Back in San Francisco for another work event, a conference this time. Ian was good enough to pick me up at the airport again. Together with his wife Hong Mei and 12-year old son David, we headed off for lunch (a meat fest at Espetus Churrascaria Brazillian Steakhouse) and then some touristing.
First stop, the Museum of Fine Arts in the Marina District on the north side of San Francisco. Originally constructed for the
1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition it is what the British would call a Folly since the Greek looking temple is a fake purely designed to look good. The Exploratory and a theatre are also on the same site, but the pictures below only show the temple and its lagoon (originally a slough or marsh rehabilitated to form a small lake).
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| Figure 1. Palace of Fine Arts |
Not far from the Palace is the marina and a small beach. Has a wonderful view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the city. The island in the top photo of Figure 2 is Alcatraz.
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| Figure 2. Marina |
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Finally we drove to the southern base of the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco is famous for its fog which occurs due to cold air from the Pacific being pulled in through the Bay entrance by hot air rising inland. You can see the fog running past the bridge in the photos.
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| Figure 3. Golden Gate Bridge |
The conference lasted 3 days, so on the Thursday I took the plane to New York City where Nik is now living with his new ladyfriend Tanya. Tanya has a lovely but small apartment by Central Park, a terrific location.
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| Figure 4. Cooking, Theatre and Song in NYC |
Nik and Tanya had booked tickets for Kinky Boots for Saturday night. A musical based on the
film
(as seems to be the current trend) in turn based loosely on the true
story of a failing show factory in Northhampton, England that recovered
by filling a niche market providing custom footwear for drag queens
(most men are too heavy for ladies shoes). The play was a lot of fun,
retained the fun and heart of the original film, and all the cracking
good lines. My only criticism is that the music, by Cyndy Lauper who I
love, was not catchy enough.
Afterwards we went to this great little bar in The Village where this guy plays show-tunes on the piano and most of the audience sing along. There were clearly several regulars in the bar who knew all the numbers and could sing them. However like social media and reality TV, there are some people who should not be let out in public without learning to sing first!
Sunday we visited a private museum on Fifth Avenue called the
Frick Collection. What used to be a large private house owned by
Henry Clay Frick that now houses his art collection. Photography is not allowed in the house, but you may take pictures of the mansions colonnaded central courtyard.
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| Figure 5. Internal Courtyard of the Frick Mansion |
Afterwards we took a stroll through New York's most famous park.
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| Figure 6. Central Park |
Next stop Boston. Nik was teaching a course and I went to play tourist and catch up with friends. We took the train from Penn St station New York to South Station Boston. Business class ticket was $100, half the price of the plane and a lot less stress.
For the first time ever, I actually stayed in the city instead of a business hotel on the edge of town. The hotel was in the south of Cambridge right next to the Charles River (which separates Cambridge to the north-west from Boston city on the south-east). Here is the view from the hotel room:
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| Figure 7. Charles River looking towards the City of Boston |
