Getting Touristy For Friends Afar...

It is no secret that I often go to the Bay Area. Heck, I used to live there, both in the East Bay and in San Francisco itself. So going there is not a big deal to me.

My friend Elnur

I have friends all over the world that I keep in contact with. There is David in Australia (who I've probably known the longest), Jack in Canada, Rosa in London, Mauro in Italy, Marius in Romania, and Elnur in Russia. I've actually met David before. We spent a delightful, adventurous day together in Los Angeles, visiting Warner Brothers studio, etc. He's a great guy. If all goes well, I'll be meeting Rosa, Mauro and possibly Marius this spring on a planned trip to Europe.

I've shared my little tales of travel and fun with these friends, as well. However, when I mentioned heading up to the Bay Area again for just a few days to my Russian comrade Elnur, he started asking me questions about what the city is like. Is it true what he has heard about the weather there being constant, etc. David has been to the US several times and I believe Rosa has as well, But the others? Hmm. I don't think so.

So, on my first day in the Bay Area, I decided to SHOW him some of San Francisco. I couldn't cover the entire city (No Golden Gate Bridge or--thank God--Fishermen's Wharf), but I could be his personal guide---through photos and email--of at least parts of the city. The only day I really had free to do this was the day I arrived. I explained this to Erich. No sooner had we got back to his place and unloaded my luggage, changed into long pants and made a visit to the bathroom, then I was off to San Francisco, by myself, so Elnur (and anyone else who cares to come along) could play tourist...by proxy, through me.

Before I had even reached the Bay Area, I had already started this project. I got shots of my early morning train as it arrived and inside of it. I sent him this note:

"Elnur, here are your first photos from the trip. I have no way to shrink the images at the moment. I hope they are not too big for your computer. These photos are just of the train arriving and what the inside of it looks like. No big deal..."

 

He did respond a short while later, saying: 

"Hey Shawn!

Oh I see the pic from the train station. Looks nice. At least more comfortable than our trains. "

There was more to his note, but I was pleased to see that he could receive the photos via email.

Once I took some shots and edited their size down so they would not clog up his email, I sent him some photos with some explanation:

"This first one is inside of the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train I took to San Francisco. Nothing exciting. When I was living up there, my parents came to visit once. We took BART into SF. When we started heading under the water, Mom asked if we would be able to see fish. Ha! Nope. It's just a big, black tube... " I always remember Mom's comment though, when I go under the bay.

This is a very BAD shot of San Francisco, taken on zoom through a dirty BART window from across the bay in Oakland. Not the best shot of the city ever---but all I could do.

What to get photos of for him? I mean, really... He could just look it all up on the computer if he wanted to see things. But these shots--and the whole trip to SF essentially -- were for him. Maybe he'd just appreciate the effort?

"I  didn't know what shots to take for you," I told him. "Things like the Golden Gate Bridge and Fishermen's Wharf were so far from where I was. I hope what I DID get was okay. This is the Ferry Building. Passenger ferries still come and go all of the time. There are also shops and restaurants inside." 

I failed to mention that the Ferry Building had survived the 1906 earthquake.

Here is a shot of a cable car (yes, they still exist), unloaded and waiting to re-enter the station.

This has no landmark significance. I just liked the giant roasted chicken on the top of the truck, Ha!

I saw Coit Tower from a distance. I was not about to walk all of the way there and climb the hill to get shots of it up close. There are tours available to go inside and up to the top. I've been on it before. However, I had no idea of the hours or cost. Elnur would have to do with this long shot.

I did, however, get him an up close and personal shot of the pyramid-shaped TransAmerica Building.

From the TransAmerica, I trudge over to Grant Street...aka Chinatown. I would normally never go to Chinatown. It's nothing but tourist souvenir stands, really. The last time I went to Chinatown was when my parents visited in the mid-2000s. But even on that trip, my parents soon realized that one place pushing T-shirts, postcards, and junk jade jewelry was the same as every other. We detoured onto a side street and had a much truer, non-touristy Chinatown experience. But this was for Elnur... He was going to get 100% tourist shots.

Chinatown, if anything, is colorful and photogenic. Although a lot of the Chinese facades are falling apart and in disrepair, they still look the part in pictures.

Because I had emerged in the middle of Chinatown, I walked down to the entrance to Grant Street to get a shot of the arch leading in to Chinatown. 

The Hotel Triton, a boutique hotel, is right across the street from the entrance to Chinatown. I've never stayed there, but the Triton is (was?) my friend Janet's go-to place to stay when visiting SF. I just remember a great card shop in the building next door---which I needed to find for a friend's birthday the next day.

Uh...clearly the card shop was no longer there.

Wow! I had arrived in the city a little after 1 p.m. and it was only about 1:30. truth be told, since I was there, I was planning on hitting some tiki bars in the area. One (Pagan Idol) wouldn't open until 4 p.m. The other (Last Rites) didn't open until 6 p.m. I had time to kill. So, I decided to walk back up Grant Street. This is the Old St. Mary's Cathedral that borders Grant. I've never been inside.

Statues of Chinese warriors stand guard over this building...

This section of Grant featured an interesting facade on a building (a better shot of it is below). It is also the home of this particular bar I have often noticed over the years, but have never visited before, the Li Po.

Here is the facade I mentioned...

And here is the cave-like entrance to the Li Po bar.

Grant emerges at this funky intersection that also includes Broadway and Columbus streets. Broadway is the beginning of North Beach. This particular section of Broadway is known for its strip clubs. The Condor Club (on the left with the black sign) is where completely nude (topless and bottomless) dancing started. Carol Doda was the famous nude go-go dancer who started it all. She was also famous for having her breasts injected with silicone (not the bags of silicone they use for implants today, but she actually had silicone injected into her breasts). She died a few years back and there is or was a plaque on the building or ground somewhere explaining all of that. Interestingly enough, while the other places are still nudie shows (as far as I know), the Condor is now a sports bar. (No, I have not been in any of them except the Condor after it's conversion to a sports bar.)

Turning around on the corner to face the other direction, away from the strip clubs, I am facing down Columbus Avenue with a great view of the TransAmerica Building.

This is where I ended the first of the travel emails to Elnur...but it was NOT the end of them. I continued to take photos for him the entire trip...from tiki bars to the most mundane things (an Italian restaurant, a movie theater, etc.). I'll share his second email next time.

CHEERS!