San Francisco's Ferry Building Tour Receives Accolades



The Ferry Building, Saturday morning

 My tour of San Francisco's Ferry Building and the Embarcadero was recognized this week with a bronze award in the audio travel broadcast category of the Society of American Travel Writer's annual Lowell Thomas travel writing awards.
The timing couldn't have been better: today the Ferry Building was named one of the 10 "great places" of the year by the
American Planning Association.
My tour was produced by Visual Travel Tours, a California company that offers downloadable programs for mobile devices covering travel destinations all over the world.
I wrote the script and took the photos of the Ferry Building and Embarcadero waterfront, an area that has undergone a renaissance the last 10 years (the voice on the audio tour is a professional broadcaster, however, not me).
The judges had some nice things to say about the tour: "Laura Del Rosso introduces old-fashioned tourism to the full power of modern multimedia. She has produced an elaborate but easy-to-understand travel guide to San Francisco that you can put in your computer -- save on your iPod -- or simply slip into your pocket stored on your cell phone. Wherever you keep it, you'll be glad you have it....It's the closest equivalent you'll find to having a good friend show you around a city she loves. Travel can be tricky. With Del Rosso's guide, it should be a treat, instead."


MUNI's historic F-Line streetcar

 The tour, which is designed as a two- to three-hour stop-and-start walking tour, covers the Ferry Building and its food hall, the farmers' markets and the Embarcadero waterfront north and south of the landmark building, with a special focus on the history of the area going back to the Gold Rush.
The tour can be purchased in four ways: 1) in text and photos for print 2) photos and text for mobile devices 3) an audio-visual tour for mobile devices and 4) a complete package, including a CD. Enjoy!

A Moveable Feast: Walking the Embarcadero

It's out, finally. Visual Travel Tours, a California company that produces audio/visual travel programs, has released my tour of the Ferry Building and the Embarcadero.
I worked on this -- a new type of writing and photography for me -- for some time early this summer, spending several days walking the Embarcadero and getting to know the Ferry Building inside and out. I then wrote a script, uploaded dozens of photographs and Visual Travel Tours' audio/visual specialists put together a very cool program, complete with professional narration.
What is it, exactly?
It's basically a walking tour of the Ferry Building and the Embarcadero that you buy online, download and can take with you, using your cell phone, Ipod or other mobile device to follow along, learn some history and pick up tips on enjoying the area to its fullest. The tour is also available in CD format or to simply download to your computer.
Think about those audio tours at museums. It's like that. You can start and stop the program when you like.
The tour starts in front of the Ferry Building, takes you upstairs where the arrivals and departures of the old ferryboats used to be, through the new food hall and Saturday farmers' market and then north and south of the landmark building, giving history of the Embarcadero and visiting the Muni Railway Museum, the waterfront promenades and some historic sites, such as Rincon Post Office.
Today, I was back there to check out the Thursday market, which has become another culinary attraction with some terrific food booths, including Pizza Politana (which cooks up crackling pizzas in a wood-burning oven, photo at right), Korean food specialist Namu and Tacolicious from the people behind wonderful Laiola in the Marina district. In the other stalls, tomatoes and dahlias were at their most brilliant (upper photos).
For more about my walking tour check out the youtube video. Or to purchase, go to the VTT site. Enjoy!