Xmas 3: San Francisco 2: The Wharf, Sea Lions, Coit, and Chinatown

We were lucky enough to get another warm day with clear skies.  I ended up bringing my big jacket, just in case, as yesterday I ended up cold near the end.  This was a mistake, and I ended up carrying it around my waist all day.

We walked a few blocks from our hotel and hopped on a bus that took us right to Ghirardelli Square.  Stephanie navigated us for the day, as she had familiarity with this part of San Francisco.  We walked through the Square and went down near the water.  We followed the path east towards the piers.



We walked onto the very first small pier and saw what was either a seal or a sea lion.  We had assumed it was a sea lion, because sea lions inhabit the piers here.  Upon looking at the pictures, however, Stephanie noticed that it had no ears, a feature that separates seals from sea lions according to her.



We passed many seafood shops, including the corridor below.  Neither of us eat seafood, so we continued onward.



We passed quite a few musicians and even a magician.



We walked up what must be pier 40, since it is the unmarked pier on Google Maps between 41 and 39.  Here we were able to see people lined up to look at sea lions on one side and an amazing view of the city on the other.  On our way back, a pigeon posed for me.



We entered Pier 39 along the side where the sea lions were.  Some were swimming, but most were sunning themselves.  They were not bothered by massive boats going by from time to time.  We spent a while here taking pictures.



Afterwards, we entered Pier 39 proper, which was absolutely not for me.  It is a walkway with shops and restaurants on both sides, completely covered in people.  There were kitschy shops like an Alcatraz shop with a mock up of alcatraz on the roof.  I desperately wanted to get out of there.

Stephanie very much wanted to have a breadbowl, which she remembered eating when she was younger.  Most places only served clam chowder.  Near the exit, Stephanie found a place that served tomato soup. 

Next we began our climb through the streets toward Coit Tower, a tower built in the 1930s that resides atop the tallest hill in the city.  The views from the top must have been spectacular, but I had no interest in going up.  Besides, the sun was all wrong for great shots of the city.  Instead, we took some pictures around the base, looking outwards.  We got a nice view of Alcatraz.



We walked down on the opposite side, heading towards Chinatown, with the financial district on our left.  We got a nice picture of the skyscrapers, including the unique looking Transamerica Pyramid.



Our last stop of the day was the walk through Chinatown.  We stopped in some shops along Grant Ave.  At one point, we heard loud drumming coming from a side street and followed the noise.  Two women were dancing together atop raised platforms.  We recognized the dance as the dance done under a dragon costume, performed by two people together.  A couch was going over the routine with them.



Yesterday, I was asked three times to take photos of people with their phones.  I was disappointed that I was not asked a single time today!

In any case, we went one final time to Japantown to eat dinner, and look in their shops.  There was a nice lacquerware shop with some beautiful items, but I decided to wait until I go to Japan in order to buy more art.  We also stopped at an interesting Japanese book store called Kinokuniya.  Most of the books were in Japanese, but they also sold English books by Japanese authors. 

Tomorrow we fly to Vancouver, which will take most of the day, as we have an afternoon flight.

Xmas 2: San Francisco 1: Golden Gate Park and a bridge

Two days ago we took the train from Sacramento Station to San Francisco, using the Bart metro and uber to finish the trip.  We relaxed for a bit and then headed out to dinner.  I decided to have us stay near Japantown, as I had only ever heard of Chinatowns previously, and I am a bit of a fan of Japan.  There is a small five story pagoda, gifted from Osaka in 1968, surrounded by restaurants and shops, including a mall that covers two city blocks.



We ate at a restaurant that was recommended online for their yakisoba.  While it was better than Floridian restaurants, it still did not have the kick that it has when made in Japan.  We browsed the shops for a bit and picked up some small items.

The next morning we decided that we would spend most of the day in Golden Gate Park.  We walked a bit until we found the bus stop that would take us west.  We past a building that I had spotted in the distance the night before.  It had the top of a church but the body of something very different.  A google search says that it is a Catholic Cathedral.  I've never seen anything like it.



In the gardens, our first stop was at the Conservatory of Flowers.  While not very large, I really enjoyed their variety of flowers.  There were much more exotic plants than I am used to seeing, including one carnivorous plant that attracts flies and then traps them inside.



We walked west toward the Academy of Sciences, which had an area with a very cool fountain, with a bird on top.



Next up was the much anticipated Japanese Tea Garden.  The entrance was beautiful and the price for entry was steep.  We had an adequate, but overpriced lunch and then we walked the gardens.  What I didn't expect was just how small the gardens were.  They were minuscule.  I was very disappointed.  On the way out, we passed a very exaggerated and unrealistic bridge, which Stephanie climbed to the top of.



We continued our journey west and found that the park has many extremely different looking areas.  There is much more variety than what I remember of Central Park in New York.  We even passed a fishing club.



We passed an area that was advertised as having bison.  There was a decently large sized field for them, but when we were by, they were all cooped up in what I imagine is the feeding area.  We could barely see them.

At the very northwest end of the park was a large and beautiful windmill.  Then we saw the ocean, which was the first time I'd seen the pacific ocean with my own eyes, unless I happened to have seen in when I was in LA when I was six, which is doubtful.  Also, from a plane doesn't count.



It was about 4 PM and we decided to hop on over to the Golden Gate Bridge before the sun had completely gone down.  Now, I am not one to normally travel just to see a bridge, but we had been walking all day and we just figured that it was something to do to finish the day. 

Google showed an easy set of bus routes to get there.  Unfortunately, the third bus was very, very late.  We had to wait over twenty minutes when it should have been under 5.  One cool thing about the buses in San Francisco is that if you use your metro card within a few minutes of your last bus use, it won't charge you any more.  We ended up taking a total of 5 buses, including our way back afterward, and it only cost $2.50 each.

We arrived just as the sun was nearing all the way down.  We hopped back onto the bus and left for dinner in Japantown.



This time, we went to a highly rated restaurant for Ramen.  The menu on google was very, very off, and the curry rice bowl that I had planned to add to the meal, was mysteriously absent from the current menu.  The prices had also risen.  We had to go on a waitlist using a tablet, and then were sat at a long table with 3 other couples, each across from their partner, down the table.  There wasn't any conversation between each individual set, however.  I ordered the spicy miso ramen, set to mild spice, since I prefer miso ramen and spicy is all they had.  Stephanie had the vegan ramen.  Although spicier than I'd like it, this broth was the closest to Japan's ramen that I have tasted in the US.  Even Stephanie's vegan ramen was quite good.

Tomorrow(which is actually today, since I am writing this in the morning) we go downtown.

Xmas 1: The end of Montreal and Sacramento for Christmas

On my last day, I took the train back to Montreal and took a photography tour with a local photographer for a few hours.  He picked me up at my hotel and we walked around while he gave me photography tips.  He gave suggestions on composition as well as ideas about how to best manage shutter speed vs ISO and aperture.  He was a great guy and we had a great time talking photography and even talked a little bit about Canadian and American politics.

The tour finished with a trip to the Biosphere, which remained from the 1967 World Expo.



For Christmas, we visited Stephanie's family who live a little bit outside of Sacramento.  It was nice to see some colorful Fall leaves.



After Christmas festivities were over, we took a short trip out to Sly Park, around Jenkinson lake, where we hiked for a bit.  The area was filled with beautiful trees.



Stephanie was able to spot the hard to find water peacock.

A rare water peacock up close.

After the park, I took some pictures of the Alpacas that are owned by Stephanie's parents' neighbors.