San Francisco trip report

[anshjain97]

A bit later in the afternoon, we headed to the Civic Center area to see the City Hall. The concierge said it's better not to walk the shortest way (through the heart of the Tenderloin), so better than walking the indirect way was taking the metro. We got down at the Civic Center stop. Here is a streetview of the area.


Here is the Asian Art Museum, just opposite the City Hall. I would have been interested to visit it but knowing my mother wouldn't be, I didn't bother.


And the City Hall itself, in all its grandeur. The gardens in front are the Civic Center gardens.


A view of the other side of the gardens:


And here's the back side of the City Hall.

[anshjain97]

And here's the last shot of that day: this is either the Symphony Hall or the Opera Hall, both near the City Hall.


The next day, we didn't do anything new.
But here's a shot of a road leading off into the gritty Tenderloin from just off Market St, meaning not the worst of sections.


And here's another.


I would seriously doubt the reputation of any of these "hotels".

Here's the outdoor facade of a building here.


And here's Golden Gate Av, the one road we walked in to the Tenderloin, to see this church.



The street scene changed rapidly from shoppers, tourists and the office-going crowd on Market St to homeless and mentally ill people, some walking about, some lying down, some on wheelchairs and one particular woman bellowing at the top of her voice to nobody in particular.

Back to Market St, here's the famous turning around of the cable car at the junction of Powell and Market, known as Hallidie Plaza.


This small memorial at one of the entrances to the Powell metro stations, right at that junction.

[anshjain97]

My mom had originally planned to include an outlet mall before we left, but seeing that schlepping 100 km with no public transport would be unfeasible, I searched for a mall in SF itself, and hey presto- there was one right on the Powell-Market junction whihc I hadn't noticed earlier- the Westfield SF centre.

It was empty in the morning. A combination of very early and weekday, I guess.


The dome of the interior was attractive.


We decided to walk all the way till the Ferry Building and back. Here is a junction on Market St with the Wells Fargo bank (nice building).


And a streetview looking on Market St.


And one looking towards SoMa:


And here's Lotta's Fountain. A ceremony takes place here at April 19 at 5.18 am every year- marking the anniversary of the deadly 1908 earthquake (which occurred at that time). In the ceremony, earthquake survivors come here in their original fashion.


I don't know what this thing is, on the tram rails on Market St.

[anshjain97]

Lots of nice seating areas on Market St. This is one of my favourite pastimes in a new city- simply watching the world go by. Outdoor is better.


We reached the seaside now. Here, near the Ferry Building, was another nice sitting area.


Busy area here. The Bay Bridge is in the background.


And here's looking right on Market St from here.


There was a flea market of sorts going about here. Except for the fact that most of the stuff was rather expensive artwork, bordering on touristy kitsch.


Some of that did seem interesting, but I didn't want to buy something so expensive. With that, we started our walk back down on Market St.


Here's the entrance to the Montgomery Metro station.


And here's SF's biggest flat-iron structure called Phelan Building on Market St.

[bixaorellana]

May 25, 2013 6:59:17 GMT htmb said:

he first time I saw Golden Gate Park it was filled with "nasty, dirty hippies." The year was 1967.

May 25, 2013 9:37:24 GMT anshjain97 said:

must have been a rather unsafe place back then?

;D Ansh, 1967 was a landmark year: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_of_Love

I hope no one is missing any of this report. The forum feature that's supposed to take a person back to the last seen post is not working for me. Luckily it occurred to me to skip back a page, or I would have missed some good stuff.

That black cube butted on the back of that neo-gothic church is quite a sight!

Sorry you didn't get to see the Asian Art Museum. You all covered a lot of ground. Your mom likes to shop, doesn't she?!

[anshjain97]

We had lunch in the food court of Westfield which was packed mostly by office crowd.

My dad came back a little earlier that evening from work- he had spent the last night in Menlo Park. My mom was tired and content with the TV so the two of us went for a cable car ride at night.


This was the only cable car I hadn't taken so far. It doesn't give as much a feeling of SF's slopes as the Powell-Hyde but I recommend every tourist to take all lines.

Here's a residential street in Nob Hill.


The next morning, we, all 3 of us, took a bus which passed through the dodgy Tenderloin and the slightly dodgy adjacent district of Fillmore to reach the residential district of Western Addition.


This area seems like a nice residential area so it's surprising to hear about shootings around. But then again, it is surrounded by the least nice areas of central SF.


From this point, you have a nice view of the City Hall.


2 blocks from the bus stop was Alamo Sq park. At an elevation, this provides the best view of the "Painted Ladies"; the most famous Victorian houses for tourists in SF. These sit east of the square. You can also have great views of the Financial District.


Views from various angles, taken from the square.



The Painted Ladies themselves:


And, while exiting the square...


