Well, today is Christmas Day not that you would really know it because it's about 22 degrees with brilliant sunshine and most of the shops are open apart from the big department stores like Macy's. Jane is just as bad today so we just had a short stroll around some of the shops again till lunchtime then walked back to the hotel for some lunch. After that Jane just wanted to have some sleep as her cough wasn't getting any better so I thought I'd go and walk to some of the out of the way places that were worth a visit but not the sort places that you would spend hours there, plus they tended to be a bit spread out, but the best way to find some good spots off the beaten track is to wander the side streets.
I started off at the bottom of Market Street where the cable cars turn round then headed east to California Avenue where the other cable cars are then headed straight up California Avenue, this is one of the steepest roads in the area and climbs about 500 feet in a couple of miles but it's when you look back down the road you've come up you realize just how high you have climbed with some fantastic views down to the bay. After about an hour of walking, I finally reached the top and my first port of call, Huntington Park, it’s not very big but it's the most peaceful and beautiful park I've ever had the pleasure of sitting in for an hour so. This is a brief history of how Huntington Park came to be:-
In 1872, on this site, at the corner of California and Taylor, railroad attorney, General David D. Colton, built one of the most elaborate residences ever seen in San Francisco. The classic white wooden mansion featured an entry flight of marble steps leading to a great portico of Corinthian columns. General Colton, his wife, and their two daughters entertained in the mansion with style and splendor. General Colton died in 1878 and shortly thereafter his widow, Ellen, closed the house and moved to Washington DC. In 1892, Central Pacific railroad baron, Collis P. Huntington, purchased the house where he lived with his wife, Arabella, until the time of his death in 1900. Mrs. Huntington occupied the home until its destruction in the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. Mrs. Huntington donated the land to the City of San Francisco to remain in perpetuity as a park for all the people of the City to enjoy. The Fountain of the Tortoises, a replica of one in Rome, features a mélange of cavorting turtles and nymphs and is lit by eight underwater halogen lamps that, during the holidays, are changed from clear to red, amber and green and is sighted in the center of the park.
Beginning in the late 1970s, the park became a continuing restoration and preservation project of the Nob Hill Association in cooperation with the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.
After watching the hummingbirds fly around for a while, taking in the air and sitting in the sun in the quite of the mid-afternoon on Christmas Day what more could you ask for. Just across the road from the park is Grace Cathedral which is one of the largest cathedrals on the west coast. The inside is massive and the stained glass windows are some of the biggest I've seen and the detail on the stonework on the outside its fabulous, is hard to imagine how much time, effort and skill went into this building. The area around here is called Nob Hill and is a fantastic mix of old shops and houses from the nineteen twenty's, is not only litter free round here is also beggar free as well, I think that has something to do with it being an affluent neighborhood though.
After spending some time wandering around taking photographs I headed back down Powell Street, it’s just as tough walking down hills this steep as up them, looking for a pizza restaurant that I wanted to try before we went home. Eventually, I ended at Union Square so it was time for a sandwich for a late lunch. It was still only about 3:30 so jumped on the bus that was going past to Powell Street station then caught the first tram that comes along that was going outbound, luckily it was heading to the beach so 30 minutes later I was strolling along the
sand until I came to Cliff House, by now the sun started to go down and I was a sheer pleasure to sit there and watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. I then ended up walking back up the beach and passed people who gather here on warm evenings and light fires on the beach until I got to where the other tram line ends and jumped on one there back to the city. Even on Christmas Day the trams and buses still run a Sunday service but that's a higher frequency than a normal weekday here, plus there were a lot of people using it but I think it is the second warmest December on record had something to do with it. I finally got back to the hotel at about 6pm totally knackered and in desperate need of a tin of beer. Jane was starting to feel a bit better after spending the afternoon in bed so we had something to eat and spent the rest of the night watching the TV. It had been a long day with a lot of walking for me but it was worth every step I think, maybe my legs wouldn't agree with that.
