Week 3 ~ Sep 3rd 2006
"Iam going to explore San Francisco's museums". This was the vow I had in mind when I went to bed the previous day after a grinding trip to Sacramento. Sometime back I was browsing the net and chanced upon a website which described how a family spent their vacation in San Francisco. I had made a mental note then to visit the Palace of fine arts, the Palace of legion of honour, the Cable Car museum and the California academy of sciences. I jotted down the bus routes and schedules for all these places before I went to bed. I woke up pretty late considering the ground that I had to walk the prvious day (but I had factored the time when I charted my plan for the day).
My first stop was Palace of fine arts or exploratorium as it is called. This museum is located near the golden gate bridge and I had to take a bus from near the montgomery BART station (at the intersection of Sutter and Kearney). Bus#45 took me to Lyon and Greenwich from where the Palace of fine arts was a few blocks away. The museum was shaped like a doom and was erected to commemorate the opening of the panama canal. Contrary to its name, the museum is a science exhibition (like the Birla planetorium in chennai which I had never visited). It had plenty of "how things work" exhibits. There were plenty of kids hovering around each of these exhibits watching with an intensity and interest that reminded me of our rare school visit to a laboratory in KV IIT. The exhibits were fascinating and "try me" experiments educates on so many things that we come across in our day to day life but for which we give a damn. I was glued to an exhibit on how motor cars work. It was surreal. The section on lights and colors was fascinating
Next was the Palace of Legion of Honor. I had to catch bus#28 to park presidio blvd from near the Palace of fine arts. It was here that I fumbled again. I took the bus which went the wrong way only to end up in a god forsaken place. (ironically this was the same place where I had landed a month back when myself and a colleague made the same mistake of taking a bus the wrong way). Luckily the place happened to be the last stop for bus#28 and the same bus returned quickly to make the return trip. I got down at Park presidio and Geary, walked a few blocks and caught bus#38 to get down at 42nd avenue and clement. The San Francisco trip planner website (www.511.org) stated that the museum lied closer to the bus stop but I couldn't spot the place. On futher inquiries I was pointed to the museum up the 32nd avenue (there was a stop there as a matter of fact). The hardest part was a steep hike to reach the museum. I was absolutely panting when I reached the top. The Palace of Legion is atop a hill and is surrounded by lush greenery and a view of the bay. The place was so idyllic and scenic to the hilt. There was a marriage photo op on the lush lawns. But to my surprise there was a huge queue in front of the museum waiting to purchase tickets. The crowd moved slowly and I was losing patience by the minute. This was so untypical of the places that I had visited in the US in the sense that there was just too much crowd. I was also wondering aloud why the hell does purchasing a ticket take 2 hours and that too in a country like the US. I remember vividly the fact that one can go and purchase tickets to Taj Mahal within a matter of minutes.
After an agonising 2 hours I managed to finally purchase a ticket (The time was inching closer to 4:00 PM when the museum was supposed to close. We were continually assured by a museum staff that there were still 300 tickets left for the day). The ticket included a visit to the Monet (the french art gallery) and was dicounted for public transport riders (I was one of the beneficiaries). Once inside the museum, I was not prepared for what I saw. It was a art museum whereas I had imagined the Palace of Legion to be a muesum dedicated to war/war memorial. I had also read in the internet that there was a jewish holocaust museum inside the legion but saw no such signs. The paintings were impressive though and I got to see Mr.Rembrandt in full splendor. Some of the exhibits run back to 300 years. I have never been an art enthusiast and was impatient to move out after a cursory look. I hopped back to the Monet exhibition only to find a huge queue waiting to enter. It looked like the legion is not a place to visit in hurry. I skipped Monet. None of the museum staff I spoke to had any clue on the jewish holocaust museum. I left the legion disappointed. I wandered around the glass pyramid on the front porch of the museum to reach the enterance and take in a view of the scenic settings. That was when I noticed a inscription on a wall nearby which said jewish memorial. Somehow I was mistaken and presumed the words memorial to museum all along. There was never a jewish museum, it was only a memorial. The memorial encompassed a wall with a figurine of 5 men lying face down with blood splattered around. It was a grim reminder of the human tragedy that shook the world. After paying my due repects to those poor souls I moved on to my next stop. I still had 2 places to visit. The California academy of sciences and the Cable car museum. Both were situated in the financial district but I had to choose one among them as 5:00 PM was fast approaching (most museums in San Francisco close by 5:00). I decided to go to the cable car museum as that sounded exciting.
