Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Photos Of San Francisco

My wife and I arrived in San Francisco during a period where it was pouring nearly every day.

San Francisco coastline with the Bay bridge in the distance


The San Francisco coastline was cloudy most of the time with a few exceptions of a few days of sun which we made full use of by doing the tourist thing and keep snapping pictures like a Japanese tourist on vacation. ;-)

San Francisco's most famous landmark - the Golden Gate bridge


A closeup of The Golden Gate bridge


Where weak local chess players are sent to
and forced to read Eric Schiller's books everyday

Just kidding - it's Alcatraz Island :)


One of the many gulls around Fisherman's Wharf


While my wife went to do her shopping, I can't help but head down to the Mechanics' Institute in downtown San Francisco.


The Mechanics' Institute

It's not the most noticeable place if you drive past it but it's impossible to miss when you're on foot. I respected the privacy of the libraries which are on the first 2 levels so I decided against taking photos of the libraries (even from the outside). Do give the library a tour, there's a free tour every Wednesday at noon.

If you head up to the top floor and walk down the corridor from the lift and make a left turn, USA's oldest chess club beckons.... :)


Hallway to USA's oldest chess club

The hallway is adorned with a few pictures and I can't help but take a picture of these 2.

Eagle-eyed observers will recognise the GM in the left picture giving simuls. Yes, it's none other than the recently passed away 7th World Champion Vasily Smyslov.


Inside the chess club

I refrained from taking more photos because there were some social players having a few games and I didn't want to disturb them. Sorry!

5 comments:

  1. GREAT picture of the seagull! That is cool. I want to try and get some shots like that.

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  2. Not too long ago i saw a documentary movie about the Golden Gate Bridge called The Bridge which really struck me.

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  3. Tommyg: I had to be pretty quick with the camera to get that shot. That gull in the pix was actually flying all over the place. I took about 4-5 rapid shots on my camera before I got this one.

    It definitely wasn't as easy as it looked. :)

    CMoB: I've not seen the movie yet but looking at the synopsis, it's very depressing. Over here in Sydney, we have a similar suicide magnet at the rocks. It's called the Gap. We had a newscaster suffering from depression jumping from there just last year.

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  4. tanc (happyhippo): It's tragic.

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  5. Nice pictures. I'll have to make a stop at the Mechanic's on my next visit to San Francisco.

    Bird photography is challenging but fun. That's the beauty of digital photography, just hold the button down and let it rip. You're bound to get some nice shots. Delete what you don't want and move on.

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