San Francisco – Palace of Fine Arts, Victorian Homes, Stanford University and Alcatraz Cruise
Palace of Fine Arts
This place is the only place I have seen in San Francisco that reminded me of the buildings in Europe. I wanted to go here because it looked pretty in the photos and I remembered it from the movie The Rock. One of my favorite movies. I made it here on my last day in San Francisco. It is near Crissy Field, and I was able to find free parking.
It is a beautiful building. I would imagine it would be more beautiful with greenery in the summer. I was here in January. This place was built for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. That was a huge world fair held in SF. I learned this by reading the signs at this place. I would recommend a visit here if you are in San Francisco. Beautifully designed building and pillars.
Victorian Homes
San Francisco is famous for its Victorian Homes. I was part of a hop on and hop off tour, and it included many neighborhoods with Victorian homes. Some of them needs to be renovated, a lot of them are painted in different colors. I also saw the home that is featured in “Full House”. You can some in the photos below.
Alcatraz
Alcatraz is rated as the #1 Tourist place in SF by Trip Advisor. Alcatraz is a former federal prison located in a small island near San Francisco. Only one person is known to have escaped this prison. I first learned about it in the movie “The Rock”. Loved that movie. To me a visit to the prison itself wasn’t interesting. I would have found it to be sad. I took a cruise of the San Francisco Bay, and the cruise took us near the island. From the boat the buildings on the island looked worn out and crappy. I was glad I didn’t do the tour. I did take some photos of it from the boat and from land. You can see them below.
Stanford University
I also visited Stanford University on my trip to SF. It is a beautiful and charming campus. It resembled a tropical resort more than a university campus. The Starbucks on campus had the history of coffee outlined on one of its walls. It was an interesting read! I have added some photos of the campus below.
Overall I loved my trip to California and San Francisco. It is a beautiful city filled with many breathtaking places, great dining and interesting people. I also stayed with a lovely family whose hospitality made my trip so much more enjoyable!
You can find other posts related to California here .