I went to the 32nd avenue and california street and waited for bus#1 that would take me to Mason street. I called the Muni (Municipal transport) office and checked the bus timings. I was well on time to catch the bus. Once at Mason, one could easily spot the Cable car museum. The museum has a free entry and has 2 floors. The basement has huge wheels churnings ropes.From the exhibits and the videos, I learnt that San Francisco was abounding with cable cars (as many as 26 cable car companies had operated in the late 1800s). Cable cars were the mode of transport in San Francisco due to the steep hills and winding roads. The horse carriages used those days proved ineffective as the horses wouldn't mount the hills with a heavier load (also horse shit was turning to be a nightmare for waste disposal). The first cable car was introduced in 1881 and cable cars was the most popular medium of transport till the great earthquake in 1906 shook the hell out of San Francisco. All the cable cars were destroyed and the tracks plucked out of their bearings. It was only in the 1960s that cable car tracks were restored and the cars started plying in San Francisco (all due to the efforts of a woman who spearheaded a movement to restore the historic cable cars). The museum has an exhibit of a restored cable car in all its historic demeanor. The videos recounted the aftermath of the great earthquake and the relief efforts. I watched the huge wheels turning the ropes and understood from the many exhibits on the engineering marvel. The cable cars are operated by giant ropes that move underneath the tracks. There are 2 hubs that operate the ropes (one was inside the museum and the other elsewhere) and it runs all through the night. The maintenace of these cars cost the city a fortune but they have become a symbol of San Francisco that the city is determined to operate them. Needless to say tourism is the biggest industry in San Francisco
My first stop was Palace of fine arts or exploratorium as it is called. This museum is located near the golden gate bridge and I had to take a bus from near the montgomery BART station (at the intersection of Sutter and Kearney). Bus#45 took me to Lyon and Greenwich from where the Palace of fine arts was a few blocks away. The museum was shaped like a doom and was erected to commemorate the opening of the panama canal. Contrary to its name, the museum is a science exhibition (like the Birla planetorium in chennai which I had never visited). It had plenty of "how things work" exhibits. There were plenty of kids hovering around each of these exhibits watching with an intensity and interest that reminded me of our rare school visit to a laboratory in KV IIT. The exhibits were fascinating and "try me" experiments educates on so many things that we come across in our day to day life but for which we give a damn. I was glued to an exhibit on how motor cars work. It was surreal. The section on lights and colors was fascinating
Next was the Palace of Legion of Honor. I had to catch bus#28 to park presidio blvd from near the Palace of fine arts. It was here that I fumbled again. I took the bus which went the wrong way only to end up in a god forsaken place. (ironically this was the same place where I had landed a month back when myself and a colleague made the same mistake of taking a bus the wrong way). Luckily the place happened to be the last stop for bus#28 and the same bus returned quickly to make the return trip. I got down at Park presidio and Geary, walked a few blocks and caught bus#38 to get down at 42nd avenue and clement. The San Francisco trip planner website (www.511.org) stated that the museum lied closer to the bus stop but I couldn't spot the place. On futher inquiries I was pointed to the museum up the 32nd avenue (there was a stop there as a matter of fact). The hardest part was a steep hike to reach the museum. I was absolutely panting when I reached the top. The Palace of Legion is atop a hill and is surrounded by lush greenery and a view of the bay. The place was so idyllic and scenic to the hilt. There was a marriage photo op on the lush lawns. But to my surprise there was a huge queue in front of the museum waiting to purchase tickets. The crowd moved slowly and I was losing patience by the minute. This was so untypical of the places that I had visited in the US in the sense that there was just too much crowd. I was also wondering aloud why the hell does purchasing a ticket take 2 hours and that too in a country like the US. I remember vividly the fact that one can go and purchase tickets to Taj Mahal within a matter of minutes.
After an agonising 2 hours I managed to finally purchase a ticket (The time was inching closer to 4:00 PM when the museum was supposed to close. We were continually assured by a museum staff that there were still 300 tickets left for the day). The ticket included a visit to the Monet (the french art gallery) and was dicounted for public transport riders (I was one of the beneficiaries). Once inside the museum, I was not prepared for what I saw. It was a art museum whereas I had imagined the Palace of Legion to be a muesum dedicated to war/war memorial. I had also read in the internet that there was a jewish holocaust museum inside the legion but saw no such signs. The paintings were impressive though and I got to see Mr.Rembrandt in full splendor. Some of the exhibits run back to 300 years. I have never been an art enthusiast and was impatient to move out after a cursory look. I hopped back to the Monet exhibition only to find a huge queue waiting to enter. It looked like the legion is not a place to visit in hurry. I skipped Monet. None of the museum staff I spoke to had any clue on the jewish holocaust museum. I left the legion disappointed. I wandered around the glass pyramid on the front porch of the museum to reach the enterance and take in a view of the scenic settings. That was when I noticed a inscription on a wall nearby which said jewish memorial. Somehow I was mistaken and presumed the words memorial to museum all along. There was never a jewish museum, it was only a memorial. The memorial encompassed a wall with a figurine of 5 men lying face down with blood splattered around. It was a grim reminder of the human tragedy that shook the world. After paying my due repects to those poor souls I moved on to my next stop. I still had 2 places to visit. The California academy of sciences and the Cable car museum. Both were situated in the financial district but I had to choose one among them as 5:00 PM was fast approaching (most museums in San Francisco close by 5:00). I decided to go to the cable car museum as that sounded exciting.
I went to the 32nd avenue and california street and waited for bus#1 that would take me to Mason street. I called the Muni (Municipal transport) office and checked the bus timings. I was well on time to catch the bus. Once at Mason, one could easily spot the Cable car museum. The museum has a free entry and has 2 floors. The basement has huge wheels churnings ropes.From the exhibits and the videos, I learnt that San Francisco was abounding with cable cars (as many as 26 cable car companies had operated in the late 1800s). Cable cars were the mode of transport in San Francisco due to the steep hills and winding roads. The horse carriages used those days proved ineffective as the horses wouldn't mount the hills with a heavier load (also horse shit was turning to be a nightmare for waste disposal). The first cable car was introduced in 1881 and cable cars was the most popular medium of transport till the great earthquake in 1906 shook the hell out of San Francisco. All the cable cars were destroyed and the tracks plucked out of their bearings. It was only in the 1960s that cable car tracks were restored and the cars started plying in San Francisco (all due to the efforts of a woman who spearheaded a movement to restore the historic cable cars). The museum has an exhibit of a restored cable car in all its historic demeanor. The videos recounted the aftermath of the great earthquake and the relief efforts. I watched the huge wheels turning the ropes and understood from the many exhibits on the engineering marvel. The cable cars are operated by giant ropes that move underneath the tracks. There are 2 hubs that operate the ropes (one was inside the museum and the other elsewhere) and it runs all through the night. The maintenace of these cars cost the city a fortune but they have become a symbol of San Francisco that the city is determined to operate them. Needless to say tourism is the biggest industry in San Francisco
posted by Prakash at
9:01 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home