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San Francisco 2017, Christmas Edition

Just like in 2016, when I visited some San Francisco sites that I couldn’t visit during my Saturday excursions, I visited some sites at the end of 2017 that I couldn’t visit earlier for a couple different reasons.

Civic Center

Do you remember when I visited San Francisco’s Civic Center on Day 5?  I got some nice pictures of the civic buildings’ exteriors, but I couldn’t tour them because it was a Saturday.  I returned on a December weekday so I could tour the interiors.

The skies over City Hall were a lot clearer in December than they were on Day 5 in August.
Ed Lee, the mayor of San Francisco, had died unexpectedly less than a week earlier. There was a tribute to him outside City Hall. This reminded me of 20 years earlier, when I was in Paris with my mother. We came across a site where dozens of bouquets had been left. It turned out it was outside the tunnel where Princess Diana had died a few months earlier.

San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center

I started off my civic visits with a tour of the buildings of the San Francisco Performing War Memorial and Arts Center.  A kindly man gave me the tour.  Normally photography is not allowed on the tour.  But as I was the only person on the tour, my guide gave me okay to take pictures.  I was happy about that because now I get to share them with you!

Davies Symphony Hall, built in 1980, is the home to the San Francisco Symphony. Previously, the symphony played at the War Memorial Opera House.
Christmas decorations in the lobby of the War Memorial Opera House.
Ceiling light fixture in the War Memorial Opera House.
Curtains up at the War Memorial Opera House.
Painting in the lobby of the Herbst Theatre, commemorating when the UN Charter was signed there in 1945.
Beaux-Arts murals on the walls of the Herbst Theatre.

San Francisco City Hall

After touring the 3 main venues of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, it was time to cross Van Ness Avenue to get my long-awaited tour of City Hall.

The grand staircase in San Francisco City Hall.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors Chamber.
Ornate ceiling in the Board of Supervisors Chamber.
Outside the Board of Supervisors Chamber, the bust of supervisor and gay-rights icon, Harvey Milk. On the pedestal is a relief depicting the candlelight march that took place after he was murdered in 1978.
Limestone walls of the City Hall rotunda.
Lion emblem on a railing in San Francisco City Hall.
Outside the mayor’s office, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Mayor George Moscone stand watch. George Moscone was murdered along with Harvey Milk in 1978. As she was President of the Board of Supervisor at the time, Dianne Feinstein took over as mayor and served for 10 years.
Christmas at City Hall.
Under the rotunda dome in San Francisco City Hall.
Merry Christmas from San Francisco City Hall!

Haas-Lilienthal House

Outside the Haas-Lilienthal House. The bright orange portable toilet is gone!

I passed by the Haas-Lilienthal House the previous September on Day 6 while I was touring Pacific Heights.  It was undergoing renovations at the time.  By December, the renovations were done and the public was invited back in.  Just as I’d returned to Civic Center for tours I couldn’t get on a Saturday earlier in the year, I returned to the Haas-Lilienthal House to tour the spruced-up residence.  To make it even more fun, a bunch of friends joined me for the visit.

The bunch of us waiting for our tour of the Haas-Lilienthal House to begin.
While I had the time, I ran outside for another exterior shot of the Haas-Lilienthal House.

The Haas-Lilienthal House was built in 1886 for a family of Jewish immigrants from Bavaria. It’s a late-Victorian Queen Anne and the only Victorian house museum in San Francisco.  In 1972, the family donated the house to a non-profit, which began offering tours of the house to the public.

Merry Christmas from the Haas-Lilienthal House!
The parlor fireplace is made from red marble from Algeria.
Simulated-leather wallcovering made from canvas.
Everyone loves the fun fireplace griffins in the dining room.
The Haas-Lilienthal House’s antique Singer sewing machine.
Cool bathroom tile with gilded fleur-de-lis.
Just the right amount of stained glass in the master bedroom.

With the renovations having just recently been completed, we saw the Haas-Lilienthal House in its full glory.

Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

I can look out my window and see the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. But I got this view around the corner from my place, right in front of the hotel.

Although I hadn’t planned it, the building tours I took after the regular sightseeing season was over took on a holiday theme.  To continue the theme, I decided to take some pictures of the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, sitting on Nob Hill just by my place.  Every year they get in quite the Christmas spirit.

Merry Christmas from the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, and me!

[Factual information is primarily gathered from Wikipedia, so you know it must be true.]

Related posts:

San Francisco 2016, Day 1, Part 2 San Francisco 2016, Day 4, Part 2 The 2016 BSFBB Awards San Francisco 2016, Day 2, Part 2

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