Afternoon in SF
San Francisco - Sat, 18 Jan 2020, 6:30pm
We're in San Francisco today and tonight. Hawk needed to get fitted for clothes for a wedding in which she's part of the groom's party. The groom and the other groom (yes, it's a gay wedding, commence countdown to end of world) had most of their posses there to get fitted at the same time with the same tailor.
We arrived mid-afternoon at the tailor's shop north of the financial district. The tailor came out to tell us that things were running a bit long with the previous customer so we'd need to come back in 15 minutes. We used the extra time for a bit of street photography.
...Well, I used the 15 minutes for street photography of the Transamerica Pyramid from Columbus Avenue. Everyone else in the group was getting coffee at the coffee shop behind me. 🤣
After the fittings the rest of the grooms' parties melted away, except for the two grooms, Hawk, and me. The four of us decided to go explore a Chinese New Year street festival taking place across Columbus Ave.
Columbus Avenue is an interesting collision of cultures. It's the backbone of the North Beach neighborhood, San Francisco's "Little Italy". It's also the edge of Chinatown. Lampposts on the street are adorned with the Italian tricolor... but some of the shops and restaurants are Chinese. And if you round any corner turning west from Columbus, the businesses are 100% Chinese.
Chinese New Year isn't until January 25 this year (it's a Lunar New Year, so it doesn't land on the same date on our solar calendar) but it's customarily celebrated with up to 15 days of festivities. That's why this street fair is in full swing a full week ahead of Lunar New Year.
Anyway, the four of us walked the fair for a bit then sat down for dinner at one of the dozens (if not hundreds) of Chinese restaurants in the area. The two grooms-to-be had to split after that. They needed to get home to do laundry, they said. Hawk and I only had to go 0.7 miles across town. We're staying over tonight at the Palace Hotel. We've got tickets to a comedy show tonight, and tomorrow we might do some sightseeing or shopping before heading across the Golden Gate for some hiking near Mt. Tamalpais.
We're in San Francisco today and tonight. Hawk needed to get fitted for clothes for a wedding in which she's part of the groom's party. The groom and the other groom (yes, it's a gay wedding, commence countdown to end of world) had most of their posses there to get fitted at the same time with the same tailor.
We arrived mid-afternoon at the tailor's shop north of the financial district. The tailor came out to tell us that things were running a bit long with the previous customer so we'd need to come back in 15 minutes. We used the extra time for a bit of street photography.
...Well, I used the 15 minutes for street photography of the Transamerica Pyramid from Columbus Avenue. Everyone else in the group was getting coffee at the coffee shop behind me. 🤣
After the fittings the rest of the grooms' parties melted away, except for the two grooms, Hawk, and me. The four of us decided to go explore a Chinese New Year street festival taking place across Columbus Ave.
Columbus Avenue is an interesting collision of cultures. It's the backbone of the North Beach neighborhood, San Francisco's "Little Italy". It's also the edge of Chinatown. Lampposts on the street are adorned with the Italian tricolor... but some of the shops and restaurants are Chinese. And if you round any corner turning west from Columbus, the businesses are 100% Chinese.
Chinese New Year isn't until January 25 this year (it's a Lunar New Year, so it doesn't land on the same date on our solar calendar) but it's customarily celebrated with up to 15 days of festivities. That's why this street fair is in full swing a full week ahead of Lunar New Year.
Anyway, the four of us walked the fair for a bit then sat down for dinner at one of the dozens (if not hundreds) of Chinese restaurants in the area. The two grooms-to-be had to split after that. They needed to get home to do laundry, they said. Hawk and I only had to go 0.7 miles across town. We're staying over tonight at the Palace Hotel. We've got tickets to a comedy show tonight, and tomorrow we might do some sightseeing or shopping before heading across the Golden Gate for some hiking near Mt. Tamalpais.