Cultural Learnings in San Francisco

My conference in San Francisco was only one day so we had lots of time for sightseeing, including two full days spent exploring an amazing variety of world cultures without leaving the city! San Francisco is one of the most diverse cities I've visited, which makes it very interesting. In addition to the multi-ethnic population, we enjoyed rubbing elbows with many European tourists (especially Germans) again.

On Thursday, the major highlight for me was the magnificent Asian Art Museum, which I believe is the largest of its kind in the USA. It was even better than I'd hoped, with wonderful Indian sculptures and Buddhist statues and Chinese pottery from 1000+ BC to the modern day. The museum is slick and modern and everything is beautifully displayed with informative labels. I could have spent days there. Here are a few of our favorite things:


A very cute bronze rhino from c.1100 BC.


This weird little fella was part of a bronze horse bridle made in ancient Persia between 1000 and 650 BC.


This Buddha is very special because it's the earliest dated Buddhist statue in China: 338 AD. Buddhism arrived in China on the Silk Road from India 200 years earlier.


My yaki udon in Cafe Asia inside the museum was quite delicious. David had Korean Pork that was also very nice.

Next we headed to the Mission District,s named for the interesting Mission Dolores, which combines Spanish and Native American cultures. It was completed by Spanish missionaries on June 29, 1776 (five days before the Declaration of Independence) and is the oldest building in San Francisco.


It is from this mission, which is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, that San Francisco gets its name.


Interior of the mission chapel.


Most of the chapel was decorated by Native American converts, including the ceiling painted with traditional designs.

And finally, we visited the Castro, known for its gay culture. It wasn't quite as interesting as we expected, although there were plenty of rainbow flags fluttering picturesquely in the wind, lots of hair salons, and several off-color shops. We had some of the best cookies ever in a place called "Hot Cookie," where we had to avert our eyes from the photos on the wall.




The Castro theater was playing the movie Milk and advertising an upcoming appearance from Joan Rivers.

Next time: Chinatown, Japantown, and the Fillmore District.