When I went to Paris in the fall of 1990, one of the first things that I did, like everybody else, was to go see the Eiffel Tower. Take line 6 and get off at Dupleix metro station, my colleagues told me. Stay by the right window and you’ll be treated to an especially grand sight of Eiffel Tower from the metro, they said. Sure enough, one of the most lasting memories of Paris is the first sight of Eiffel Tower as the metro goes over Pont de Bir-Hakeim. I looked up Wikipedia and lo and behold, it lists the view as one of the most breathtaking panoramas of Eiffer Tower (this is the best photo that I could find that was licensed under Creative Commons). I liked this photo (on Flickr too) much better.
Image Credit Happy A, Flickr
Now many years later, in a city half a day’s plane ride across the world from Paris, I face a similar sight. In San Francisco, as the J-Church metro emerges from behind houses onto 20th Street, seemingly snaking its way through people’s backyards, I’m amazed by a gorgeous vista of downtown San Francisco. This point marks the crest of a little hill from which the tram steadily descends the rest of the way, burrowing deep underground until it reaches the end at Embarcadero. As the tram pauses at the station at the intersection of 20th and Church, I can’t stop myself from snapping a picture from my iPhone.
Today, the first day of spring, as the city emerged from behind dark rain clouds and the steady rain that it brought for the past two days, I liked the way the light caught the city towers.
On sunny weekends, Dolores Park is a hubub of activity. This past November, on a particularly glorious fall evening, as Maya played in the park below, I tried to capture the end of the day.
San Francisco is a beautiful city. It is fast becoming the city of my adult life, much as Bangalore was the city of my childhood and home.
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