Miffy is a famous cartoon bunny created by Dutch artist Dick Bruna in 1955, which makes 2015 her 60th birthday. To celebrate, there are Miffy-centered events in the Netherlands and in Japan all year-round. One of the events is the Miffy Art Parade: 60 artists were given a Miffy-shaped white statue to customize. Some of the statues are now exhibited on Museumplein in Amsterdam.
ArtZuid 2015 is an open-air international sculpture exhibition. It takes place in the Apollobuurt neighbourhood of Amsterdam Zuid until September 9th.
In mid-April, I went to the Keukenhof, one of the world’s largest flower gardens, near Amsterdam. It is only open for 2 months every year (from mid-March to mid-May). It was a bit too early for tulips during my visit but the park has many other types of flowers.
On my last morning in San Francisco, I checked out of my hotel early then walked around Market Street until it was time to go to the airport.
At the end of the afternoon, I got out of my meeting and finally got to ride the cable car up and down Nob Hill to Fisherman’s Wharf. There, I took the cable car along the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building. I switched again for another cable car to the Mission District. I then walked to the Castro area.
For my second (and last) full day in San Francisco, I had to be in a meeting in the Financial District in the afternoon so I stayed close by. After breakfast, I went to the Moscone Center nearby. Then, I wanted to take the cable car at the Powell-Market station but there was a big line so I walked up Nob Hill instead, taking pictures of the cable cars along the way.
After the Presidio, I walked to the Golden Gate Park then continued to the observation area of the Twin Peaks. Finally, I headed down to Market Street and my hotel.
After the Palace of Fine Arts, I entered the Presidio of San Francisco then walked along a beach to the Golden Gate Bridge, at the northern tip of the park. I walked on the bridge until the halfway point then came back to land and took a trail in the hills along the Pacific ocean.
After the boat ride on San Francisco Bay, I kept walking on Fisherman’s Wharf towards the Golden Gate Bridge. I visited the USS Pampanito, a submarine built during WW2. There is also a Liberty Ship nearby (the SS Jeremiah O’Brien) but I didn’t visit it. After that, I entered the Musée Mécanique, a free museum of mechanical games, some quite old. Most of the machines are coin operated and still operational. I then passed through Aquatic Park and Fort Mason on my way to the Palace of Fine Arts, built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition.
After Pier 39, I boarded a boat to have a closer look at the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island.