Starting from the Palace Of Fine Arts, let's take a walk over to the Golden Gate Bridge. There it is, over there in the distance.

After about 45 minutes, it's definitely getting closer and grander:

Looking north-east, we can see Alcatraz Island, although it's not very clear from this distance.

For at least part of the journey, we will take the scenic route:

And we may occasionally stumble across things like this. If so inclined, we can take a photo and stick it on a website, large-scale, because we think it's a cool photograph. Others may of course disgaree.

And finally, the Bridge itself. 1.22 miles long in total, 4200 feet from tower to tower. Completed in 1937, at a cost of 27 million dollars. And stunning.

A little way from the South end of the Bridge is a small visitor's centre, built to the usual formula: a quick 'History of...' board and some interesting artefacts, over-priced souvenirs that have nothing to do with the Bridge, and all the junk food you can ram your face down into. Thus it conforms to the International Standards agreed at the 1973 Helsinki Conference organised by the Le Federation Internationale de Centres Touristes. This was the exact same conference, incidentally, at which those symbols for male and female toilets were first standardised.

The photo above right shows a path leading down from the Bridge to the Visitors Centre. Upon closer inspection, each of the inlaid bricks bears a name and the legend '1937-87'.

This explanation comes from the official Bridge website: "As part of the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1987, a walkway comprised of personalized bricks was constructed at the southeast side of the Bridge in the visitor area, just north of the Strauss Statue. Initially, prices for the bricks were $32 for a basic brick with a name inscribed, $43 for a message brick, $54 for a signature brick, and $75 for logo/captioned brick. 7416 bricks were sold."

Also by the Visitor's Centre is a statue of the Bridge's Chief Engineer, Joseph B. Strauss. I think it's a little thoughtless of them to position the statue so that he is looking away from the Bridge, and can't actually see it without turning round. And of course, being a statue means he can't do this.

There is also this rather magnificent cross-section from one of the main suspension cables:

The board says it all:

Length of one cable = 7650 feet
Diameter of one cable = 36 3/8 inches
Wires in each cable = 27,572
Total wire used = 80,000 miles
Weight of cable = 24,500 tons

And finally, everyone's favourite trivia fact - the name 'Golden Gate Bridge' has nothing to do with its colour. The Bridge is named after (or "for" as my American friends say) the Golden Gate Strait, this being the entrance from the Pacific to the San Francisco Bay. The paint used on the Bridge is officially described as "orange vermilion", and officially named "International Orange". The colour can show up very clearly or not at all, depending on the weather and the light. When I went there, the Bridge looked fairly dark until I got really close, and only then did the colour really stand out.

Then again, I think the Bridge looks magnificent even in stark black and white: