I'll never get the chance again" mode. Didn't dream too happily last night either -- not sure why.
Final questions. How do people learn to drive here? I don't see any Driving Schools advertised, or 'L' plates,, or people evidently being taught how to drive.
Interesting observation. Two buskers on Union Square singing a track my Neutral Milk Hotel from the album "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea". Obscure, or what? (Makes a change from 'Wish You Were Here', being strummed out on the platform of Powell Muni.
________________
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Date: 2012-03-23 08:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-24 05:37 am (UTC)PJ
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Date: 2012-03-23 09:33 pm (UTC)Keith S
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Date: 2012-03-24 05:37 am (UTC)Peter