SAN FRANCISCO AREA
Touring the Area
We had many wonderful adventures in the San Francisco area. Rod toured me around Alameda, the island in the Bay where he'd grown up and spent many of his adult years. This was the family home.
Then we toured Berkeley and saw his father's parents' shingled home in the hills there, with its magnificent view over the bay. It was built at the turn of the last century, and stood by itself with no neighbors at the time.
As we walked around outside, a neighbor came and took us to meet the present owners, who very kindly gave us a tour. Rod says a piano is in exactly the same spot as he remembers, and the interior had remained much the same.
This is the highschool Rod attended. Later his father was principal there and his office was the window to the left of the columns. Sandra thought the architecture was impressive, and liked the concrete square with the class year in them.
The Congregational Church that Rod & his family attended had unusual architecture and lovely stained glass windows.
Another day we toured Oakland and visited Jack London Square. Here's a sculpture of the author.
And here's where he used to drink.
At this area of Oakland, there was also this wall of tiles on "Peacemaking: The Power of Non-Violence".
This was such a startling sight on the Alameda-Oakland estuary, like something out of a futuristic movie - in fact, Rod told Sandra that the idea had been used for the horses in Star Wars. They are actually cranes that load & unload 40' containers onto cargo ships.
In the Santa Clara area, we came upon this sculpture entitled "Our Lady of Peace". Sandra is included here to show her relative size.
She appeared to be made of polished stainless steel, her clothing in hundreds of individual pieces. She was beautiful, majestic …. and haunting.
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For more sights in the San Francisco area, see "Day on the Bay".
