Travels in the 2nd half

  The Legion of Honor Museum   A trip to San Francisco last fall brought me to the San Francisco Legion of Honor . This museum, along with the de Young Museum, in Golden Gate Park, make up the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The Legion of Honor is in Lincoln Park, at the north-west corner of the city, over looking the entrance to the Golden Gate. El Cid Campeador by Anna Hyatt Huntington Pax Jerusalemme by Mark di Suvero   The Legion of Honor opened in 1924. It was founded by Alma de Brettville Spreckels (1881-1968) and her husband, Adolph Sprekels (1857-1924). Adolph’s father founded Sprekels Sugar Company, which controlled most of the sugar market on the west coast of the United States. They commissioned the building of a replica of Paris’ Palais de la Légion d’honneur, as the home for their museum. It seems to me that Adolph Sprekels was in competition with Michael De Young, another SF businessman, and publisher of  the San Francisco Chronicle, who founded a...

  When I visited California last fall PortMoresby, a fellow travel blogger, suggested I visit the city of Ukiah, to see The City of 10,000 Buddhas. So I scheduled a trip there during my stay in Santa Rosa. Ukiah is 60 miles north of Santa Rosa, sitting along the Russian River, and serves as the seat of Mendocino County. Its name comes from Yokaya, the Pomo name for the area, which means “deep valley”. The first Anglo settlers moved into the area in the mid-1850’s, and it quickly became a center for the local agriculture industry, with hops as its primary crop. The City of Ten-Thousand Buddhas   Waiting for a Ferry in Autumn by Chiu Ying Lotus by Li Shih-ti The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is a Buddhist community and monastery, just outside of Ukiah. It was established in 1976 by the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, which follows the teaching of Hsuan Hua and the Guiyang School of Chan Buddhism. It consists of 80 acres of buildings and over 400 acres of fields and farmland...