The Handlery Union Square Hotel—just off Market Street. Very busy, very nice!
Iconic San Francisco, just before we got stranded and had to walk back to the hotel!
The cable cars were always packed!
Straight up the hill!
Alcatraz Island. Tickets were impossible to get.
Telegraph Hill & Coit Tower with the Bay Bridge in the background.
Lombard Street, famous for its hydrangea as well as its curves.
Heading back up, but there was no cable car at the top. We had to walk back to the hotel.
Downtown architecture
The gate to Chinatown. NY’s doesn’t have one.
S.F. Chinatown architecture is also more colorful than NY’s.
The delicious almond cookies we bought there served as snacks for the rest of our trip.
An herbal remedy shop. No rhino horn—I hope.
Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. We saw these statues for sale in several stores.
Local Dim Sum place.
Breakfast for two for around $5.
Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, in the heart of Chinatown. “The Cathedral of the West”—survived the 1906 earthquake but not the fire.
On April 18, 1906, a major earthquake struck San Francisco. Many buildings, including Old Saint Mary’s were not severely damaged. However, an uncontrollable fire broke out down near the piers and spread quickly up the hill destroying most of the city in its path. This picture was taken by the Paulists as they fled up the hill and looked back.
Chinese around 1906.
Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founder of Nationalist China.
Another San Francisco icon, Transamerica building.
The Ferry Terminal, now filled with high end food shops.
We had a great fish sandwich at the Hog Island Oyster Company. $65/pound chocolate, across the aisle.
Outside the Ferry Terminal
The machinery inside the Cable Car Barn, that powers all the cable cars in town. We got stranded there too, but the walk to Fisherman’s wharf was much shorter.
Pier 39, near Fisherman’s Wharf, was full of people, but we managed to circumvent the crowds.
Nap time for Sea Lions.
The acrobats were terrific and very funny.
Yelp found us this great restaurant on the pier.
The owner came by to close our blinds. We chatted with him a bit.
Outside the San Francisco Conservatory in Golden Gate Park.
The philodendron leaves were 6 feet long. The plant was 150 years old.
