Trolley Tour

We thoroughly enjoyed a Trolley Tour on Sunday, a joint venture between SF City Guides and the Market Street Railway (Bill's love!). All aboard had a fun ride (with docents from both organizations) on the Embarcadero, to the Castro, and back to the Railway Museum for refreshments. When we passed Lotta's Fountain I gave the guide my cell phone to play the aria sung by Luisa Tettrazzini in 1909 (Romeo and Juliet). All was very festive. The trolley on which we traveled was a 1950s SF trolley. Bill's eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Scarlet Slippers trolley from Newark.

Bill & Beth circled

Bay to Breakers

Au naturale

Enjoyed the zany Bay to Breakers 'race' today. 50K registered, at least 50K more walked as we watched from the Hayes Street Hill. Here's a teaser of the type of costumes worn or not worn. We can't go again without costume. So, next year, maybe we'll derive a Wrigley's Gum costume and entitled ourselves 'GUMMERS'! Click on and enlarge the collage to see all the photos we took. Soooo many black swans, all sorts of animals, crazy hats/clothes, Victorian-dressed ladies and gentlemen, a bag(s) lady, a terrorist, bacon slices!, muffin tops, Blue Men, even a Stanford 'bush' look-alike, and, of course, many au naturale!

Off to 'work'

The Docent off to work

Bill loves trolleys! When a kid he'd ride his bike to the depot in Newark (NJ) to see the trolleys, talk to the conductors, and just hang around. He found a perfect fit in San Francisco as a volunteer steward for the historic Market Street Railway http://www.streetcar.org/. At the end of the line at the Castro, Bill spends a couple of hours every other Saturday spiffing up the (13) trolleys in rotation in service that day; sweeping, picking up trash, replenishing the supply of brochures, answering tourists' questions. His jacket says he's a Docent - how cool!


The fleet of trolleys is from around the world, Milan, Sydney, London, Barcelona, USA cities. Bill is awaiting arrival of his beloved Newark trolleys 'Scarlet Slippers', so named for their red wheels.


A perk he gets at his job are some of the sights at the Castro - like a couple of guys hanging out wearing hats only!

Graduation!

Had a great day - we're official San Francisco City Guides.
http://www.sfcityguides.org/

Darth Vader and friends

Inventor (digital) & gardens

At the opening of George Lucas's (Star War's creator) complex in the Presidio in 2005, he said he chose San Francisco for the site of his empire because it is where 'digital' was invented. The complex is surrounded by beautiful gardens with lovely walkways, and Jedi master Yoda greets visitors atop a  stone fountain at the front door.

Darth Vader and a few of his other friends stand in the lobby. Amazingly, also placed prominently in the lobby is a beautiful marble IBM typewriter. How could something I've used earlier in my life already be set in stone!!

Yoda Fountain

The one and only!

'My' old IBM typewriter!

Not attending Royal Wedding!

In December 1994 Bill spent two hours with Prince William - and his mother and kid brother - when they traveled together in the first class cabin of a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Denver. He was hoping for an invitation to the Royal Wedding, but  Prince William must have forgotten the time they spent together! We'll just have to settle for tea and crumpets before the 'telly'.

Our 'Finals' - Group Tours

Part of my group tour yesterday on Historic Market Street, which is now Bill’s assigned tour, was a stop at Lotta’s Fountain. This is an architectural tour with stories that surround the history of the buildings / monuments / transportation on 'The Path of Gold'.

Lotta Crabtree

I told the story of Lotta Crabtree, the darling of San Francisco entertainment in the 1850s, who repaid the City with a gift of a fountain that became the central meeting place at the time of the 1906 earthquake, and today still a gathering place. 








Luisa Tetrazzini, the greatest opera singer of her day, was also beloved by San Franciscans, and in the aftermath of the earthquake gave the City a gift of a concert on Christmas Eve 1910 at Lotta's Fountain. Expecting 10K to attend, 150K thonged the streets, and the crowd best loved the an aria from Gounod’s Romeo & Juliet which, with its many high notes, could be heard two blocks away! I then played an Itunes recording of her singing this piece, but here’s a YouTube of her singing The Last Rose of Summer she also sang at the concert.

Tetrazzini Concert at Lotta's Fountain

Turkey Tetrazzini was named after Luisa, widely believed to have been created by the chef at the Palace Hotel in honor of this popular woman of 'girth'!