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Thursday, July 8, 2010

Places to Visit in San Francisco California

While visiting San Francisco Don't forget to visit Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market, Berkeley Farmers' Market, SF Recycling & Disposal Inc., Flora Grubb Gardens, California Academy of Sciences and M.H. de Young Museum. Brief information on the said places is as following for your reference.

Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market San Francisco

Address: 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA, United States
TEL: (415) 291-3276

Around 85 vendors and growers spread out around the waterfront Ferry Building on Saturdays in San Francisco. Well-known local chefs (like Annie Somerville of Greens and Craig Stoll of Delfina) vie here year-round with home cooks for specialty ingredients like Maitake and Bear's Head mushrooms.

Berkeley Farmers' Market SF California

Address: 2530 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA, United States
TEL: (510) 548-3333

SF Recycling & Disposal Inc.

Address: 501 Tunnel Ave.
San Francisco, CA, United States
TEL: (415) 330-1415

They do not just recycle everything from beer cans to house paint, they also have a meandering sculpture garden full of rusted springs and discarded soda bottles transformed into aesthetic object in addition to an artist-in-residence. Once a month, the public is invited to tour the dump, and quarterly there's an art exhibition, complete with an opening-night party.

Flora Grubb Gardens

Address: 1634 Jerrold Ave., San Francisco, CA, United States
TEL: (415) 626-7256

The plant store is run by Flora Grubb, She also stocks a fascinating collection of plants called Echeveria, desert succulents that look like undersea creatures. She's using them in a civic project, replanting the median strip of Guerrero Street. The store is housed in an airy, light-filled, industrial-style shed designed by architects Bonnie Bridges and Seth Boor and has 72 photovoltaic panels on the roof. Solar energy supplies the needs of the plant nursery and the in-house coffee bar, a branch of Ritual Coffee Roasters that's a magnet for the neighborhood's workforce.

California Academy of Sciences

Address: 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA, United States
TEL: (415) 379-8000

The innovative plan combines energy-efficient technology - a "living roof" of native California plants provides the building with natural insulation and prevents 3 million gallons of rainwater runoff annually - with state-of-the-art exhibitions. The largest of the seven undulating "hills" on the roof form the skylight-studded tops of two 90-food domes. One houses the biggest all-digital planetarium in the world, which employs real-time data from NASA to show spectators cosmic events as they take place in space. Under the other, visitors explore rain-forest habitats, from the canoby (butterflies, macaws, and fruit bats) down to ponds filled with fish (piranhas and electric eels) from the Amazon. The watery world is a centerpiece of the Academy's Steinhart Aquarium, whihc now contains a wave-shaped tank wall filled with exotic sea creatures. Piano has also recast other elements of the original Academy, including coffered ceilings and the former aquarium's Doric colonnade - seamlessly integrating the museum's past and its earth-friendly future.

M.H. de Young Museum

Address: 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA, United States
TEL: (415) 750-3600

Designed by Swiss starchitects Herzog & de Meuron, the aggressively 21st-century recycled-copper-clad building looms in the park like an avant-garde aircraft carrier with a crazily torqued tower. From it, you can see the Transamerica Pyramid, Sutro Tower, and the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. Gaze north and the view is of the Richmond district, an endless, timeless, monotonous swath of small-scale pinkish stucco houses. But swivel east and you look directly across the shady Music Concourse at the new Academy of Sciences. The tower closes 45 minutes before the rest of the museum—don’t leave it till the end of your visit. The tower's cafĂ© serves food from growers and providers within a 150-mile radius.
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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Top Attractions in Boston That You Must Visit

No matter your interests, you’re sure to find a perfect fit among the many faces of Boston. The Freedom Trail, the Black Heritage Trail, and the Women’s Heritage Trail put visitors in the midst of the action and breathe new life into history-book names like Revere, Hancock, and Longfellow.

Paul Revere House


Address: 19 North Sq, Boston, MA 02113
Phone: 617-523-2338
Fax: 617-523-1775

The oldest home in Boston was built nearly a century before its illustrious tenant's midnight ride. Colonial-era furniture decorates the rooms. Revere lived here and owned this house for 30 years, from 1770-1800. Has original silver produced by Revere, as well as his family furniture.

Copp's Hill Burying Ground


Address: Hull Stat, Snow Hill St, Boston, MA 02113
Phone: 617-635-7389

British troops used the high grounds here as a vantage point to fire on Americans encamped on Breed's Hill during the Revolutionary War. Among the many buried here, are the Reverend Cotton Mather and the man who constructed the USS Constitution, Edward Hartt.

Boston's Freedom Trail


Address: sites throughout the city, Boston, MA
Phone: 617-357-8300
Fax: 617-357-8303

The trail starts at Boston Common but can easily be picked up at any point along the way just by following signs throughout the city. The path allows you to visit sites important to the city's history, including the Paul Revere House, the statue of Benjamin Franklin, and the site of the Boston Massacre.

Boston Common


Address: Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-426-3115

Boston Common encompasses nearly 50 acres and was once reserved as pasture land by Puritan settlers. In 1634, the area was also used by the military. Today, the park is a popular destination for recreational athletes, joggers, and protesters eager to dedicate themselves to a cause.

Faneuil Hall Marketplace


Address: 4 S Market, Boston, MA 02109
Phone: 617-523-1300
Fax:
617-523-1779


In the 1970s, a major renovation to the aging structure transformed it into one of America's premiere urban marketplaces. Now, it boasts more than 50 shops, 14 restaurants, and 40 food stalls. NB Some folks (and publications) refer to the retail component as Quincy Market.

Granary Burial Ground


Address: 1 Park St, Park Street Church, Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-523-3383

This small cemetery serves as the final resting place for a number of people whose acts or character changed American history. Situated near a pre-Revolutionary grain storehouse, the cemetery houses the graves of Paul Revere, John Hancock, citizens killed in the Boston Massacre, and the woman whose tales provided her the moniker of "Mother Goose."

Old South Meeting House


Address: 310 Washington St, Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-482-6439

Built in 1729, this venerable meeting house is Boston's second-oldest church. A number of heated town meetings that led to the Revolution were held here, including one called by Samuel Adams to protest dutiable tea and get it returned to England.

Omni Parker House


Address: 60 School St, Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-227-8600

Phone: 617-742-5729

This circa-1856 landmark hotel boasts a long, storied history. In operation longer than any other hotel in the country, the Omni Parker has welcomed such prominent guests as Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Dickens, and president John F. Kennedy.

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