Thought I'd share what's available to see in San Francisco. It's been a time of medical appointments again - and the Palace of Fine Arts was a great departure from sterile medical facilities. The City of San Francisco has just completed part of its restoration so gone are the safety nets that have hung under the rotunda's ceiling since the 1989 earthquake. The ceiling has been seismically braced and painted, extensive cracks on all of the structure's surfaces have been repaired, and graffiti and what architects politely referred to as "animal deposits" have been removed.
History: The Palace of Fine Arts is the only surviving structure of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, which was called "Jewel City" and took place in what is now the Marina neighborhood. The palace was always intended to be temporary, as was evidenced by its original materials of plaster, hemp and chicken wire. But philanthropist Phoebe Hearst, mother of newspaper owner William Randolph Hearst, led a drive to save it, calling it too beautiful to be torn down.
Be sure in your visit to the City to take time to view the palace and see if it was truly "too beautiful" to have been torn down - I think you will agreed with Mrs. Hearst because I do.
