WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12:
Civic
Center, Lombard Street, and a minor
crisis (not
involving a vehicle!) on
this gorgeous clear, sunny day.
After
a leisurely morning, took the ferry in and then a streetcar to Civic
Center. We took another free tour originating there, this one called
“1906: Phoenix Rising,” focusing on the 1906 earthquake and
fire. This was the only tour we were somewhat disappointed in –
our guide seemed a little ditzy, and not a whole lot of new
narrative. She
had a lot of historical photos, including some of the fire itself,
and emphasized that it was the fire, not the earthquake, which really
devastated the city. The majority of buildings survived the
earthquake, but incurred damages in places which proved to be fatal –
e.g., a lot of chimneys were destroyed. So, when cooking breakfast
on that April morning on a wood-fired stove, when the smoke &
sparks went up the chimney, there wasn't one. Instead, the hot
sparks landed on the wood roof. And since most of the homes were
constructed of wood, it didn't take long for the house to burn. It's
believed that the first fire started close to where we were standing
– just south of Market, although they were soon starting all
throughout the city. Prevailing winds off of the ocean from the west
blew the flames eastward, into the heart of the city. And the earthquake proved fatal again in
that water mains had been broken, so that when the firemen tried to
put out the flames, there was no water.
The
fires spread throughout the city for 3 days. On the 4th
day, it rained. It was astonishing how quickly the city re-built.
It was determined to once again make a name for itself, and quickly.
On our Financial District tour, our guide pointed out a couple of
large, imposing buildings which were completed by 1908.
This
part of the city is beautiful. Domed City Hall surrounded by
governmental and cultural buildings.
Gorgeous interior of downtown's Public Library:
Asian Art Museum:
San Francisco Symphony Hall:
Some people consider City Hall
the most beautiful buildings in San Francisco. Its dome is as high
as that of St. Peters, and slightly higher than the U.S. Capitol.
Streetcar
back to Powell St., then the Powell-Hyde
cable
car once again. We were entertained by a pretty fair banjo player
while we waited in line.
Another
fun, fun ride.
This
time we got off at famed Lombard Street (the crooked portion –
dubbed The Crookedest Street in America because of its series of
S-curves all the way down the hill.) There are sidewalks with steps
on both sides of the street if you're walking down (or up), as we
were. Another fun must-do while here, and we chose a perfect
afternoon. Had several breath-taking views on the way down.
At the bottom:
Lombard Street continues down the hill:
(And
on the way back up as we paused to catch our breath!)
Along
the way, we marveled at the homes along the way. Completely
charming! But how, practically, do the inhabitants live? How do
they get out of their garages & driveways? How do they have
large items like furniture delivered? How do they put up with hordes
of tourists walking down their street every day? And of course –
how much does it cost??
Re-boarded
the cable car down to the Wharf, got some fresh fish take-out, and
then walked the length of the Embarcadero to the ferry. Made the
8:10 ferry tonight, which made us happy, rather than having to wait
for the 9:35, as we typically do. But as Bill was reviewing the
day's pictures on his camera, he inadvertently formatted the disc,
erasing everything on the stick. He was not happy!! But I told
him that I thought there might be a way to restore – we'd look
into it in the morning. (And fortunately, we'd saved everything up
to today's pics on the computer. But he was really mad at himself at
the thought of losing today's photo memories.) But not so upset as to mar the wonder of all we'd seen today.
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