Japan and Flower Collection

Wednesday 18 April

Today it was muni (municipal transport) and walking. I haven't done a map but we walked up 9th and caught the muni from Market Street to Ocean Beach. Chris wanted a dollar off the beach. We walked along the beach towards the Golden Gate pausing briefly to look at the Snow Plovers in the surf; it was a very cold wind blowing off the ocean and we were glad to head up and into the shelter of Golden Gate Park. We made our way through the park past the Equestrian Center & Stadium, Elk Glen Lake and emerged on Lincoln Way at the junction with the 19th Ave.

We found a small shop for drinks, sandwiches etc and headed back to the park for a picnic next to Stow Lake.

Ducks etc., sat with us as we sat in the sun looking at the Huntington Falls opposite. The food was good and refreshed we headed for the Japanese Tea Garden.

The detail on the Gate brought back many fond memories of our visit to Japan. As in Japan water was an important part of the gardens with waterfalls, calm pools and stepping stones; there were even cranes...

Blue Jays, I think, added a California touch...

Pagodas, bridges, a variety of statues, a shop and a teahouse completed the gardens which are well worth a visit.

It was now time to head for the Conservatory of Flowers. Only reopened in September 2003, it was modeled after a greenhouse in London's Kew Gardens. The contents were well presented and the automated 'mists' added to the feeling of tropical rain forests. The flowers had an added beauty with the droplets on their petals.

There will be more images on flickr when I get round to uploading them. I did like the water plants in particular!

From the Conservatory we made our way back to get the muni from Irving Street back to Market Street.

Urban Market was the next port of call (becoming a habit) for a drink and to purchase chocolate biscuits.

M and B returned to the fold and there was a card to say Bec's camera case, battery etc. was at the Post Office for collection tomorrow after 10:00 (that's tomorrow morning sorted). We all headed off, by taxi, for a bar/art gallery prior to going for an Indian Meal (The restaurant B had taken M for her birthday); it was decided that the music was too loud so, a few phone calls later we headed for a bar/restaurant/micro-brewery. The 9 samples plus 2 pints prepared us fully for an excellent meal and the end of the penultimate day in San Francisco.

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