My Visual Travel Experience: San Francisco

I spent over a week in San Francisco in 2005. My host during that trip was my school friend, Ruchika Kumar. She and her husband, Abhiroop Gandhi, were extremely hospitable, and made my visit a very special one. In 2011, my wife and I spent close to 10 days in San Francisco, soon after our wedding. This time, we stayed in a hotel in the heart of town. The Bay Area around San Francisco has several of my old friends from my XLRI Jamshedpur days (Tipu, Samba Siva Rao, Rakesh Sreekumar, Purnima Srivastava & Indu Chachra), as well as others from my Tilak Lane Delhi and Modern School Delhi days (Aamir Qureshi, Anshuman Tripathi & Rajat Behl), so the visit was a great way of reconnecting with my past!

San Francisco has a population of just over 825,000, but the Bay Area, which includes suburbs like Berkeley, Oakland, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunny Vale and San Jose to name just a few, has well over 5 million inhabitants! The Bay Area has the global headquarters of major Silicon Valley companies like Apple and Google. It also has some of the USA's top universities, like Stanford and Berkeley.

San Francisco saw its first European settlers in 1769. The Spanish colonized the area, and established Catholic missions like Mission Dolores, the city's first building. Gold was discovered in the area in 1848, and that gave rise to the Gold Rush in California. That's when the city saw a lot of expansion and development.

For a tourist, there is a lot to see, and many people find it one of the most fascinating cities in the USA. I certainly agree with that!

The Golden Gate Bridge is San Francisco’s best recognized landmark. Completed in 1937 with great fanfare, the bridge connects the city with the Marin County. The 2.7 km long bridge was designed by Joseph Strauss, and its two steel towers rise to a height of 227 meters above the water. Over 40 million vehicles pass by the bridge every year.  

Golden Gate Bridge

Standing 71 meters high and completed in 1903, the Ferry Building was the gateway to the ferry system and in the 1930s, there used to be over 50 million passengers a year. The Bay Bridge opened in 1936, and the ferry service became less popular thereafter.

Ferry Building

Cable cars are an integral part of the city, though they are used more by tourists than by locals today. The system was introduced in 1873. Currently, only three lines remain. The cable cars need to be pushed onto the turntable and rotated manually.

Cable Car

Union Square is at the heart of the city’s shopping and theater district. It has large stores like Tiffany’s, Saks 5th Avenue and Macy’s. At the center of the square stands a statue of Victory, atop  a 27 meter column, dedicated to Admiral Dewey’s victory at Manila Bay during the Spanish – American war of 1898.

Union Square

The row of Victorian Houses called the Six Sisters on Alamo Square were completed in 1895 and are a popular site with visitors.

Six Sisters at Alamo Square

Grace Cathedral is San Francisco’s main cathedral.  The impressive exterior of the cathedral was designed along the lines of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Work started in 1927 but the cathedral was completed only in 1964. It has beautiful marble and stain glass work, a beautiful Rose Window, and a series of murals. The bronze door is made from a cast of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s “Doors of Paradise” in Florence’s Baptistry.

Grace Cathedral

St Francis statue inside Grace Cathedral

Nave of Grace Cathedral

St Mary’s Cathedral is an extremely modern looking cathedral and was completed in 1971. The exterior looks like a white sailed ship. The nave can take up to 2,500 people. The cathedral has a cross shaped stain glass ceiling. 

St Mary's Cathedral

High Altar of St Mary's Cathedral

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul on Washington Square was originally called the Italian Church. Joe Di Maggio was photographed here with Marilyn Monroe after their wedding in 1957. The church dates back to 1924.

Church of Saints Peter and Paul

Pieta statue at Church of Saintes Peter and Paul

Transamerica Pyramid is San Francisco’s tallest building, standing at a height of 256 meters. It was completed in 1972. The spire rises 64 meters above the top floor. The building offers great views of the city, but the observation deck was closed after the September 11, 2011 terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Center. Nearby the Embarcadero Center, is at the heart of the city’s commercial district. 

Transamerica Pyramid

Embarcadero Center

View of Downtown San Francisco

Pier 39 dates back to 1905. In 1978, it was done up to resemble a fishing village and has gone on to become a major tourist attraction, full of shops, eateries and rides. It's a great place to spot sea lions. Clam chowder is a local dish that is very popular - it is a soup that has clams and broth. Pier 39 is a great place to experience this local favourite. The Aquarium of the Bay lies near the entrance to Pier 39 and has a vast collection of marine life.

Pier 39

Carousel at Pier 39

Californian Toad at Aquarium of the Bay

Alcatraz Prison lies on an island a short distance away from the city. Alcatraz means pelican in Spanish, because pelicans were the island’s first inhabitants! A fort was set up here in 1859. In 1907, it became a military prison. From 1934 to 1963, it was a maximum security prison, which housed famous prisoners like the mafia don Al Capone. The complex has a lighthouse that can be seen from a great distance.

The City Hall is a large building with a grand dome. Outside City Hall lies a seated statue of President Abraham Lincoln, assassinated in 1865. The structure was built in 1915, just before the Panama – Pacific  Exposition. It was built along the lines of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. City Hall lies in the Civic Center district, and is a magnificent example of Beaux Arts style.