We took the bus back to Market St, which passed by the City Hall so my dad got to see it, then showed him a bit of Westfield and took a bus to Coit Tower, the final and my favourite viewpoint in SF.
It passed by Chinatown which was busy now. Unfortunately, the bus's window was very dirty.

[anshjain97]

Cheers Bixa. My mom likes to shop and is easily taken by discounts and other promotional offers etc...More about shopping later.

Interesting about the 1967 being a landmark year.

[anshjain97]

The bus dropped us somewhere in North Beach from where we took another bus to take us on the top of Telegraph Hill, to the base of the Coit Tower.


And here's the Coit Tower.


And here's the inside of the tower, just before getting in the elevator.


For a claustrophobe like me, the elevator was very frightening but the views were to die for. I don't know how many pictures to show here...but imagine all of SF before you.

Here's the Financial District:


Here's another area (no idea which, sorry)


Zooming in on the adjacent area:


And here is the Golden Gate bridge:


You can appreciate SF's inclines from this spot.


Here are the boats docked around Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz and the bay beyond.


By this time, I was itching to get down, due to claustrophobia. Immensely calmed, we then took the bus to North Beach.

[anshjain97]

Our next stop was Washington Sq in North Beach.


Here's the square with the church in front.


And looking around:


Here's inside the church:



And the view of the omnipresent slopes.


A general overview of North Beach.


Later, it was boring hell as my parenst wanted to go shopping- and we bought, or rather they bought, mostly home stuff from Marshall's and Ross. Then we went to SoMa again. At this Yerba Buena Gardens was mostly occupied by office crowd, just off work.

Random streetview in SoMa.


That was the end of our SF stay. The next morning, we left to the airport. This is a streetview in the more eastern sections of SoMa, closer to South Beach.


And from the expressway, the neighbourhoods of South San Francisco.

[anshjain97]

I've been reflecting quite a bit after my visit. This has renewed my interest in visiting the US- I would love to revisit NYC and LA as well as visit Chicago. Don't know when though...

Besides, this has re-confirmed my opinion that one cannot spend too much time in a new place. I had 5 full days here, and didn't even venture to several areas, let alone outside SF.

Any feedback is always welcome.

[htmb]

Very nice report, Ansh.

Though it's been a few years since I've visited LA, I found it to be a sprawling, characterless place. In my opinion, there are many more interesting US cities to visit. I'd suggest adding Washington, DC and Seattle to your wish list.

[anshjain97]

Thanks Htmb. You're right, I forgot DC and Seattle. As well as Miami, Philadelphia, Denver and New Orleans. I'm sure there are more which I'd like to see.

I actually liked whatever I saw of LA- but of course, its sprawl is daunting and public transport leaves a lot to be desired.

[Deleted]

Cool pics Ansh.

I got to see Alcatraz only from the ferry, 'twas chilling enough for me. Have you seen The Birdman of Alcatraz? You should check it out if you haven't. Especially being fresh from having visited. It's a great film.

I'm wondering if City Lights Books is still in North Beach. I loved going there. A really cool old bookshop, home of many "Beat" generation poets and writers.

If you ever decide to come to NOLA let me know please! I would love to show you around.

[anshjain97]

Cheers, yes according to my Time Out book, which is about 1 yr old, that bookstore exists. Thanks for that film, I will check it out.

Unfortunately, I don't see myself coming to US anytime soon now, though...

[Deleted]

Well, at least you know that your "real" travel years are still ahead of you. I appreciated all of the trips that I took with my parents, but boy was I happy when I finally started travelling around on my own, at my own pace, in accordance with my own interests. A little scared, too, but I got over that.

[anshjain97]

That's true- but as nothing is ever certain, I try to convince my parents for as much travel now as possible.

[lola]

Fine report, Ansh. Thank you for the overview of a town I have not visited for ages..

The dome photo is especially striking, and it's good to see the SF highlights with history included.

The only time I rode a cable car, everyone aboard sang "Happy Birthday" to a fellow passenger, a highlight of my brief trip.

[fgrsk8r1970]

Amazing Ansh! Thanks for sharing, even though I was just there and you show many of the same places. So many different ones too that I'll have to see someday!
The Mall at Market has the longest circular escalator (at least a few years ago it was the longest) and we had lunches in there as well. First few times I stayed in that area, a couple of blocks off Market and it's not the best to walk through but we were young and fearless

Thanks again you really saw a lot, just wonderful!

[anshjain97]

Thanks lola and skater!

[lugg]

Wow Ansh you really have covered some ground in SF and I have really enjoyed reading your report and seeing your photos. I had no idea that SF has its own flatiron building. I had read about, but not seen , the Painted Ladies so I especially enjoyed your pic of them.
And ... kudos for overcoming your claustrophobia and getting in the elevator- I really enjoyed and appreciated the photos of the views.

[anshjain97]

Thanks, lugg!