San Francisco Art Deco

We were fortunate to have discovered San Francisco City Guides' free tours on our last trip to San Francisco in January this year.  They welcome donations and it's a small price to pay to support this non-profit organization for their quality tours.  We took the Art Deco tour and it was led by a retired architect - an experienced, knowledgeable gentleman who knew what he was talking about.  The two hour tour ran over time but we loved every minute of it. Without someone so knowledgeable, we would have missed many of the locations and features pointed out to us.

The tour started at the "PacBell" Building on New Montgomery Street and finished at 450 Sutter.   Throughout the tour, our guide pointed out art deco features and provided anecdotal and historical information about the buildings.  Here are just some of the highlights of the tour - in between taking photos, I tried to take notes on my phone, but obviously couldn't succeed at both.  I will just let these photos tell the story.  

The "PacBell" Building

Window detail

Impressive lobby inside the PacBell Building 

Ceiling detail

This will join my collection of elevator doors

Seating area in lobby

Art deco decorations

The Shell Building at 100 Bush

Gorgeous entrance and ceiling!

Sculptures beside 155 Sansome

130 Montgomery - one of the smallest art deco buildings in town

Our guide sneaked in this non-art deco building, the chateauesque Hunter Dulin Building at 111 Sutter built in 1927

Mayan Tree of Life at the entrance of 450 Sutter - "Neo-Mayan" art deco designed by Timothy Pfleuger

Ceiling detail

A breathtaking end to the tour! 

San Francisco Mission Murals

I have been visiting San Francisco regularly over the last three decades but this past winter was the first time I've visited the Mission district.  I couldn't figure out how I could have missed this colourful section of town, vibrant with artists and musicians.

For this trip, the main attraction for me was the Mission murals, many of them initiated by the Chicano Art Mural Movement in the 1970's and inspired by Mexican paintings by Diego Rivera.  They could be seen on houses, on alley walls and in community spaces - Balmy Alley between 24th and 25th Streets, Clarion Alley between 17th and 18th, Mission and Valencia Streets, and the Women's Building on 18th Street.

It was a nice walk through the picturesque alleys and also through the district.  We had a delicious lunch at Tartine Bakery, just around the corner on Guerrero Street and I've heard there were lots of good eats in that area too.  This is a place I'll come back to.  Check out the photos below and click here for the map and a catalogue of the murals.

Hong Kong - Stanley to Deep Water Bay

It is appropriate to wrap up my Asia trip with an account of a day trip to Stanley and Repulse Bay, in itself a journey of nostalgia.  There were happy memories of childhood day trips to Stanley for the food and Repulse Bay, Deep Water Bay (and Shek O) for the beaches.  This visit was a little different.  A good friend of ours was in Hong Kong at the same time and being an annual visitor, he was more familiar with getting around the outskirts and so acted as tour guide for us.  We took a bus from Central (buses during off hours are quite comfortable) and got a front row centre view on the very scenic drive to Stanley.

Our first stop was Murray House, which was moved here from old Central District.  It overlooked Blake Pier, a beautifully designed historic pier, also moved here from Central.   We had delicious pork trotters for lunch at the King Ludwig Beerhall at Murray House, an unexpected German treat in this out of the way place.   There was a nice waterfront trail beside the pier for an after lunch walk. We then proceeded to hop on the bus to Repulse Bay.  After a tea break at Repulse Bay, we took the waterfront trail to Deep Water Bay before getting on the bus to return to the city in time for dinner.  This was almost like a "Hop on Hop off" bus tour - highly recommended loop!

Murray House (former colonial barracks in Central District)

Blake Pier 

Innovative bus shelters at Stanley - a combination of modern design and columns from old buildings

Tin Hau Temple built in 1767

Repulse Bay Hotel built on the former site of the romantic historic Repulse Bay Hotel of "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" fame.  The gaping hole in the apartment building was supposedly designed to let the dragon pass through for good Feng Shui...

Have your choice of high /low tea at the Verandah Restaurant on the former site of the Repulse Bay hotel or simple pastry in the courtyard beside tropical palms 

Repulse Bay Beach

A waterfront trail at Repulse Bay beach took us to Deep Water Bay after a short 45 minutes. It was an easy relaxing hike, the perfect way to take in one of the most scenic parts of the Hong Kong south coast.

Waterfront trail between Repulse Bay and Deep Water Bay

Many of Hong Kong's recreation areas were equipped with BBQ pits for picnics

Deep Water Bay

This is the last post on my Asia trip from February/March 2014 - I am relieved to complete the series before the year is out!   Next posts:  California