Saturday, December 19, 2009

last wander

Union Square from cablecar
tree
I will never get used to Christmas trees amongst palm trees, but I admit the scale of Californian Christmas trees is pretty impressive.

We did end up in a touristy crab joint, but the food was good and the company better, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
the crabs are watching

Friday morning I wanted to return the pants from Anthropologie, which already had ripped (grumble, grumble) but they didn't open until 10 am, so I wandered some more. This time I started with the swankier areas, as it remained somewhere I hadn't wandered on previous trips (as graduate students or post-docs do not necessarily want to be reminded of what they cannot afford).
building colours
window shopping
purple
Union Square optimistic ice rink
Here is the overly-optimistic outdoor rink in Union Square. Despite pitiful ice-quality, it was generally packed, but not at 8 am.
corner

I ended up in Chinatown.
King Tut with Pagoda
slope, Chinatown
No dumping crab
San Francisco view
phoenix
Beautitful things store dragon
This place was called "The Store with Beautiful Things".

San Francisco Chinatown
San Francisco Chinatown
mural in Chinatown

Then I checked out and walked to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), past the Hyatt fountain:
San Francisco Fountain
to Powell Station. Managed to get on the least efficient route on the Air Train, so I arrived just at the right time. I don't think I've ever seen so much chaos as there was at the United counter, so I was glad I persuaded a machine to give me a not-quite-boarding pass which got me through security to the gate, where they sat me at the front of the plane, behind 1st class. Coincidentally, I was seated next to a U of T prof and we talked the whole way home.

Looking forward to seeing friends this evening!

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