San Jose 2010: Thursday

14 Sunday Nov 2010

Posted by Crystal in Photography, Travel

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2010, california, Egyptian Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, san jose, sarah winchester, Winchester Mystery House

Mystery House Edition
;-) Thursday I drove (exactly an hour) to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. I arrived WAY before it opened, so I drove around a little bit and got some breakfast.
Sadly, you couldn’t take pictures inside, so I’ve only got exterior and through-the-window shots to share.
The house is terribly interesting, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is in the area.
The house was built by Sarah Winchester for 38 years, supposedly as directed by ghosts. Just when you think she’s entirely crazy, you learn about some cutting-edge technology or innovation she had installed in the house.

Crazy!

Here’s a link to the official website.

There are more pictures and plenty of interior shots on flickr. Click here.

Having trouble picking shots I want to use, so here are a couple:

After I left there, I visited the Egyptian Museum in San Jose.

After an interesting drive back to San Fran, I made a stop at the Palace for a couple night shots.

San Francisco 2010: Wednesday {part deux}

13 Saturday Nov 2010

Posted by Crystal in Photography, Travel

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california, Palace of Fine Arts, Photography, san francisco, Travel

After the wandering at Coit Tower, I ventured back on the muni and stopped to take pictures of what I am calling the “Emerald City House.” Which I attribute to the fact that I am rereading all the L. Frank Baum Oz books.

Oddly enough, this house was a block away from Cafe Francisco, where I sat and waited for the muni that morning. I even have pictures of this house, I just didn’t see the windows from that angle. I then went to the place I had been anticipating ever since we drove by it on the tour Monday:

The Palace of Fine Arts

Built for the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915, it was so beloved that the city kept it. In the 60s it was refurbished, and either fortunately or unfortunately, it currently was having some work done so I couldn’t walk through it. But then, a bunch of tourists in the pictures probably could have snatched some of the magic away.

So here you go, Wednesday’s new favorites place:

Sigh. I totally want one.

I wandered a bit on Chestnut, which has a ton of shops, got dinner, and went back to the hostel for the evening.

San Francisco 2010: Tuesday

09 Tuesday Nov 2010

Posted by Crystal in Photography, Travel

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california, golden gate bridge, golden gate park, Legion of Honor, museum, san francisco

Tuesday was free museum day! Woo!

I chose to start off my day at the Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum. Beautiful location, building, & collection.

Close to the main entrance of the museum, which is in Lincoln Park, is a Holocaust Memorial. It’s rather heartbreaking – a man holds on to barbed wire in front of a pile of bodies.

Unfortunately, I was unable to stay for long, so I whizzed through the museum and did not see as much as I would have liked to. These rooms made me absurdly happy:

In the afternoon I went to Golden Gate Park and whizzed through the de Young Museum as well. (If you follow me on twitter, you may recall the giant safety pin.)

Afterward I wandered the immediate vicinity of museum #2, then made a stop at the Golden Gate Bridge viewing area on this side of the water.