October 15, 2007
October 2007
This shot pretty well sums up my attitude toward all the travels for the past month. Henry and I are ready for me to be home. Henry would not win a prize for sitting. When he is tired, he kind of hunches over his shoulders, sits crookedly, and looks at me as if to say "Come on, it is bed time for pity's sake". And off we go... I did this one in black and white not for artistic purposes, but because the image just didn't have enough to work with otherwise. I thought about playing with it some more, but it reminded me of old photographs you would find in a shoebox, so I kept it like it is.
I thought I would include a few photographs from Pier 39. It is a very popular tourist area, but more fun than most other tourist spots I have visited. There is a lot to see, lots of good restaurants, and even the local shops are not too outrageous. This picture is the first thing you see getting off the F-Line trolley. Crab cakes are everywhere at the Pier, and so good they hardly need to advertise. Still, when you got it, flaunt it!
There is a stand on the pier selling beautiful fruit at premium prices. I liked the colors in this image, but also notice the kid bungie jumping in the background.
This is a nice shot of the pier, sea lions and Alcatraz all in one shot. The sea lions may be the largest draw for people. Tours of Alcatraz are sold through the web. CJ and I took the tour last year and thought it was worth the time. The water in the bay stayed cold enough to deter escape attempts. Our tour guide said hypothermia was actually a much larger threat than sharks, though perhaps not as sensational.
This carousel seldom seems to have a lot of riders, but I liked how busy the image seemed and the sheer bling nature of the ride. The guy running the show wasn't working very hard to hustle business, which might be part of the reason people were ignoring it. Like most of San Francisco, he was on the cell phone every time I passed by.
It is hard to remember sometimes this really is a pier. The bay has been full of sail boats every time I have visited, regardless of the weather. These boats must pay a fortune to tie up at such a busy location.
This is Grace Cathedral, atop Nob Hill in San Francisco. It is an Episcopal Church, though it looks a bit Gothic to me. It was a bit of a hike up the hill from my hotel on Market Street. While the distance was really not that far, it seemed straight uphill. This is not the best photograph possible, but not bad for my hand held camera.
These apartments were also on top of Nob Hill. They reminded me of the TV show "Monk". I wonder what it would be like to be able to afford to live there?
The next few shots are from China Town. I had a good time wandering around in China Town. It is very crowded, as you can tell from the photographs. I always felt safe there by myself. There are lots of touristy shops, but if you wander around you can find grocery stores where the locals shop with lots of interesting stuff.
Foo dogs greet you at the entrance of China Town. I found some small soapstone carved Foo Dogs to bring home for CJ as a gift. They are considerably smaller than this guy.
This image was taken in China Town. The shop was a European importer. While it has nothing to imply China, I thought the statues were beautiful.
