Roseyland

Wow… I almost forgot I had a blog. I haven’t posted for awhile. I have no excuse except that I have been traveling a lot and planning a kitchen remodel. I’m back in the swing of things now though, so all 3 or 4 of my loyal readers can expect more frequent updates in the near future. Near future as in like, right now. So I was in San Francisco a couple weeks ago for my Dad’s wedding. I had never been to California before, so my Aunt and I went a couple days early to check it all out. I had enough frequent flyer miles to fly first class from STL to SFO, and it was wonderful. All I can say is, I love warm nuts. I arrived about an hour before my Aunt, so I had sometime to hang out in the airport. I’m fascinated by big planes, and SFO had a lot of them. Below are a few 747’s at the international terminal.

One of our first stops was the famous Lombard street. We were staying near the water, and walking up to Lombard street nearly killed us. I knew San Francisco was hilly, but I didn’t know the hills went straight up. Below is a picture of Lombard street with a lot of SF in the background. That tower in the distance is famous, but I forget why.

Out next stop was China town as you can see below. There was lots of cat stuff in China town, which I liked, because I’m a cat person. Also, the food looked really good, adventurous, but good.

The picture below is of the most important stop on the trip. The CNET building. I am a big fan of CNET podcast like Buzz Out Loud and Gadgettes, so I had to see where these podcast were taped. I looked around for Tom Merritt or Molly Wood, but I didn’t see them. I did eat at the Maya restaurant though, which I’ve heard mentioned on a few CNET podcast. It was okay, I should have ordered the quesadilla.

One of the coolest things in San Francisco was the old street cars. Old street cars from cities all over the country are now in SF and are used for the F train that runs from Market street down to the wharf area. One of these cars is the “Streetcar Named Desire” from New Orleans. Below are a couple of these street cars. I think the one on the right is from Kansas City, MO.

Here is one of SF’s famous cable cars. We rode this car from the wharf area up to Market street, which was much easier than walking up all the hills.

This is a picture of Union Square in downtown SF near Market street. There is lots of shopping in this area, kind of like Michigan avenue in Chicago. I like the iPod billboard in the background, it is very fitting for San Francisco.

I love subways, so of course I had to ride BART. Here is a picture of a BART train. BART felt more modern that most subways I have been on, except for maybe D.C.’s. I remember that the BART trains were carpeted on the inside, this seemed odd to me, but it was nice.

Another thing I had to see in SF was the Palace of Fine Arts, which you can see below. The Palace of Fine Arts looks like an ancient Greek or Roman temple next to a beautiful lake. It is completely surreal when you see it in real life. It is also attached to the Exploratorium, which is an amazing hands on museum. If you are ever in SF, you must go see it.

Here is a picture of some of the beautiful houses in the Marina district of SF. I heard they cost about 10 million a piece, and they are built on sandy soil, so if there is ever a significant earthquake, they probably won’t survive.

Here of course is the Golden Gate Bridge. I was lucky to get a picture of it, because most of our time in SF the bridge was covered in fog.

Here is a picture of the Bay Bridge at night. I love the way this picture came out. Also, I was a little shocked that there are palm trees in SF, because it is definitely not a tropical climate.

Overall San Francisco was a great trip. I’m not quite sure how to describe SF. It didn’t feel as high techy as I expected it to feel. My Aunt described it as being like Paris or Amsterdam. I described it as being like a big city version of Bolder, Colorado. I wasn’t as in love with SF as I am other big cities like Chicago, New York, or Boston. I guess I’m more of an east coast or midwest type person. I’d still love to visit SF again though. Next time I want to eat in China town and see Alcatraz. Below is a picture of everywhere we walked, which was a total of 12.21 hilly miles. You can also see more pictures on my Flickr page here.

One last note. It has long been a dream of mine to feel an earthquake, and I though my trip to San Francisco might be my big chance. The first night in SF I mentioned several times that I hoped we would feel an earthquake. Not a big one, just big enough to feel. The next morning St. Louis had an earthquake, and I missed it because I was in San Francisco. How in the hell does that happen?