Los Angeles and San Francisco- June '07

Despite the misgivings of my friends, who labelled it variously the "Great Satan" and the "United Snakes of America", I made my way forth across the ditch to the United States of America in June/July 2007. I was there for a total of 33 days, covering both the West and East Coasts.

My reason for going was essentially to visit some friends (mostly former student's of mine) who had been asking me to come and visit. So, after consuming a vast quantity of alcohol one night, I purchased a round-trip ticket to Los ... (more)

Union Station
The front view of LA's Union Station, done in a Spanish Mission style,...

Downtown LA
A view of downtown Los Angeles from the free viewing platform atop city hall....

Santa Monica Beach 1
A view of Santa Monica beach. Again, note the smog over the distant hills.

Santa Monica Beach 2
A look over to Santa Monica beach from Santa Monica pier. Though the...

Venice Beach Boardwalk
Typical street stalls on the Venice Beach Boardwalk. After a while, Venice...

Chinese Theatre
Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood by night. You can't see the...

Walk of Fame
These stars lined Hollywood Boulevard on both sides. However, the...

Scientology Building
The Scientologists had a number of buildings in Hollywood, this was...

Buena Vista Lake
I think. We went past it on the highway to San Francisco...it looked pretty...

Wind Farm
Again, taken on the highway to San Francisco, there were a plethora of...

Downtown San Francisco
A view to downtown SF from the top of Coit Tower. The pointy building is the...

Alcatraz Island
A view across to Alcatraz Island from Coit Tower.

North San Francisco
Looking from Coit Tower across to the Northern parts of San Francisco....

Postcard Row
An oft-photographed row of houses, complete with downtown SF skyline in...

Golden Gate Bridge 1
Ah, the legendary fog of San Francisco. This photo was taken not 30...

Golden Gate Bridge 2
Looking back across to the San Francisco side of the bridge from about...

Alcatraz Island 2
Looking over to Alcatraz from the Fort Mason area

Fisherman's Wharf District
The streetcar turnaround point in the oh-so-touristy (but still quite nice)...

Lombard Street
Yes, an actual street in San Francisco. You can see a car driving down it....

Skyline of San Francisco
As taken from Alcatraz Island. Alcatraz is a good deal closer to San...

Alcatraz Cell Block
Interior of Alcatraz Cell Block. The prison itself is smaller than I had...

Alcatraz Island 3
Alcatraz from a tour boat. The cell block is atop the island, all the other...

Alcatraz Cell
Detail of a typical Alctraz cell. Cosy.

Alcatraz Island Sign
The welcoming sign at Alcatraz. During the 1960's, the native...

Alcatraz Cell Block 2
During some riots at some point in Alcatraz's history, guards lobbed...

Golden Gate Bridge 3
Taken as we sailed under the Golden Gate in a tour boat. Note the lack...

Chinatown Gates
The famous gates at the entrance to San Francisco's legendary Chinatown.

Chinatown
San Francisco's Chinatown was somewhat reminiscent of Singapore (in...

Portsmouth Square
Dubbed the "living room" of Chinatown, I spent the best part...

Cable Car
Such sterotypical San Francisco landmarks! Yet, the cable car is the...

article published 07/29/2007

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