This past June, we took a much needed vacation. with all of the options available, we decided to travel to California. Linda, Darry's mom, asked us to come out and visit. Knowing that visiting her and Mike also meant the opportunity to visit friends and old haunts, we couldn't wait to get there. On our first day, we took the ferry from Larkspur to San Francisco and we walked over to Chinatown. This has always been one of our favorite places to wander in and out of shops and take in the local culture. Most tourists never make it off Grant Street (pictured above) and it is geared towards them, lots of souvenirs. We didn't pick up much, just a moon cake mold and lunch.
If you really want to experience Chinese culture and cuisine, go uphill one block to Stockton Street. That is where all of the local residents shop and do business. You will swear that you are in another country. In the top photo, durians (the world's stinkiest fruit), daikon and cabbage are a common sight. In the bottom photo, many varieties of choy and citrus fruits are another common sight. The day we were visiting, cherries were for sale everywhere and they were as cheap as 69 cents per pound-yes less than a dollar.
If you really want to experience Chinese culture and cuisine, go uphill one block to Stockton Street. That is where all of the local residents shop and do business. You will swear that you are in another country. In the top photo, durians (the world's stinkiest fruit), daikon and cabbage are a common sight. In the bottom photo, many varieties of choy and citrus fruits are another common sight. The day we were visiting, cherries were for sale everywhere and they were as cheap as 69 cents per pound-yes less than a dollar.
There are many butcher shops like this one displaying various cooked meats and poultry in the window.
Fresh seafood is available in abundant quantities and varieties that are not common in Nashville. We even wandered into the one in the bottom photo and watched the women working to clean the fish.
Fresh seafood is available in abundant quantities and varieties that are not common in Nashville. We even wandered into the one in the bottom photo and watched the women working to clean the fish.
This shop was our favorite find of the day. It seemed to go on forever, the farther you went back, the more you found! The fish on display in the front of the store were so colorful and pretty it almost seemed a shame that they were going to be eaten. Every fish store had shrimp like these.
As we wandered back, we encountered this woman butchering a whole hog. Due to a camera that does not have a flash, the picture is not very clear.
As we went even farther back, we found a room full of poultry cages. There was a woman with them and it is my guess that if you wanted a bird, she would have broken it's neck for you so you could take it home.
As we went even farther back, we found a room full of poultry cages. There was a woman with them and it is my guess that if you wanted a bird, she would have broken it's neck for you so you could take it home.
On our way out, we spied a tub of frogs and a tub of turtles, painted turtles to be exact. Darry wanted to buy them all so he could release them. Hard to believe that anyone would want to eat them with everything else that was available.
No comments:
Post a Comment