2011/11/san-francisco

This steep, one-block section of the Lombard Street consists of eight tight hairpin turns, wich make it one of the crookedest streets in the world.The switchback's design was born out of necessity in order to reduce the hill's natural 27% grade, which was too steep for most vehicles to climb. The speed limit in this section is 5 mph (8 km/h).After the windy part, the Lombard Street continues through the Telegraph Hill neighborhood, until it becomes Telegraph Hill Boulevard, where vehicles can access the Coit Tower. Funny, that behind the hill Lombard Street starts again for 2 blocks and finally terminates at The Embarcadero.Around the rotunda rows of Corinthian columns frame the walkway.Frieze sculpture at the top of the rotunda, inspired by the Greek culture.Atop the colonnade there are weeping women in every corner.The central rotunda, surrounded by the lagoon.The Palace of Fine Arts is a grandiose building wich was originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. This is the only structure of the few surviving ones which is still situated on its original site. The Palace intended to stand only for the duration of the Exhibition. Although it hadn't been built of durable materials, it was so beloved that it was saved from demolition. After years of various uses, in 1964 the building was reconstructed in permanent materials. Still in that decade it became home to the Exploratorium (an interactive museum) and the Palace of Fine Arts Theater.The Exploratorium is a museum of science, art, and human perception in San Francisco. It is similar to the Hungarian 'Palace of Miracles' (Csodák Palotája), just about five-times larger. It was founded in 1969 by physicist and educator Frank Oppenheimer, who was the younger brother of J. Robert Oppenheimer, often called the Hands-on exhibits explore biology, physics, listening, cognition, and visual perception in the Exploratorium. You can really touch and try everything.The red arch was built on a hinged building surface. Once the blocks were correctly positioned over an outline of the arch, we lifted the wooden platform to bring the blocks to a vertical position. Then we lowered the backboard, leaving the arch free-standing. The shape the arch takes is called a catenary. The catenary is the curve that an idealized hanging cable or chain with very short links assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends.Cable cars were invented in 1873 by Andrew Hallidie to climb the hills of San Francisco. Many cities once had cable cars, but today, San Francisco's 3 lines are the only ones left in the world. The single-ended Powell Street cars are the older of the two types now in service. The Powell cars have one open grip end and can be turned only with the help of the turntables built into the street at the ends of the lines.This cable car turntable is at the Hyde St - Beach St intersection. The long queue of people consists of tourists who want to ride the cable car. The two Powell Street lines (Powell-Hyde & Powell-Mason) use cable cars that are operable from only one end. They thus require turntables to reverse direction at the ends of the line. Mrs. Friedel Klussmann, the Cable Car Lady, led the campaign that saved the San Francisco cable cars in the late 1940's.There are a lot of various street artists around the Fisherman's Wharf.Balclutha is a three-masted, steel-hulled, square-rigged ship built to carry a variety of cargo all over the world. It was launched in 1886.… from Marina Green.The Golden Gate Bridge was the longest span in the world from its completion in 1937 until 1964. Today, it still has the ninth-longest suspension span in the world.On the left, beneath the southern side of the bridge Fort Point can be seen. First, Spain built a Is our piano there? :)The structure features seven-foot-thick walls and multi tiered constrution.As seen from Fort Point. On the picture one can find the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts, the pinnacle of the Transamerica Pyramid, the Coit Tower and the pillars of the Bay Bridge.The Golden Gate Bridge's paint color is orange vermillion, also called international orange (CYMK 0%, 69%, 100%, 6%). Architect Irving Morrow selected the distinctive orange color because it blends well with the span's natural setting and it also provides enhanced visibility for passing ships. The term Golden Gate refers to the Golden Gate Strait which is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean, and not related with the color of the bridge.… as seen from Twin Peaks. The bright strip in the middle is Market Street.… as seen from Twin Peaks.