I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO
Golden Gate Bridge!
APRIL 19 – DAY 1
On April 17, I left Austin at 7AM. I had called a taxi the day before to get to the airport to be there at 5:20. At 5:40 I called to see where the late taxi was, and called again at 6. The cab ride was free, but the timing was TIGHT!
Nice flight. Changed planes in Denver. The pilot called out things like “To the left you get a good view of Vail.” “To the right you can see _______ State Park.” I landed at the San Jose airport.
I took the bus to CalTrain, CalTrain to San Francisco, & walked the approx 10 blocks to the Renoir Hotel. I settled in , then went to take care of business. I took the city bus to Sinopia art supplies (3385 22nd street) & got the transparent pigments that this trip had centered around. Nice young man, he TRIED to give me directions to get to JapanTown. The bus driver straightened out those directions for me.
I ate at Maki in the JapanCenter. It was voted best Japanese restaurant in 2002, I had found it on the ‘net. By this time, I was exhausted, so I walked the 7-8 blocks to a movie theater & saw Gangs of New York. The movie was good, but I was so tired, I was having a hard time staying awake! Then I caught a cab back to the hotel.
APRIL 18 – DAY 2
I walked down Market Street (the Renoir Hotel is at 7th & Market. I got a special Travelocity deal – stay 3 nights, the 4th is FREE!) I got my shoes shined from a 65 year-old black guy that was a GREAT story teller. He was dancing around while working and just shooting the bull. People came by that swore by him. He said he had been doing this there for over 30 years. My 5 year-old shoes looked almost new!
I caught the bus to go to the The Legion of Honor art Museum in Lincoln Park! There was a “Michelangelo & the artists of old Poland “ exhibit there, in addition to the regular exhibit. It was great! Then I bussed down to The Golden Gate Park! & walked through it. Unfortunately, the flower conservatory, which I had really wanted to see was closed for repairs. Evidently they had a huge storm out here a few years back which nearly blew the roof off & broke all the windows (there are LOTS of windows!). I took a few flower photos in the park & walked through the National AIDS Memorial.
I walked through the Haight-Ashbury area, did a little tourist shopping, And walked over to Thep Phenom at 400 Waller, (voted best Thai food in SF) and had a Salmon in a red curry sauce with vegetarian spring rolls. Very good. I then went to the Friday night Fell Group Meeting. I was talking to the guys afterward & mentioned that I had to catch my bus back to the hotel. They showed me that I was only about 5 blocks away, so I walked it. Walking through the United Nations Plaza (God bless the UN) which was closed “except for thru traffic” was an experience. The quote for today is, “I come to San Francisco every couple of weeks to get my share of laughs.” The “closed” Plaza was thickly populated with transients. For example, there were a couple black ladies, (1 Fat, 1 thin) threatening to kick each others asses, with a big old circle of men surrounding them.
A shot of the city from Coit Tower.
Got back to the Renoir Hotel, decided I was too tired to go back out (Its not like the old days!), so I wrote this up, downloaded my pictures, & tried to watch some ca-razy movie on the TV until I fell asleep.
APRIL 19 – DAY 3
I started my day at The Asian Art Museum! It is across the street from City Hall & just a few blocks from the Hotel. It traced the History of the religions of the area back thousands of years through art & sculpture. The Museum had just oped a month or so before this, it is in an old city library building. It used to be in Golden Gate Park. You can see more information at their web site: Asian Art Museum Here, for convenience sake, I have classified everything as Buddhas, but the truth is there is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jain, as well as a porcelain exhibit and other cultural/trade exhibitions. From here, I caught a bus and went to Fisherman's Wharf. I explored all the tourist traps, and bought a couple gifts for some friends. Took several pictures at Madame Tussaud's! (NOT as many as I did in NY or Las Vegas, but then I already HAD shots of a lot of the people, plus my camera did not want to work in that dark atmosphere!) Of the 3 Madame Tussaud's I have been to, my opinion is that New York's is the best, followed by Las Vegas's and in last place is San Francisco's. I do not know if the wax museum in San Antonio is a Madame T's, but it has replaced San Francisco's as my personal last place.
I hiked up the hill to my next culinary experience. My GOD, they have some ferocious hills in San Francisco! About halfway up this hill, I notices LOTS of traffic & tourists - that is when I realized I was at the top of "The crookedest street in the world", Lombard Street! I rested, watched the traffic, & caught my breath, then continued on my way to Hyde Street Seafood House & Clam Bar For an appetizer, I had the special, a dozen oysters 4 each from Canada, the East Coast & local. They were very good. I had a fish entree, "related to sea bass" that was heavenly. I even had a banana bread pudding for dessert! Needless to say, I was STUFFED when I left there! The waiters were very friendly, talkative , attentive, and helpful. The place had very few customers when I entered, so I had e nearly the entire wait staff to myself. By the time I left, however, it was packed! I obviously timed that just right! I had been listening to Billie Holiday on my walkman when I was walking (it seemed an appropriate soundtrack to San Francisco)& they were playing Billie Holiday in the cafe when I walked in!
I caught a streetcar back to the hotel, unloaded my stuff, & caught a bus to Castro Street. I hit a couple of the novelty shops and a couple of the clubs. It was ecidently rather early, and the clubs were pretty slow. I was, once again, exhausted, and caught a bus back to the hotel before midnight.
APRIL 20 - DAY 4 - EASTER SUNDAY
I got up fairly early & wandered around Market Street for awhile. Being Easter & Sunday, most places were closed, so I wandered back over to retake the picture of City Hall because the ones I took Saturday were slightly blurry. Lo & behold, there was a parade going on! I wandered over to see if there were any photo opportunities. Man, were there ever!(Click here!) There was the oriental Cherry Blossom Parade and a large Easter gathering. I stayed for a couple hours, marvelling at the exotic cultural experiences unravelling at my feet! There was a man dressed as an Easter bunny with a protest sign that read "We are Protesting the Humans."< In my photos, you will see the Easter Space Bunny! I mainly focused on the Cherry Blossom Festival, however. I will add some pictures of the GREAT art pavillion that is a remnant of the World's Fair that was in SF long ago.
There were the various groups, all dressed in pink, or blue, or aqua. There were the various groups of Queens & Princesses on floats, or getting group pictures taken. The mayor of San Francisco was there getting HIS picture taken with various queens & princesses. There were many drummers, a couple walking (& jumpimg!)troop, a couple floats full, a couple floats with kid drummers (see the photos!) that were great! Very disciplined, very polished, very cute!
From here I caught a bus to ChinaTown. What a tourist trap heaven! After catching a bus back to the hotel, I grabbed a pizza from the shop across the street and hit the sack rather early to prepare for my trip home in the morning.
HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN
I started to walk to the CalTrain station, remembering that it was a healthy jaunt, but do-able. I had forgotten how much more stuff I had on the return trip, so after a few blocks, I caught a bus. From there it was a train to San Jose, bus to the airport & plane home. A peaceful uneventful trip home it was! A taxi ride home & I was happy to have completed another interesting adventure in the world of travel!
Why do people accuse me of being "such a tourist?!?!"
