Last Day in San Francisco

 

Last day in SF. We had booked a red-eye (overnight) flight from SFO to EWR (Newark/NYC) and therefore still had a good part of the day available to check out neighborhoods. After a great (and affordable) breakfast with freshly-baked donuts from a corner bakery nearby, we packed, left our luggage at the hotel and took the bus #49 to Union Street (above).

Cow Hollow is the name of the neighborhood around Union Street, and, sort of similar to Hayes Valley, Polk Gulchs or Noe Valley before: lots of restaurant and shops of all kinds, but, rather quiet on a weekday morning. One sight here is the Octagon House, dating in 1861, with an observation deck, and nice furniture, documents and artwork inside.

 

 

 

Another bus brought us to the Fillmore District, a historically African-American neighborhood, once called the „Harlem ofthe West“. Nowadays not much is left from the black culture and heritage, The Fillmore (Auditorium), very few typical jazzclubs/restaurants and an old brick streetcar depot/powerhouse, standing empty now.

 

Walked from there to the famous Alamo Square (above), always packed with people because of the "Painted Ladies" (which appeared a little less colorful today). This row of picturesque houses in front of SF's skyline is designated to be a popular photo spot. Always has been, even before Insta!

Divisadero next ,,, where we discovered this funny duck wall:

 

The Divisadero neighborhood borders Western Addition (where Japantown is located), but, here it's not so much the infrastructure (eating, drinking, shopping), but the architecture, which is really memorable. Different victorian styles can be studied.

 

The so-called victorian or commonly "Gingerbread (Zuckerbäcker) style", became popular between 1860 and 1900, when many European immigrants arrived. Italian features (Italianate Revival Style), Queen Anne Style (from GB), StickStyle (a SF invention) - all of them with picturesque with playful elements, colors and forms, eleborate decorations and impressive glass. 

 

Economically, it became a success as well, because customers could choose from a "pattern book" (Musterbuch), the frames of the houses were identical, only details could be selected freely. This invention by  John Cotton Pelton, Jr. (1856–1913) made architecture available to everybody.

 

The architectural lesson culminated at Duboce Park (above), a historic district with wonderful houses and a park.

By streetcar down to the waterfront, to Ferry Plaza Marketplace and the ferry landing with the Oakland-Bay Bridge in the background. Boats depart regularly to Oakland/Alameda, Richmond, Vallejo, Sausalito etc. We rested a bit and watched the busy boat traffic before we walked over to SoMa's Embarcadero, to see Claas Oldenburg's famous Bow & Arrow sculpture "Cupid's Span" (left) - an outdoor sculpture, over 20 m long, a partial bow and piece of an arrow.

 

A glimpse into the Historic Streetcar Museum (above) was a must then. 1888 initiated and in operation until the 1940s, this means of transport slowly declined. Only in 1995 the Historic F Line reopened as the "Market Street Railway" and slowly but surely over 40 old streetcars from all over the world were acquired and revived.

 After a check of Embarcadero Center (rather not of high interest for tourists anymore) followed before we slowly made our way back to Polk Gulch to grab a bite to eat and to pick up our luggage.

 

Other than at arrival, almost a week ago, we decided to save some money and take public transport to the airport instead of Uber. So, first we took our nearby bus #49, then changed to the subway (BART), and, in total: it wasn't too bad! Took us about an hour in total (much faster than at home) to get to the airport and it only cost $ 11 for BART in addition to our MUNI day pass. In 10 min. we had dropped our luggage (1 suitcase only - testing!) and passed security. Easy-peasy!

It's been a "concentrated", highly-intense research trip, days packed to the brim. Around 90 km/55 mi walked in total, tired, but headed for another adventure - NYC - soon!

Above: Flight out of SF - Oakland Bay Bridge on the left (upper section), Oakland on the right.