The sign says, Oncoming trolley cars do not stop. I don't exactly know what that means, but it isn't reassuring. Do they just run into you, or what? San Francisco thus joins the list of cities I will never again visit if I'm in a car.

We checked out of the unsalubrious Sheraton and visited the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park before heading for Carmel. The new building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, integrates itself not only with the art, but with the beautiful parkland surrounding it. Here's Bao (lower lefthand corner) relaxing in what they call the cantilever, an second storey architectural confection that looks out over the new sculpture garden.

There are also some unexpected -- but extremely effective -- curatorial juxtapositions. For example, surrealist works from a special exhibition are mixed with masks from indigenous Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu peoples. Each enriches the other.

I found the Audio Guide especially informative, spiced with little anecdotes that really brought the works to life. Grant Wood (1891-1942) for example. He travelled to Paris and fell in with some French neo-meditationists who insisted art was all about inspiration and that inspiration came from sitting in cafes drinking brandy and smoking cigarettes. Wood pondered this, decided that all of his best ideas had come to him while he was milking cows, and returned to Iowa.