Monday, February 05, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO AND BAY AREA

STROLLING AROUND - AUGUST 1996

We profited the opportunity of being again in San Francisco to explore a little bit more of the Bay Area. This time, further to the city itself, we went to the Napa Valley, but took no photos, to Muir Woods, and once more to Sausalito. Then we returned home via New York. Time for Di to have a new pair of in-line skates from Bauer, and to try them in Central Park!

***

MUIR WOODS



"THE FOREST at Muir Woods National Monument is simply superb. The Monument, declared by President Theodore Roosevelt on January 9, 1908, is what remains from the coastal redwood virgin forest that once covered a much larger area"


"THE SEQUOIA is an impressive giant tree. It belongs to the cypress family and can reach astounding proportions. It is usually considered the tallest tree in the world, reaching more than one hundred meters in height, and its diameter can reach seven meters in the base. It's also one of the longest living bodies on earth, as it can attain two thousand years..."

***

SAUSALITO



"(SITTIN'ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY - I learned from John that Otis Redding started writing the song at a houseboat in Sausalito. It seems that it happened after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival, and the Dock of the Bay was recorded on 6 and 7 December, 1967 in Memphis, Tennessee. Three days later, the airplane that was carrying him crashed into Lake Monona, near Madison, Wisconsin..."




"CRAZY SHIRT was an important supplier of T-Shirts for the whole family, mainly for the young girl. I still remember one smelling chocolate that actually kept the smell even many times after being washed..."


"SCOMA'S - I think the photo was taken at Scoma's Sausalito"


"THE FOG on the Bay was starting to vanish, as we can see from the hills before the Golden Gate Bridge. Anyhow, not enough to be able to see the Bridge. That's why we did not get the same pictures as the ones taken in 1993..."

***

SAN FRANCISCO


"LEGION OF HONOR was the gift of Alma Spreckels to the city of San Francisco, and is now part of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. The building is a three-quarter-scale replica of the Palais de la Légion d’Honneur in Paris, and is dedicated to the California men who lost their lives in France during World War I"


"THE JAPANESE TEA GARDEN, located in the Golden Gate Park, is one of my favourite places in San Francisco"


"BUDDHA - This Buddha is already in one photo of the 1982 trip, as well as some of the other photos that follow..."





"THE PAGODE at the garden provides great viewpoints for the shots"



"TRANSAMERICA - The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco, and was designed (and built between 1969 and 1972) by William Pereira and Associates (I just mention this because Pereira is a typical Portuguese name, actually also the name of the pear tree). The building can be seen from many streets in the city"


"COIT TOWER - Finally the fog over the bridge dissipated a little bit and the Golden Gate Bridge could be seen from the Coit Tower"



"LOMBARD STREET is a must see for any tourist in San Francisco"

***

NEW YORK



"IN-LINE SKATES AND TESTING"

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ganz lieben Dank für diesen doch ganz speziellen Reisebericht und die dazu gehörenden Fotos.

Eine strahlende Mami, eine glückliche Tochter und ein stolzer Vater - herrlich!

Mit den allerbesten Grüssen und Wünschen.
Moshka

(grosses Dankeschön auch für die Musik. Otis Redding: Sitting on The Dock of the Bay) - geniale Option.

Anonymous said...

Vielen Dank für Ihren Besuch und Kommentar.
Mit den besten Grüssen,
Gil

Ming the Merciless said...

Ahhh! Finally, some place I am familiar with. :-)

I have visited SF and Sausalito a couple of times too. Beautiful city. If I didn't live in NYC, I would like to live in SF.

GMG said...

I agree with you Ming as far as NYC and SF are concerned.
Anyhow, Lisbon is also a nice place to live...

lv2scpbk said...

Hi gmg, Hey were going to Muir Woods this month on vacation and San Francisco area. I can't wait. It gives me more to look forward to after looking at your photos.

Anonymous said...

Lv2,

I'm sure you'll have a fabulous vacation there: San Francisco is (was?) a superb city at human dimension, and the Bay Area is great! Enjoy!!

Ming the Merciless said...

San Francisco is a wonderful city and your photos captured most of the interesting sites. Bravo!

I actually went to the Japanese Tea Garden a few times because we have family friends that live near there.

Anonymous said...

Ming,
I agree with you on the interest of San Francisco. Except for the cold summer, it's similar to Lisbon...

Cergie said...

En dessous de la Coit Tower, il y a de beaux jardins privés, nous sommes descendus le long, c'est très beau. Nous sommes allés je pense à un bon moment à San Francisco en ce qui concerne la végétation et les contrastes sont ce qui m'ont le plus frappé
J'ai pensé à la merveilleuse ile de Madère
Autre chose m'a frappé : tous les noms espagnols. Ceux des villes bien sûr, San José, Santa Cruz, Palo Alto, mais aussi "l'embarcadero" par exemple.

Anonymous said...

Cergie,
Je crois qu’on peut dire que toutes les saisons sont bonnes pour aller à San Francisco...
Et si tu te rappelles de Madère, je suis ravi, étant né dans la «Perle de l'Atlantique»... ;)
Tu sais que San José a une des communautés d'ascendance portugaise les plus importantes des États-Unis?