San Francisco; Little Details and Transportation

One of the things I loved of San Francisco was the little 'surprises' on the streets, like this beautiful clock, people just passing by it, while it is a small part of history. These things often had plates explaining what they are which was nice too.

I saw two of these police telephone boxes. I doubt that they are still used but again a fun little thing at unexpected places, most people didn't even notice them.

 Loved these little round advertisement 'thingies' too :)

And this bell, on the plate it explained its history:
'In 1906 guidepost bells were placed along the El Camino Real to guide early travelers and to preserve this historic route which linked California's missions beginning in 1769'.

 Beautiful street lamps all over town.

And between the mix of old buildings and new skyscrapers you can discover little green places.

And hidden palm-trees within a building.

And I loved the different type of transportation's :)

 The school buses just like in the movies :) With a beautifully painted building in the background.

And then several types of super retro trams all in vibrant colors and beautiful details.

The fire trucks also had a vintage vibe but they might have been new.

and of course the famous cable cars, I didn't have a ride on them as there always were a lot of people waiting for them, maybe next time :)

Aren't they cool?

And finally a bus disguised as a cable car :)
My next post will be about Nevada city and Grass Valley which is about a 4 hour drive North from San Francisco.

Our Neighborhood

Last night while having my evening walk with Daisy, I realized I've never shown you our neighborhood, I did show our town, Marmaris, but not our green little neighborhood :)

We live in a neighborhood which has no hotels or restaurants, making it pretty quiet compared to most places during the Summer season. It is a few kilometers away from the beach and higher up in the hills, right next to the forest.

Everyone's garden is full with trees, vines for shade and bushes. If you are smart you don't go for grass here as it is impossible to keep it green during our long hot summer.

The houses are almost hidden, I love these streets!

This white tree is normally just a bush, but has grown so tremendously that it has become a tree.
Funny, as I have seen more like these, plants that are in western Europe just little plants in pots become here huge like trees, I guess the warm weather do them well.

As you can see the streets are steep, skateboarders would have huge fun sliding down around here :)

Surrounded by mountains and if you keep on walking downwards you'll end up at the sea :)

Madrid 3: Street Artists

A lot of people are trying to make their living on the streets of Madrid. Musicians, live statues, selling items and also begging. Some have found a very fun way, like this headless lady who gladly posed in pictures for whatever you could spare in money.

You can see this kind of live statues in many cities, but a few were very unique.

This man with hardly hands and arms, worked hard for his money. He makes little decorations with soda cans. The small items are priced to your liking so you pay whatever you want, the planes were priced. I found it wonderful that he wasn't begging and instead was constantly making new pieces right there on the street with garbage and a pair of scissors.

A photographer with an antique camera.

This girl was making lovely wire twisted jellyfishes and seahorses, we recommended Etsy to her and bought a jellyfish brooch, as we very well know how great it feels to sell a piece.

A bucket of soapy water, and two sticks with a rope is enough to give lots of joy to kids and adults. This man had so much fun with his soap bells that everyone had fun too, it was really a joy to watch.

These were just a few examples of the many people on the streets, more Madrid posts will follow so stay tuned :)

Madrid 1

I took many pictures during our stay in Madrid, so I will make several posts about our trip. I will start at the beginning, which is not the beginning of our stay but the beginning of the beginning; the house and street where my mother was raised and has spent her entire childhood until she moved to Holland.

It is actually a small miracle that the house is still there, Madrid with a metropolitan area population of 6.5 million has mostly high buildings where lots of people can live without covering too much ground, as it goes with most cities. However although most of these little 2 store houses are gone a few, including the one my mother lived, are still remaining.

They are clearly renovated not long ago and seem to be protected. The small houses are surrounded with high buildings, which makes it even more fairy tale-like as if you come in a secret place within the city.

A little further away is a large women's prison, my mother remembered that she always found it odd to hear children behind the high walls, which where of course the children of the prisoners.

The building next to the prison was entirely covered with an art piece clearly related to the prison and freedom, which was kind of amazing and surreal.

Right across the prison is the elementary school my mum went to. Back in the day boys and girls were separated with a high wall and the kids were wearing uniforms, now however they are all together in their own colorful clothing.

Stay tuned for more pictures :)