Yerba Buena Gardens

Yerba Buena Gardens, a beautiful haven in the heart of San Francisco’s downtown art district. It was a block away from the hotel we stayed during our last two visits, we walked into the Gardens by chance during our first visit and went there again during the second visit.

The name Yerba Buena sounded foreign and mysterious to me. It is Spanish, meaning, Good Herb. In fact, San Francisco was originally named "Yerba Buena" before 1847, referencing the abundant herb found there.

We visited last May for the first time on a beautiful morning, and earlier this April on a cloudy day.

The gardens are surrounded by St Patrick's church to the northwest, Yerba Buena Center for Arts, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts to the northeast, Moscone Center (a convention center), and Children's creativity museum to the southeast, and a shopping mall to the southwest.

It is a quiet, calm place with few visitors. it has a large lawn, an infinite pool which feeds to a waterfall. A few large trees, and many blooming bushes, some birds. 

The pool at the Garden on a cloudy day in April

In May 2025, there was a sculpture exhibit, Colossal Creatures in Bloom, at the Gardens. The sculptures vivid color, exaggerated figures, attracted our attentions. There are a few permanent sculptures there as well. 

In April, on the northern side of the lawn, unexpectedly we saw many people, mostly children and their parents lingering around. There was a SF scholastic Chess championship that morning in the building. There will be a outdoor festival at the Garden - a giant poster reminded visitors.

 

It is an oasis in the forest of concretes, great for sitting there for relaxation, some mind exercises or a leisure stroll.

Chartreuse Green in N Texas

The most memorable impression from my two-week visit to Texas was the vibrant green of early spring—chartreuse in its purest form—especially across North Texas.

It is the color of new life, rich with promise. It stirs a sense of energy and renewal in me that the steady presence of evergreen never quite achieves.

Trail at Abor Hill Nature Reserve 

A tree at Abor Hill nature reserve 

The blooming in the green at Dallas Arboretum. 

note - the following was my original writing without revision 

The most impressive observation I had during my two week visit to Texas was the vibrant green color of early spring, aka the chartreuse green, especially in N Texas. 

The color of new life, the potential it represents instill energy and vigor in me, that evergreen can never do. 

Hermann Park at Houston

Hermann Park is located southwest of Downtown Houston, known for lush landscape, and dense amenities - it has Houston, Zoo, Japanese Garden, Houston Museum of Natural Science and a Golf course. I was made aware of the park during a recent United Airline flight to Houston.

I visited the park on the sunny morning of March 29, 2026.

The first thing that impressed me about the park was the big trees lined along the sidewalks on its perimeter. 

Sam Houston Statue stands at the entrance to the park, with a reflection pool in its back.

The rectangular shaped Mary Gibbs and Jesse H. Jones reflection pool connects the statue with the Pioneer Memorial Obelisk.

There are a few sculptures which added artistic flavor to the green space. 

Canopy

Scattering Surface

Atropos Key

The giant trees along the long sides of the pool plus the water in the pool, and in McGovern lake provide a paradise for birds and water fowls... blue jays, northern cardinals, Moscovy ducks, mallards, laughing gulls ...rainbow

laughing gull

Moscovy ducks 

blue jay

geese

American Robin

Due to a lunch engagement,  I walked only less than a quarter of the park.

I will definitely visit the park again when I go to Houston next time.

Dinning during our Greece Trip

Last November's trip to Greece was more than sightseeing of ruins, mountains, and churches. Tasting Greek food was an important item on the agenda because our food loving son accompanied us.

We did not just go to any restaurants that seemed to be ok by looking. We made reservation ahead of time for  a restaurant listed in Michelin guide and looked for specific restaurants for lunch according to online reviews.

Our first dinner at Athens was at a restaurant a few blocks away from our hotel. That was an authentic Greek food restaurant, where locals went for casual dinning.

Greek Salad

Stuff Vine leaves - Dolmades

The next day we had lunch at Proedros near ancient Agora, after visiting Acropolis and the Agora. It was a very popular restaurant,  people waited in line to be seated despite the next door restaurants had open tables. The wait was worth it,  Greek salads, gyros and kebab  - the serving was large, the food was fresh  - we could not finish what we ordered!

On the way to Olympia, we stopped at Port Nafplio, selected a port side restaurant, according to Google review, for lunch.

It was low season for tourism when we visited Greece, destinations outside Athens, did not have many people. What amazed me the most was that for any decent restaurants we visited they treated nice, and cooked fresh. We had lunch at Delphi on the way back from Meteora.  The restaurant we went was To Patriko Mas, a Greek Mediterranean restaurant. A neat, large restaurant, but had guests only for two tables including us. The food was superb. The view was great, mountains, meadows and sea! It was the most formal restaurant we had been to thus far.

moussaka

The best was left for last, For the last dinner at Athens, we went to Merceri Restaurant, a Michelin guide recommended establishment. The setting was elegant, the servers were formal, the food looked exquisite, and the serving portion was small. It was a fine dinning experience, first time for me at a Michelin restaurant

When we stepped out of the restaurant, the rain stopped, the lit-up Acropolis was in front of us, sharp, grandeur, and mysterious in the pitch dark night.