San Francisco is known more for its fog than rain. They do get their share of wet weather, but not as much as you might expect. With an average of 62 days of precipitation per year – most of those falling between November and March – they are well below the national average of 117.
My first half a dozen visits to San Francisco were spent outdoors, rain or shine. I just walked and walked, intent on discovering new vistas of the city. On my most recent trip, however, I discovered some great interior views I was missing. In this issue I explore both the indoor and outdoor sights at theFine Art Museums of San Francisco: the de Young and the Legion of Honor. We’ll spend some time playing antique carnival games at the Musee Mecanique at Fisherman’s Wharf; and I’ll take you to the country’s longest running musical revue, Beach Blanket Babylon in North Beach. We’ll pass a reflective hour walking the Labyrinths at Grace Cathedral in Going Solo, and keep the kids busy all day at the Zeum in the Kid Stuff section. So come on in out of the rain and prepare to have some fun.
As we come into the rainy season in Southern California, there is no shortage of places you could go to entertain yourself and the whole family on a rainy day in Pasadena. Although closer to downtown LA than some parts of the City of Los Angeles, Pasadena is not a suburb. It is a city in its own right with its own municipal government within Los Angeles County.
Pasadena is best known for the Rose Parade that fills the streets with colorful floats made of flowers and the Rose Bowl game which fills the stadium with college football teams on New Years Day. There are plenty of other sunny weather delights in the city. On a rainy day, or to escape the intense summer heat, you can choose from any number of Pasadena establishments of art, culture, fun and relaxation to escape indoors. This month we’ll take a look at the private art collections of two Southern California Industrialists at the Norton Simon Museum and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, and get an inside glimpse at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where the Mars Rover program operates. Although there are things for children to enjoy at all of those venues, the Kidspace Museum is a place all their own. We’ll wrap up this issue with a visit to the Gamble House in Going Solo.
Kayte Deioma
Rose Parade photo courtesy of the Tournament of Roses
Rainy view through the windows of the Palais des Congrčs in Montreal. Photo by Kayte Deioma
A Rainy Day in ….Montreal, QC, Canada
Montreal is a great place to escape from the weather any time of year. They have so much of it – snow, rain and sweltering summer heat – that they’ve come up with some ingenious ways to stay climatically comfortable all year long.
My memory of Montreal from a one-day family visit as a teenager was of ornate gray townhouses with multicolored doors. Very “old Europe.” That part of Montreal is still alive and well and as charming as ever. But in the last few years, Montreal has also come to the forefront of international design and architecture with its new International Quarter that links Old Montreal with the Downtown Business District. They joined the two by suspending a new office complex right over the freeway and adding branches to the RESO (from the French réseau), the largest network of interior passages in the world. Although much of it is above ground, locals refer to it as the Underground City.
In addition to exploring this indoor universe, we’ll look at how Montreal has brought the outdoors indoors in the Biodome, which recreates four ecosystems where visitors can get up close and personal with the wildlife. For a little winter fun all year long, we stop by the Atrium Le 1000, an ice skating rink in the middle of a mall and office building. For the historically inclined, we visit the Point A Calliére Archeology and History Museum built over an open archaeological site. The final stop on our rainy day tour of Montreal is St. Joseph’s Oratory on top of Mount Royal, one of the most visited shrines in the world.
San Francisco is known more for its fog than rain. They do get their share of wet weather, but not as much as you might expect. With an average of 62 days of precipitation per year – most of those falling between November and March – they are well below the national average of 117.
Pasadena is best known for the Rose Parade that fills the streets with colorful floats made of flowers and the Rose Bowl game which fills the stadium with college football teams on New Years Day. There are plenty of other sunny weather delights in the city. On a rainy day, or to escape the intense summer heat, you can choose from any number of Pasadena establishments of art, culture, fun and relaxation to escape indoors. This month we’ll take a look at the private art collections of two Southern California Industrialists at the 
Montreal is a great place to escape from the weather any time of year. They have so much of it – snow, rain and sweltering summer heat – that they’ve come up with some ingenious ways to stay climatically comfortable all year long.
international design and architecture with its new International Quarter that links Old Montreal with the Downtown Business District. They joined the two by suspending a new office complex right over the freeway and adding branches to the RESO (from the French réseau), the largest network of interior passages in the world. Although much of it is above ground, locals refer to it as