Wednesday, September 25, 2013

View from the top

Many of the pictures that were clicked in and around San Francisco was from the top deck of the tourist bus.



 This resulted in many of them going into the dustbin, mostly due to a shaky picture or being out of focus, or just simply “oh this is not what I wanted”
Clicking pictures of the bay bridge from a long distance was easy



but clicking from the bay bridge while seated in the bus was a real challenge as the cross beams kept intersecting every 1.5 seconds when the bus was in motion. But still I managed to get this :


A bottom view of the Bay Bridge


And another one going over the Pier 26 and 24


Talking of piers, I found one in half measure too:


Among the tangle of the over head wires (for the trams) you can see the Ferry Building.


All the even numbered Piers were to one side of the Ferry building, while the odd ones to the other side. There must have been some logic for this type of numbering. 
One of the well maintained trams (and still functional)


When it comes to the Golden Gate it is a different story. Most of the time it is shrouded in fog. But the presence of the fog has given photographers an excellent chance to get some lovely pictures.
What I got was this:



It is very rare that you get a clear picture of the bridge on a bright and sunny day. As I had a two day comprehensive pass for the bus, I crossed the bridge thrice and managed to get a good picture on a sunny day.


More on the Golden Gate bridge in a later post.

The old and the new: The Transamerica Pyramid stands close to the Sentinel building (the green building -  also known as Columbus Tower) which was built in 1907. The Sentinel bldg. was later bought by film maker Francis Ford Coppola in 1970.


As for the Pyramid, it is the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco skyline. Maybe that is why it did not fit into my frame J
 Managed to get some clear shots of some statues, like this one.


Looks like a plate shearing machine. Was admiring the perfection of the body angles of these five men. Even the keyway has been shown in the propeller fan lying down.  
Another one, probably about some discussion during the gold rush time.


In San Francisco you get to see a lot of graffiti. Painted as well as tile graffiti.




People catching up with a bite as the day begins.


Occasionally you get to see some fancy cars



The wavy pattern of the road was captured from top deck of the bus:


The weeping women on top of the Palace of Fine Arts


 Noticed some beautiful and well maintained villas too.



A church at the cross road of Van Ness and Broadway


which was built more than a century ago


OK now that is too many pictures for one post. So here is a last one, to put a smile on your face.



25 comments:

Ash said...

Nice photos - thanks for visiting my blog!

George said...

I very much enjoyed your photos from San Francisco. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Photo Cache said...

what a great tour. i thoroughly enjoyed it and i didn't have to pay for the tour bus, thanks.

magiceye said...

Lovely virtual tour!! Thank you so much!!

Debbie said...

a great tour of sf, i have never been!! loved the misty golden gate but the image of it against the blue sky was my favorite!!

i also like the grafitti/wall murals....so colorful!!

Debbie said...

* graffiti....i had a feeling i spelled it wrong ;)

Joy said...

Hi. Visiting back. Just want to thank you for visting my blog and leaving a comment. You have a wonderful blog and very nice pictures to see here. Thanks for taking us to the trip:)

TexWisGirl said...

a cool way to tour. :) like the graffiti and statuary.

Unknown said...

Nowadays we are roaming in and around America and so wish to visit San Francisco for once.Lovely pictures !! i guess mostly all the bridge in US looks just the same.I have clicked few pictures of them while sailing.Also i would love to hear the history behind the weeping women sculpture..

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Amila said...

really nice captures....specially I like the captures of bridges.Very beautiful

Alka Gurha said...

Loved the pics, esp the villa. You are lucky you have been to such lovely places.

mail4rosey said...

The villas are nice! I've always wanted to be on top of one of those, but I never go anywhere that has them when it's warm!

Namitha said...

Lovely pictures, thanks for sharing. SFO is one of my most favorite cities in US. Maybe I'm bit partial to mountains and hills ;)

Pallavi said...

Lovely pictures Joe. The outdoor café picture is my favorite :)

Helene Dsouza said...

My teacher used to say that the golden bridge is rarely without fog, looks like she was right.
Love the graffiti, it gives the city a special touche!

Saun said...

Great set my favorite is the shot of the road awesome!

Indrani said...

Loved this virtual tour. I have never been to this place. The place looks grand in these shots.

Theresa Mahoney said...

Great shots! San Fran is top on my list of places I'd like to visit! I want to ride one of those double decker tour buses too ;)

Here I Am Carrie said...

I like your perspective that you got from up on the bus. Beautiful photo of the golden gate bridge you got on the sunny day. Must have been fun touring the city on that bus.

A Cuban In London said...

Beautiful pictures of a city I've always wanted to visit. Many thanks. Enjoyed that tour, too.

Greetings from London.

Anonymous said...

It is a beautiful city everyone should visit at least once in a lifetime. I love the pictures you capture that visitors might not even take note of until seen in a photo.

Insignia said...

Your last few posts of San Fran brought back so many bursting memories of mine. Walking the entire blocks of union square; piers, bicycling around Golden gate park and crossing the bridge to Sausalito...Numerous. Thanks for photos; brought back all these amazing memories.

Anita said...

I wonder how I'd feel sitting on the top of the double decker bus, going down that hill! :)

I like the Weeping Woman on the Fine Arts Museum building.

Augustine Xavier said...

Dear Joe - Thanks for the joy-ride, you make me feel like i have travelled these places myself. awesome post

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