Back from the Left Coast

I know that it’s been a little while (and thank one of the globetrotters for reminding me that it’s been a little too long). To make up for my negligence, this entry is going to be a bit longer than usual with some photos of my recent trip to San Francisco – where fortunately, I did not have any Rice-A-Roni.

After a long week of work in the suburbs, Coldersthands joined me for a weekend of fun in downtown SF. We stayed the Grand Room of a little B&B in the Castro. It was far from luxurious, but met our needs: cheap and central.

Coldesthands and I before a night on the town. After a disco nap, we went out for some delicious drinks and dinner at Home, followed by more drinks at the Pilsner Inn. We then headed out for a bit of dancing (although we didn’t end up doing) at The Café. We had fun being openly catty (well, in French), and enjoying more beverages while ogling one of the hottest butch/femme couple I’ve ever seen.


The following day we took a picnic up to Golden Gate Park. It was sunny, and 21 degrees Celsius – not quite as cold as Montreal or Pittsburgh at this time of year... Needless to say, we soaked up the sun, and enjoyed the living (and very green) leaves on the trees.


On our walk back from the park, we passed through Haight-Ashbury. We were surprised to find Elmo tickled pink -- in the booze-induced way. I think the pressure of Elmo’s Christmas comeback is taking a toll on the poor fella. Photo credit: Coldesthands

After Coldesthands headed back to near-middle-America, I spent the day touring around North Beach. This is Coit Tower. I climbed the phallic structure right after taking this picture. The view from on top was amazing, but unfortunately none of my pictures do it justice, hence their exclusion.









This is one of the murals at the base of Coit Tower. The murals were painted in the 1930’s by José Moya del Piño. All of the murals depict locals at work at the time – this was my favourite one (I know, I’m predicable: throw in a manhole and and manual labour and watch Andrew take pictures!).









More men at work! Well, at least a statue of men in uniform. This statue commemorates the San Francisco Volunteer Firemen. I mean really, how could I not take a picture of a statue of firemen?












These statues freaked me out a bit. They are at the top of a 40 story building in the business district. They just look like grim reapers to me, and scream: “We are death, and we’re coming to get you.”







This is the main drag in North Beach, near the Lusty Lady and Larry Flint’s bar. I like the fact that you can see the rolling hills of the city, and that some old signs still remain.

Okay, that's it for now. I'll try to post more regularly now that I'm back on the right coast.