Leaving Europe behind for now let’s go to San Francisco. A city I have visited on several occasions, but there are still bits and pieces that haven’t been on the blog.
When I visited the iconic Palace of Fine Arts back in 2010 it was about to undergo a renovation. With its Greco-Roman rotunda and colonnades it is an impressive building and I am glad that it is now used for corporate events, private parties and weddings. With improved landscaped gardens and the pretty lagoon, it is a perfect place for a celebration.
The Romanesque structure was designed by architect Bernard R. Maybeck for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, a world’s fair that celebrated the Panama Canal’s opening—and gave San Francisco a chance to shine after its devastating 1906 earthquake.
Today’s Palace duplicates the original, with a soaring colonnade and bas-relief urns, domed ceiling with allegorical paintings, and Corinthian columns topped with female figures draped in togas, their weeping faces turned away to symbolize “the melancholy of life without art.”
If you want to know more about San Francisco then please visit my older (and much longer) post about the city here.
TRAVEL WORDS 
Well, as is true for almost all the USA I don’t know San Francisco – except through blogs like yours. This looks very venerable and un-American.
It makes quite a statement on the landscape.
We loved San Francisco and, even though we were there for six days, we didn’t see everything including this building. It’s a beauty.
We saw it from the ferry across the bay, so I made an effort to track it down. It’s even more beautiful now it’s been renovated. (I googled it)
Most interesting
I wondered why the female figures at the corners faced away from people until I got to the end of the post: “their weeping faces turned away to symbolize ‘the melancholy of life without art’”.
We had such a good time in the Foggy City two years ago. Just being there is a great experience.
I have never been to San Francisco, but when I think of it, this is not what I imagine! Beautiful, especially the weeping figures.
The rotunda is very impressive – must feel amazing to have a celebration there!
I visited San Francisco years ago but felt that I had hardly seen everything I wanted to. You have captured the city so beautifully 🙂
There is a lot to see. I have been lucky to have had several visits.