Alcatraz Island is in the background. These little, smelly, yellow two-stroke trikes (rented to tourists) were everywhere.
This is a dress rehearsal for the real thing. We got a hold of a registry of all the consulates in San Francisco and tried to drive by all of them today. Here are a couple of general observations:
- Driving San Francisco is tough on your car. Never buy a taxi cab or police car used there.
- Many of the honorary consulates (designated below with an "H") have residential or private office addresses. Official consulates ("O") often occupy whole buildings by themselves.
9:08 a.m. Jamaica (H). It's actually in an office inside San Francisco General Hospital.
9:26. Belgium (H). The directory downstairs in the lobby actual reads "Suite 400 Software Research / Belgium Consulate".
9:36. Yemen (H). It's supposed to be in an obviously vacant building. Security guard says it's going to be razed.
9:41. Spain (O).
9:45. China (O). Security cameras everywhere and barbed wire on the roof top. I didn't want to risk my chances of getting visas in the future so I skipped taking a photo.
9:50. Cameroon (H). It's in a nice townhouse.
9:56. India (O). It's out in the middle of nowhere, next to a pet hospital. Smells like Chinese food. And what's up with those outdoor lockers?
10:02. South Korea (O). Fancy neighborhood.
10:04. Portugal (O).
10:07. Egypt (O).
10:10. Russia (O). It's HUGE. I wonder if this was the Soviet consulate. At the risk of ticking off the FSB, I took the photo from afar.
10:13. Mauritius (H). Obviously a residence, but it has a plaque and a rooftop flag.
10:15. Monaco (H).
10:22. Italy (O). Vespa. How appropriate.
10:24. Ethiopia (H).
10:27. Germany (O). Huge, gated compound.
10:34. Botswana (H).
10:38. Greece (O). In a blue and white building.
10:43. Estonia (H). The front of the house has a statue commemorating the 1956 San Francisco Freeway Revolt (?)(!).
10:48. Vietnam (O).
Lunch break. Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches at Saigon Sandwiches in the seedy Tenderloin District.
11:30. Cote D'Ivoire (H).
11:32. Indonesia (O). Close to the Alfa Romeo garage in North Beach.
11:41 Czech Republic (H). Beater Datsun outside.
11:53. Mongolia (H) and Nepal (H). The honorary consul for both countries is investment banker (and husband to Senator Dianne Feinstein) Richard Blum.
11:54. Belize (H). The honorary consul is Francis Ford Coppola. It's at that triangular, green building in North Beach.
11:58. Israel (O) and Switzerland (O). Same building.
12:03. Canada (O).
12:04. Brazil (O).
12:06. Ecuador (O).
12:06. Australia (O).
12:07. Sweden (H).
12:07. Romania (H).
12:14. Mexico (O).
12:17. Japan (O).
12:22. Ireland (O).
12:22. Iceland (H).
12:23. Lithuania (H) and Rwanda (H). Same building (Maritime PLaza).
12:24. Denmark (H).
12:25. Norway (O).
12:26. Venezuela (O).
12:26. Uruguay (H).
12:34. Luxembourg (O) and United Kingdom (O). Both in the Flatiron Building.
12:42. Colombia (O) and Singapore. Same building.
12:43. Australia (O).
12:46. Poland (H).
12:47. Chile (O), El Salvador (O), Guatemala (O), Honduras (O), Nicaragua (O), Peru (O). All six are in the Flood Building.
12:54. Slovenia (H).
12:59. Barbados (H).
1:01. Tonga (O). Right above Tiffany's jewelry store.
1:06. Philippines (O).
1:09. France (O) and Ukraine (H). Right next to each other.
1:18. Jordan (H).
6 comments:
You're braver than I am. I'd be afraid of seeming suspicious and getting phoned in as a terrorist. :)
I do recall seeing the Indonesian consulate while walking through North Beach on vacation a few years ago. Looked interesting inside.
@Edvin: Yeah, I'm having second thoughts about trying this again. Not worth the hassle. Will try more traditional forms of tourism instead.
Why did you visit Australia's twice? Or is one of them meant to be Austria?
@Lukas. You're right, I went to both. It's a typo.
LOL on comment re Chinese consulate.
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