Last TC post until we get home!
Sweetest little kitty face.
Sweetest little lizard face!
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OCTOBER 15, 2011. Fun day today. Took the bus to the Fisherman’s wharf area and jumped on a beautiful historic streetcar. Stopped off at the The Ferry Building‘s saturday farmer’s market and popped over to give a show of support to the Occupy SF people. There was an awesome team of people who were keeping the group fed. Jumped back on streetcar and headed out to the Castro. Had an amazing lunch at Criolla Kitchen. Then we walked! All the way back to Golden Gate Park, through some beautiful neighbourhoods.
http://www.streetcar.org/streetcars/
http://sanfrancisco.grubstreet.com/2011/05/what_to_eat_at_criolla_kitchen.html
Mmmmm, waffles.
Vintage streetcars arriving and departing from in front of the Ferry Building.
Inside one of the streetcars originally from Milan.
Rainbow heaven! The Castro is my favourite SF neighbourhood; such a loving vibe!
Stumbled on this beautiful carousel at Golden Gate Park.
A close-up of the carousel.
A lovely spot at Golden Gate Park.
OCTOBER 14, 2011. Back to Golden Gate Park today to the California Academy of Sciences, a beautiful natural history museum. It is a remarkable facility. The Rainforests of the World exhibit, amazing aquarium, planetarium, and a green structure with a 2.5-acre green roof. It had a wonderful education/conservation leaning. We spent all day there and I did not want to leave. On the way home we stopped at a wonderful Moroccan/Tunisian restaurant called Cafe Zitouna, corner of Sutter and Polk. I forgot to take a photo of our delicious dinner, but it was amazing.
http://www.streetcar.org/streetcars/
A view from above of the Northern Californian Coast Gallery which wraps around the Rainforest exhibit.
Looking down onto one side of the Academy at the Philippine Coral Reef Gallery which wraps around part of the Planetarium.
Looking down into the Amazonian Flooded Forest which can also be viewed from below.
This butterfly is called a Postman.
In the Rainforest exhibit, birds and butterflies fly free all around you.
This little fish on the right stared at us for about 5 minutes and the movements of his/her mouth looked like he/she was trying very hard to tell us something very important!
Part of the green roof CAS; it has seven hills to mimic the seven hills of San Francisco.
The moon rise over the city by the bay.
OCTOBER 13, 2011. Bus adventure! Walked over to Japantown and found the coolest small sort of mall called New People with an amazing coffee shop, four amazing shops an art gallery and a cinema. Had a small breakfast and then checked out the shops. Then we navigated the bus system to arrive at Golden Gate Park and spent the rest of the day at the de Young Museum of Fine Art. Had an amazing lunch at their cafe. As the evening came in we wandered over the the Haight and found a store that sold only socks! Ate yummy yummy Thai food at a place called Ploy II. An all around fabulous day!
http://www.newpeopleworld.com/
Awesome coffee shop at New People.
The New People Shop.
The entrance at the de Young features sculptures by one of our favourites, Andy Goldsworthy.
Beautiful galleries full of amazing art at the de Young.
Cool perforated copper wall.
Our lunch at the de Young: delicious Gazpacho with smashed avocado and fresh chips.
One of the views of the city from the observation tower at the de Young.
A lovely pond just outside the de Young.
A new little vacation pal:
Our lovely girl; oh how we miss her!
This is Stella! We met her on the beach in the town of Carmel.
OCTOBER 12, 2011. Thought the Aquarium deserved it’s own post. What I liked best, the only mammals were rescue otters and they weren’t expected to perform! The jelly fish and sea horse exhibits were so incredible. There is an amazing focus on conservation. Here are some pics and the link:
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/
The kelp forest exhibit.
The sweetest little shorebirds!
Shorebirds!
Fishes, fishes, fishes.
Holy... mackerel!
Wow, jellyfish.
Exquisite little sea horses; they dance and glide and interact with each other. I couldn't tear myself away and cried a little.
These sea horses also made me cry. The beauty of them is overwhelming.
OCTOBER 12, 2011. Today we went total tourist and took a coach tour! It was pretty fantastic, actually. Our driver was amazing, the scenery, superb. We took HWY 1 down the coast, stopped at a nice bakery for snacks in Davenport, onto Monterey where we spent two hours at the Aquarium, 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach and ended in Carmel. Here are some pics to enjoy.
http://www.sanfranciscosightseeing.com/
http://www.sanfranciscosightseeing.com/
The beautiful California coast between SF and Monterey.
With the sun at our backs, Davenport.
Acres and acres of artichokes.
My favourite little beach spot at Pacific Grove.
The Lone Cypress; the icon of Pebble Beach.
The Mission at Carmel.
Snack stop in Carmel, yum.
OCTOBER 11, 2011. Today we wandered all over North Beach, China Town and downtown. Found lots of art galleries, ate some yummy food, got too much sun and basically wore ourselves out! Tomorrow: day trip to Monterey and Carmel including the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Strange how San Francisco houses are built! (wink!)
Cool gate near the curvy part of Lombard Street.
Washington Square with view of Saints Peter and Paul Church.
The gates to Chinatown, San Francisco CA.
OCTOBER 9 AND 10, 2011. Boarded Amtrak Coast Starlight at about 2 pm Sunday October 9. As our meals were all included in our Roomette rate, we immediately found the dining car for last call lunch! Overall the overnight journey to San Francisco was delightful. It was strange to sleep on the train; the rolling and rocking stayed with us for several hours after we detrained. Yesterday was spent doing laundry, but we did have a fun evening in the Mission District. Poked around in a few cool shops, had an amazing dinner at Dosa and saw Toshio Hirano play bluegrass at a bar called Amnesia.
http://www.thehotelmajestic.com/
http://dosasf.com/valencia_home.htm
http://amnesiathebar.com/newp/
Our "roomette" on the Amtrak Coast Starlight, Portland Oregon to San Francisco California.
The view from our window at the Hotel Majestic; a foggy day!
An amazing dish called Dahi Vada; lentil dumpling topped with organic yogurt tamarind and mint, DOSA on Valencia.
Masala Dosa from DOSA on Valencia.
Here’s a beautiful bike we saw at West End Cycle in Portland. It’s built near Portland at ChrisKing’s factory with Chris King and Paul components. “Beloved”
A Beloved Bicycle
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