[35-Days Trip 2010] San Francisco _ Architecture 5+1

Thank the city planners in San Francisco for putting big public buildings together, I visited works by 5 star architects (3 of them won Pritzker) plus a famous structure engineer in 24 hours. Can't be more efficient, right?

California Academy of Sciences by Renzo Piano
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8499133@N02/sets/72157625058029165/
I have visited both Morgan Library Addition and Art Institute of Chicago before. It's like watching the evolution of one origin in three context. They all share the same gene but grow up in different environment with their respective personalities.
All of them have history as companion, but in very different way. Here, history was "swallowed".
All of them enjoy concept of courtyard, small or large. Here, the yard is more like a playground.
All of them develop layers of details for shading/skylight. Here, details are getting "crazy".

 

de Young Museum by Herzog de Meuron
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8499133@N02/sets/72157625235705838/
The day before in Napa valley, I was standing on my toes, trying very hard to get a look at Dominus Winery. But because of those harvest trees, a shiny wall with sun penetrating through gaps of stones only got to exist in my imagination. Anyway, I missed the real one, which made this museum the first work of Herzog I visited.



[Texture is forever theme. If not for this little creature, I may not notice the detail here on surface.]

I'm not sure if it's architect's design intent or it's just me changing my way of visiting a museum.

I barely got any impression on the exhibition, most of my pictures are about people
walking through lobby,
along corridors,
up and down the stairs,
in the courtyard...

Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco by Daniel Libeskind
I didn't know this building was designed by Libeskind when I was there and it's after open hour by the time I arrived. So instead of visiting in, I spent quite a while outside, looking at it and relaxing... 

(to be continued)

[35-Days Trip 2010] Day 05 _ "California Sun" and "Fog City"

I have this California sunshine image in my head since.. I don't know how long ago, guess it's all from that song named after it. But it turns out that there are two songs sharing the same name regardless of tiny loss in translation. Anyway, enough to prove a global common sense that "it's always sunny in California", and whatever you went through before, come here, the sun will shine you from hair to toes...





Go back to my trip. I, however, landed in "Fog City"- the only exception, in my first visit to the sunny California, until the car crossed Bay Bridge and left the city with its spreading fog behind.

I only took a glance at #1 public college in US when passing through its main streets. Students were filling into this small town for a new semester and their faces were shining in Berkeley's sun. Something seems different from those Ivy schools along east coast,  I just don't know what it is...

Soon I were brought back to truly summer, which I hadn't felt ever since left New York. And then, it came with rows and rows of grapes - Napa Valley, home of famous California wine!

 

I had never been in a winery before. Listening to the story about how grapes grow in different grounds and provide different senses of taste to wine, I did feel out of myself for a while. Yes, that's after a small tasting, but I'm sure alcohol was not all it's about. I felt out there drunk in a scene of a movie - can't tell which one is richer and stronger, taste from the wine or story from the old winery...

"treasure digging"
on the way back to the city
 

That classical piece of fog hang right there above or may say in the middle of Golden Gate Bridge when we headed back to catch the sunset. I had chased sun once in Atlantic City, running under piers and piers along the beach to witness the moment when it jumped out of the sea, that was amazing!

Here again,
running towards the falling sun
against wind
wrapping around San Francisco Bay,
I chased sun all the way
to keep this moment for Golden Gate,

This night ended on the highest viewpoint in San Francisco near Sutro TV Tower. It was one of those moments beyond a camera could record, therefore, I decided to focus it with my eyes and saved it in my "memory".

*Sun and Fog, I love you both!

[35-Days Trip 2010] Pause in solo-travel

I don't have much experience of travel alone, precisely, only once, two days plus one night in Philadelphia, which also covered my first time staying in hostel by the way. It totally changed my perspective about travel, and I love it.
However, I never visited friends (not relatives) during trip, not even once. (ok, now I make it sound a little pathetic. Am I short of friends, or only have friends living around? Or maybe I didn't travel enough? ummm, I need to think about it...)
Anyway, my point is, it's absolutely wonderful to catch up with an old friend, who happens to be local and glad to be your travel companion in an unfamiliar city.

If my cousin hadn't got an internship and flied back to Beijing from UW after I planed my trip, I wouldn't got this chance to re-contact KL. What a shame I almost forgot who she is while she can remember my name clearly by the same pronunciation as that famous university. More than four years without contact, she picked me up from the airport with just one call I made in the last minute before got on on the plane (see Seattle, I'm coming...), what a day-saver, on my first day in Seattle!

And then, on my last day in town, we got hang out together, started from "pray",
in Chapel of St. Ignatius by Steven Holl 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8499133@N02/sets/72157625159577260/ 

"eat" - Crabpot Restaurant, OYSTERS!!! (oops, too busy eating and forgot to take pics...)
"play" - Underground Tour

He's telling the story of "poop" and Seattle's 17 feet high sidewalk.


