San Francisco Metblogs » tourists

1930s era SF ‘wonderful creations’ include Alcatraz?

Mark Pritchard — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:34:26 +0000

I missed this LA Times travel piece when it came out a month ago — a nice little writeup on how many San Francisco landmarks were built during the Great Depression of the 1930s, from the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower to the Opera House. Here is a beautiful photo gallery.

Other newspapers are still reprinting the piece: for example the Winston-Salem (NC) Journal, whose website today highlights one curious 1930s San Francisco landmark: Alcatraz, which opened in 1934. Their headline says Wonderful creations emerged during the hard times of the ’30s, with a picture of Alcatraz right underneath. Somehow I doubt the copy editor who wrote that headline has been to Alcatraz.

Anyway, the piece nicely totes up the number of Diego Rivera murals in the city, including the one at the San Francisco Stock Exchange (”What were the stockbrokers thinking?”) — and the one at City College.

Things to do in San Francisco

Mark Pritchard — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:23:24 +0000

Someone on Open Salon asks what to do in San Francisco during a visit next month. Loads of people commented with suggestions, me among them.

A friend of a friend has been visiting during this exact rainy spell. It’s due to stop raining on Tuesday and that’s when he’s leaving. Sorry about the rain, dude. But if you’re getting cabin fever on this very rainy day, here’s what I’d do: go out to the Palace of Legion of Honor (pictured). The art is great, the cafeteria is nice, and the view is fantastic, whether it’s a rainy day or not. In fact it might even be better on a rainy day.

Visitors

Mark Pritchard — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:40:53 +0000

An Israeli teacher on a year-long posting to a Hebrew school in San Francisco finds Pier 39 “filled with beliefs and life” and the Golden Gate Bridge “a magnificent architectural structure.” Another ball of fire writes that he “spent the summer living in San Francisco, doing exactly what I’d hoped: working in VC, reading business plans, meeting with entrepreneurs, doing due diligence and generally learning the business;” in his spare time he rode a motorcycle.

A Swedish woman now living in Hayes Valley wonders: “Can somebody please explain to me why staff in the Golden Gate Park always leave the engines running while they load and un-load their trucks in the park? While clearing shrubs, cleaning up flower-beds and so on. The engines are always on. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Previously:
Idle NY theater critic visits, finds our scene wanting
Visitor finds SF “too hilly to be dull“