San Francisco Notebook, Part One

I went to San Francisco and came back again. It was, without question, one of the best trips I've ever taken to anywhere. I was unabashedly touristic the entire time, slogging up and down (mostly up, it seemed) hills with my trusty camera at the ready.

In doing so, I created piles of indifferent vacation snapshots which you should pretend politely to notice before skipping to the yarn store reviews in part two.



The view from the bedroom window at the hotel. That's Grace Cathedral in the middle distance. They have a Peet's Coffee in the basement. The cathedral is built from reinforced concrete, which I suppose makes sense in a city where the ground tends to jiggle about unexpectedly.



Coit Tower, as seen from the roof garden of the hotel. Notice the bird of paradise growing lushly in the lower left corner–in December. Note the green leaves on the trees. The San Franciscans kept talking about how chilly their weather is this time of year. They can shut the hell up.



Detail of a fountain in the park at the top of Nob Hill.



Three men and a bitchy sphinx outside the De Young Museum.



Tourists (and one resident) in Sausalito.



Some bridge everybody makes a big deal about. I can't remember the name.



Obstinate little tree atop the Marin Headlands.



A wish for a Wonderful Day inscribed on the beach near Seal Rock. (It worked, at least for me.)



A really, really big camera near the Cliff House. Impressive, but I would not want it hanging around my neck.



Cable car commuters. Alternate title: Ha ha ha, you're going to work and I'm not.



Another one of those big bridges they have out there.



A very early (Ghandala era) Buddha at the splendid Asian Art Museum, where I spent the better part of an entire day. Note the particularly fine pectoral development. (I studied four years at Harvard in order to develop a trained eye for such details.)

Next, in part two, the fibery bits of the trip. They were many and splendid. But right now I have to do laundry or I'll have nothing to wear tomorrow except pajama bottoms and my overcoat.