Across the other side of the bay from San Fransico

Mill Valley - across the bay on the same side as Tiburon, Sausalito, the Napa Valley and Sonoma country.

Our friends live in the house in the middle of the photo.  The views from every part of the house are of green everywhere.  To wake up to this view and often with the swirling mist and fog is quite magical.

Warren and Jane the owners of the magical house with Andrew at one of the wineries in the Sonoma Valley.

A view of another of the wineries.

And a couple of stainglass windows inside a winery.

Another theatre excursion in Mill Valley - we saw August Wilson's Seven Guitars.

Seats outside the theatre.

San Francisco continued

San Francisco through the morning fog.

One can never take too many photos of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Looking down from the top of Coit Tower.

The murals on the walls of the top floor of the Coit Tower were inspired and influenced by Diego Rivera and the painting of the murals was in itself a job creation scheme for the unemployed.

Alcatraz sitting lonely and majestic in the bay.

Sausalito in the fog.

San Francisco

A view of San Francisco from Coit Tower.

The Golden Gate Bridge as seen from the ferry early in the morning coming across the bay from Sausalito with the morning fog whirling about.

A view of the bridge later in the day when the fog has cleared.



The streets of San Francisco.  Only Wellington in New Zealand has such steep streets.  The two cities are not unlike each other in so many ways.

 

A San Francisco trolley bus passing one of the pagoda like structures at the start of Chinatown.

A colourful building in Chinatown.

A less colourful but nevertheless imposing building also in Chinatown.  We had a simple, inexpensive and delicious lunch at one of the many back alleys.

A distant view of Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world.  They had to make the roads so as to reduce the steepness I think.

Last impressions of Chicago

The view of the city from the Signature Lounge of the Hancock Tower.  For the price of an expensive cocktail you can get a fabulous view of the city which is still cheaper than the view from the very slightly taller formerly Sears, now Willis Tower.  But at the Willis Tower you can actually stand, or lie, on a completely transparent glass floor - not an attractive prospect for me with my extreme fear of heights - I prefer to be behind strong visual barriers when I look down.

Another view from the Hancock Tower, of the beach and the coastline of  Lake Michigan.

Tonja and me both with some shade of purple in our hair.

People and more things of interest in Chicago

As well as the man who danced with his wife, Tonja, Matthew and Zebo the schnoodle, my grand dog, live in Chicago.

The little farmers' market at Glenwood is held every Sunday near the Morse EL stop.

The cheeses in the US are marvellous and to us Australians remarkably well priced, unlike bread which can be quite sweetish, fairly unpalatable and expensive.  San Francisco sour dough excepted and apologies to the artisan breads available which we did not taste.  Expensive nevertheless.  Bakers are obviously much better paid than cheese makers which is a surprise.

If you click on the photo and enlarge it you will see in the right hand corner many hued eggplants not seen in OZ much.

A Mexican music and dance troupe at the Glenwood weekend festival, all free concerts and shows.

An attractive singer with a large body and an even larger voice, singing cabaret,  The Ubique Theatre, which does cabaret near the Heartland Cafe at Morse, unfortunately did not have any shows on while we were in Chicago but we caught this free act at the weekend festival.

This drunk woman I think must have been someone before she hit the bottle.  She kept wanting to be part of the show, especially the singing.  As she sashayed and moved in an animated manner, she kept calling out that she too had sung on Broadway.  I believed her, but was so saddened by how looks and talent can evaporate.

More sights and cultural stuff in and around Chicago

The Bahai House of Worship at Wilmette, Illionois, one of Chicago's outlying suburbs is one of only seven Bahai temples in the world.  Each temple has its own distinctive design but they all conform to a consistent theme - a nine sided structure covered by a single dome symbolising the unity of all people and religions under God as well as an area of garden which encircles the temple.

From the short film we watched at the visitors centre, we both came to the conclusion that the Bahai faith seems to be the most reasonable, tolerant and dare I say, rational, of all religions.  It has no clergy and accepts no money from non-members. 



This building opposite the temple looked like it must have been part of it but it is labelled to be a private residence.  Its quite majestic proportions and stature invited it to be photographed nevertheless.

This free concert recital is in the Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center, a magnificently appointed building  at 78 East Washington Street. Completed in 1897 it was formerly the Chicago Public Library as well as a memorial to the Civil War Union Army veterans organisation.  The building was designed to impress and to prove that Chicago had grown into a sophisticated metropolis.

The dome of the Grand Army of the Republic rotunda and hall where the veterans used to meet.

In 1991 the building was established as the Chicago Cultural Center, the nation's first and most comprehensive free municipal cultural venue. 

I have to note here that we came to visit Chicago because my daughter and son-in-law live here.  The city however is well worth a visit for its own sake.  The amount of cultural activities available is astonishing and the rich architectural history is unique to this great city. Lots of free concerts, outdoor film screenings and neighbourhood weekend festivals and farmers markets.   Mind you...........I never visited in the winter....................

A view from the terrace

All these photos were taken in Tonja and Matthew's apartment (condo as they are referred to in the US when you are the owner).  Andrew is watching the annual Chicago Air and Boat Show from their balcony.

The direct view from the balcony and dining room.

The Navy Pier.

The beach in front of the apartment building.

The same beach on the day of the air show.

Fighter jets doing their stuff.

 

The view from their lounge.