California, August–September 2013
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Looking over I-405 from the Getty Center, towards Beverly Hills.
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Some of William Randolph Hearst’s tapestries inside the great hall at Hearst Castle.
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William Randolph Hearst used one end of the great hall at Hearst Castle to play poker with his dinner guests.
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The flags in Hearst’s massive dining hall (not unreasonably referred to as the ‘refectory’) are those of the communes of Siena.
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Visitors to Hearst Castle generally see the dining table laid in this informal style, i.e. with no table cloths, paper napkins, condiments on the table in their original packaging, etc.
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William Randolph Hearst’s cinema at Hearst Castle. The tour guide explained that it was Hearst’s practice when hosting dinner parties to show a film here, generally starting at about midnight. The late start was to allow the servants to finish washing up and change their clothes before coming to join the invited guests.
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In the gardens of Hearst Castle. The towers of the main castle building can be seen in the background; in the foreground is one of the guest houses.
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The Pacific ocean along California Highway 1 (at this point the Cabrillo Highway), north of Hearst Castle.
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A car travels along California Highway 1, which for most of its distance hugs the Pacific coastline.
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One of two historic Melbourne trams in the San Francisco F-line collection. Evidently an arrangement was made to update the livery of the tram with Melbourne’s current tourism branding.
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The Blackpool ‘boat tram’ which is part of San Francisco’s F-line collection of trams.
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In the redwood display in the San Francisco Botanical Garden within Golden Gate Park.
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The San-Francisco skyline as seen from the Marin headlands, adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge.
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The San Francisco marina as seen from the ferry going to Alcatraz Island.
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Arriving at Alcatraz Island. Much of the main prison building has been preserved or restored, but other buildings—such as the Warden’s accommodation, visible here—has not survived so well.
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The water tower at Alcatraz Island bears a political statement by the Red Indians who took occupation of the island in 1969 after the federal prison had been shut down in March 1963.
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The interior of one of the ordinary cells in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The ‘Institution Rules and Regulations’ document artfully laid on the prisoner’s table is not original, but is a modern re-setting of the original document. Available for sale in the shop.
