GGWoo

SF Travelogue 4

I managed to squeeze more into the last two days then I imagined. I took advantage of the early morning hours on Tuesday before the conference and walked over to see Lombard Street and then from there could see that Coit Tower was definitely just a short walk away. It ended up being a bit further than I imagined but worth it. Telegraph Hill is really quaint and seemed of all the places I've been so far, the most San Francisco-ish to me. Of course looking around I could tell it is probably where I would want to live (except maybe Pacific Heights but come on, who are we kidding with that).

After the conference was over for the day, I got out and spent a few hours at Alcatraz which was very cool. I didn't really know much about it but being there and standing in the cells while the audio tour used former Alcatraz inmates to tell their stories was pretty effective. It gave me the impression that beyond being locked into a tiny cell all day, the pure criminal nature of the inmates made it that much worse.

When I got back from Alcatraz, I swung by and saw the sea-lions lazying around Pier 39 and that was fun for about a whole minute because damn, they stink...and they just lay there.

My plan was to get to the Palace of Fine Arts by sundown and on the map, it looked like a nice walk from where I was staying. It ended up being a hour and half of steady pacing but finally getting there right around dusk, it was amazing. The enormity and volume of the remaining structure is pretty breath-taking. Since I was over there, I jaunted over to Crissy Field for a better view of the bay and the Bridge then headed back.

Yesterday the perfect 60-degree, sunny weather turned foul and it was gray and rainy all day. It was fortunate that I'd left all my shopping and museuming for the wet day and set out in the morning with my tour book in hand. I managed to hit the awesome exhibits at the Museum of Asian Art and the geeky Museum of Cartoon Art but got foiled by the SF Museum of Modern Art which was closed. I shopped around downtown, hit the Apple Store and all the famous SF chocolate stores as well as slipping into the Metreon to check out Chronicle Books, a publishing house I frequently buy from.

By yesterday evening, I was so exhausted and wet, I spent the night holed up in the hotel room trying to figure out how to repack with all the extra stuff I'd bought and watching movies. Now I just have the six hour flight back to New York to contend with and the next three days of dealing with getting readjusted to EST.