"love" - fantastic night view

Yes, "Eat, Pray, Love" was the final step, movie with Five Guys' burgers and tons of french fries, which happened to win its reputation from the president [President Obama Stops for Lunch at Five Guys].

In the end of this day, I was hosted in KL's home, instead of playing my own "sleepless in Seattle". And again, three hours later she drove me to the airport at 3:30 AM to catch my plane.

Thank you KL, my dear friend!! I really really enjoyed the time in Seattle and with you!

* Seattle -----> San Francisco 08/31

[35-Days Trip 2010] Day 03 _ Mt. Rainer National Park

I was supposed to spend 23 hours on the famous CoastStar Line, a classical European style train, from Seattle to San Francisco. But one month before departure, the price for coach seat had already raised from $96 to $150, almost double the air ticket, which only takes 2 hours. Therefore, I decided to give the nature a big hug instead of just say hello from the train.

This is my first time to a "National" park. It's not a very popular concept in China years ago, especially around metropolitain area. The closest as I know from Shanghai is DongPing National Forest Park opened after I came to New York, which according to my dad, has potential, but needs several more years for the man-planted forest to grow up.
While on the other hand, I did explore some State Parks in northeast area, thank the hiking club I joined in 2008 (the idea of making a "wandering in wild" map just pop up, maybe later). But still, the great time I spent there can't satisfy my curiosity about a real national park, a dream-like world only in Discovery Channel.
So, in my first trip going west, where national parks are just one nearby another, I must grab any possible chance to go wild . Due to my tight schedule, the plan was to shoot two birds in one stone by taking CoastStar Line and enjoying the view on the way. Now, God closed this door while left all the windows open.

It's not typical nice weather, sun barely showed up ; it's not exactly going wild, I was with one-day tour, most of the time.
But...

(For moments, sun lightened the original color of nature.)

 ...I was like this little girl, totally totally relaxed in "Paradise".
(Paradise Visitor Center at 5897 feet above sea level according to my mobile GPS)

For many years, every Mid-Autumn Festival, I stared at the sky, eating moon cake, trying to picture Chang'e and Jade rabbit's life up there.
For a second, I kind of felt the same way when Mt.Rainer standing in the background of downtown Seattle. Only this time, I was in the picture.

[35-Days Trip 2010] Starbucks, Boeing and Microsoft

Most of the places I visited for my first day in Seattle are not on the top of a sightseeing list for tourists. But if my list doesn't involve Starbucks, Boeing and Microsoft, no one is going to believe I visited Seattle.

an extra "u" following Q as usual

I discovered my allergic to caffeine after came to US, kind of ironic when live in a world soaked with coffee. I watched people holding a cup of coffee, Starbucks mostly, in subway, on the street, in elevator, at work...
And I, to avoid feeling like just take the pill for asthma , am stuck with my own formula - half decaf / half milk. Don't laugh, I still cherish its taste, even only half out of half.
Now, I'm in world's largest coffee chain's hometown. I can't help myself getting a real cup, and of course, from store #1 in Pike Place market.

For my "Iced Mocha with white chocolate", woo!

My history with plane isn't that long as I mentioned in [air travel _ flight]. But FAQ's curiosity won't let me miss the chance to see how planes assembled in the biggest building in the world.
I booked the factory tour online and was happy with my well-planning, because I found a way going Everett with one-time bus transfer, while lots of travel tips were saying only car and tour can make the trip from downtown Seattle.
The first bus arrived unexpected early. I sat in the bus stop, eating breakfast and waiting and waiting for the second one... until I started feeling so familiar as two days ago, waiting in Spokane airport [see Seattle, I'm coming... ] The only different was, no information board this time, just a help number listed on the bottom of the bus sign, almost worn off.
You can imagine my reaction when the representative on the other end of the line told me that this bus listed both online and on the sign, which I had been waiting for at least 45 minutes, is at 6:30am in the morning, and THAT'S IT for the whole day!! Have to say his surprise was no less than me when passing this news.
Seattle public bus system did impressed me through all different angles. The super responsible service line representative spent almost 3 minutes searching and found me another way to Boeing factory without calling a taxi. A nice bus driver offered me a free ride because he worried about me having to pay express bus fare (slightly more expensive than city bus) for just 2 stops in less than one mile...
Ten minutes before my reservation,  I got off the third bus. I bet no one else in that tour got there in the way I did, more specifically by running through 8 big blocks, all the way up to top of the hill. In the end, the state freeway intersection in front of aviation center simply tells me, in American, public transportation is not always a choice.
Anyway, too much pre-story, picture time.

(No photos allowed during assemble line tour, all digital devices need to be checked in locker. The official explanation is "to avoid unknown parts drop on our high-valued aircraft and invaluable worker's head from the tour deck high up".)





To fill the last section of mandatory Seattle Travel list,
- I "visited" The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, if passing in front of unfinished building counts.
- HTC HD2 with its Windows Mobile saved me from getting lost in the first stop of my trip.