Our trip to Chinatown with Cousin Pam...
... which was our second day in San Francisco. Stopped by to see Aunt Louise at the Broadmore. Pam decided to go with us so we set out walking, intending to get at least as far as the first cable car. When we got there, looked at the cable car, calculated the $15 it would cost the three of us to ride about 1/2 mile, and then looked down the street and saw where we wanted to be, we decided just to walk. Pam said "Now that I've looked at one it's just as good as the experience of riding one." By the way, everything seems to be either up the street or down the street here.
We arrived at Chinatown and found the famous gated entrance. From there we started wandering back through the streets looking at all the shops and all the people. Everything is for sale there, including this bucket of toads. We passed a blind man on the street playing a one string instrument with a bow called an Ehru - it sounded a bit like a musical saw. Suddenly we heard the sound of a marching band - it's a small band of Caucasians dressed in old fashioned uniforms like the Salvation Army banging and toodling away. They headed a long funeral procession of cars hurling yellow strips of paper about the size of dollar bills to the crowd. The hearse had a huge box of flowers on the top with a large portrait of the deceased, an elderly Chinese lady. So it was a traditional Chinese funeral complete with a band playing western style marches and hymns and throwing fake money - the yellow strips of paper.
The band by the way is famous. Called "The Green Street Mortuary Band" it has even had a poem written about it by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Everyone stopped to look at a piece of the loopy China Town culture marching by, except for the guy on the one string violin. He just kept sawing away, oblivious to everything.
We walked down to Portsmouth Square, the 'heart of Chinatown' as the tour book says. I thought it was delightful. There are whole families there, the grandmothers setting on benches, the children playing on the playground equipment, and a few yards from the playground, tucked under some trees for shade, are the men, playing cards and gambling. And they look very serious about it. An historical note: this is what the Square looked like a hundred years ago after the great earthquake.
As we sat there enjoying the scene we began talking about the weather. Pam tells us it is usually foggy in the morning and can get hot, as it was this morning, but that around noon the wind comes up and cools everything off. No sooner does she say this then a wind springs up. I look at my watch: 11:55.
Just about time for things to cool off, and for us to find a place for lunch.
... which was our second day in San Francisco. Stopped by to see Aunt Louise at the Broadmore. Pam decided to go with us so we set out walking, intending to get at least as far as the first cable car. When we got there, looked at the cable car, calculated the $15 it would cost the three of us to ride about 1/2 mile, and then looked down the street and saw where we wanted to be, we decided just to walk. Pam said "Now that I've looked at one it's just as good as the experience of riding one." By the way, everything seems to be either up the street or down the street here.
We arrived at Chinatown and found the famous gated entrance. From there we started wandering back through the streets looking at all the shops and all the people. Everything is for sale there, including this bucket of toads. We passed a blind man on the street playing a one string instrument with a bow called an Ehru - it sounded a bit like a musical saw. Suddenly we heard the sound of a marching band - it's a small band of Caucasians dressed in old fashioned uniforms like the Salvation Army banging and toodling away. They headed a long funeral procession of cars hurling yellow strips of paper about the size of dollar bills to the crowd. The hearse had a huge box of flowers on the top with a large portrait of the deceased, an elderly Chinese lady. So it was a traditional Chinese funeral complete with a band playing western style marches and hymns and throwing fake money - the yellow strips of paper.
The band by the way is famous. Called "The Green Street Mortuary Band" it has even had a poem written about it by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Everyone stopped to look at a piece of the loopy China Town culture marching by, except for the guy on the one string violin. He just kept sawing away, oblivious to everything.
We walked down to Portsmouth Square, the 'heart of Chinatown' as the tour book says. I thought it was delightful. There are whole families there, the grandmothers setting on benches, the children playing on the playground equipment, and a few yards from the playground, tucked under some trees for shade, are the men, playing cards and gambling. And they look very serious about it. An historical note: this is what the Square looked like a hundred years ago after the great earthquake.
As we sat there enjoying the scene we began talking about the weather. Pam tells us it is usually foggy in the morning and can get hot, as it was this morning, but that around noon the wind comes up and cools everything off. No sooner does she say this then a wind springs up. I look at my watch: 11:55.
Just about time for things to cool off, and for us to find a place for lunch.
posted by Clemens | 10:14 PM
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