"Heaven is a city much like San Francisco."

I often say that growing up in New York has ruined me for all other cities. And that's true, but San Francisco is close. I'm staying near Union Square, which is tourist central (it's kind of like living in a mall) and I haven't had much time to explore yet, but it feels like a real city to me. Nothing quite looks or feels like New York (SF keeps making me think of Chicago, but with hills and palm trees), but I love that people actually walk here...and fairly briskly too! Plus, I have to love a city where I can see the Container Store from the Apple Store. (The latter was actually disappointing, since apart from looking like a giant Powerbook on the outside, on the inside the layout is identical to Soho's, complete with the glass staircase, so it was pretty dull.)

Anyway, today I got to leave work and be a tourist for a few hours, so I rode a cable car down to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch, and walked along Embarcadero and Market Streets for a couple of miles. I'll explore off the beaten path a bit more next week.

Here are some pics...
I was weirdly obsessed with this fountain:




Funny head:




Bay Bridge:


Some weird goodies from the Musee Mecanique




Telegraph Hill (from the bottom)