City Hall

Abraham Lincoln statue outside City Hall

California Palace of the Legion of Honour is San Francisco’s main art museum. It has a fine collection of works by old masters as well as impressionist artists. The collection of sculptures by Rodin is particularly impressive. The museum was opened in the 1920s and the building was inspired by Paris’ Palais de la Legion d’Honneur. Originally, the museum was built to populairize French art.

Rodin's The Three Shades at
California Palace of the Legion of Honour

El Greco's St John the Baptist at
California Palace of the Legion of Honour

Monet's Waterlillies at
California Palace of the Legion of Honour

Degas' Impresario at California Palace of the Legion of Honour

Makovsky's Russian Bride's Attire at
California Palace of the Legion of Honour

The De Young Museum lies in the Golden Gate Park. It has an impressive collection of art by American artists. Art by European masters is largely in the California Palace of the Legion of Honour.

De Young Museum

Thompson's Recreation at De Young Museum

Bingham's Boatmen of the Missouri at De Young Museum

The Museum Of Modern Art (MOMA) shares the same name as its better known cousin in New York. The collection here too is vast and impressive. The museum was created in 1935 but moved to its present premises in 1995. The building has a 38 meter cylindrical skylight that lets light in.

Brown's Noel in the Kitchen at Museum of Modern Art

Thiebaud's Girl with Pink Hat at
Museum of Modern Art

The California Academy of Sciences was completed in stages between 1916 and 1968. The large museum has a planetarium, a simulated earthquake, a large aquarium, an African Hall with stuffed animals from the continent, dinosaur skeletons, a penguin habitat and minerals.

Cheetah with prey at California Academy of Sciences

Zebras at California Academy of Sciences

The Asian Art Museum has a vast collection of works of art from all over Asia. There are 12,000 objects from 40 countries covering a period of 6,000 years. It is the  largest museum dedicated to Asian art outside of Asia. The building was constructed in 1917 as the Main Library, but in 2001, it was renovated and it re-opened as the Asian Art Museum.

Glazen Earthenware Camel from China at the
Asian Art Museum

Nandi statue from India at the
Asian Art Museum

Shakyamuni at an Ascetic at the
Asian Art Museum

Situated near Fisherman’s Wharf, the Wax Museum is has an impressive collection of wax sculptures of movie stars, singers, artists and historical figures.

Marilyn Monroe at the Wax Museum

The Last Supper at the Wax Museum

A medley of comedians at the Wax Museum - Woody Allen,
Mike Myers, Jim Carrey and Robin Williams

The Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum has a collection of exhibits displaying oddities from around the world. Ripley was an explorer who had a fascination for odd things that stood out – the museum has the biggest, the smallest, the tallest, the shortest, the weirdest of everything, and focuses on physical abnormalities and extraordinary feats!

Deer made from matchsticks at Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum

Figure of the tallest man at Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum

Perched up on a hill and built in 1933, Coit Tower offers wonderful views of the city from the summit. The tower is 63 meters high. At the ground level, the entire circular wall is covered with murals depicting the life of the state’s people engaged in various occupations. The murals were painted by 25 artists, and they were given this task to keep them occupied during the Great Depression. 

Coit Tower

Mural at Coit Tower

The Japanese Tea Garden was set up in 1894. The beautiful garden has Japanese trees and plants, a wooden pagoda, a popular bow bridge and a large bronze Buddha statue. The garden is particularly popular during the cherry blossom time in spring.

Buddha statue at the Japanese Tea Garden

Pagoda at the Japanese Tea Garden

The Golden Gate Park is a large park, that has the De Young Museum, the California Academy of Sciences, the Japanese Tea Garden, a large number of sculptures, and other attractions.

Sculpture at Golden Gate Park

Ghirardelli Square was once a chocolate factory but has since been refurbished and turned into a chic shopping area. It is a red brick building with a clocktower, and has many shops and eateries. Ghirardelli chocolates are extremely popular there, though they are no longer manufactured there.

Ghirardelli Square

The Palace of Fine Arts and Exploratorium was built for the 1915 Panama – Pacific Exposition. The Exploratorium is a science museum with interactive exhibits. The palace’s rotunda has a dome supported by an octagonal base. There are Corinthian columns with sculptures that partially encircle the rotunda. It was originally built cheaply out of plaster as it was supposed to be a temporary structure. In 1962, it was rebuilt.

Palace of Fine Arts

Mission Dolores dates back to 1791 and is the city’s oldest building. It was funded by a Franciscan monk, Father Junipero Serra.

Mission Dolores

Stanford University opened in 1891 and lies to the south of San Francisco, near Palo Alto. It has close to 13,000 students. The university was built by Leland Stanford in memory of his young son who died. The campus boasts of the beautiful Stanford Memorial Church. Outside the church, there are bronze casts of famous works by Rodin.

Stanford Memorial Church

Berkeley University, just outside San Francisco, is one of the most prestigious universities in the world. It was founded in 1868, and boasts of many Nobel Prize winners. Inspired by Venice’s St Mark’s, Sather Tower, is one of the campus’ main landmarks. From the summit, one gets great views of the campus. The university has 30,000 students.

Sather Tower at Berkeley University

So I've spent almost 3 weeks in San Francisco spread over my 2 trips, but I've certainly been kept busy from morning to evening. New York, London and Paris are probably the only other cities I have been to which have had more to see and explore than San Francisco. This city is really a gem!