5/11/2009 We EXPERIENCE San Francisco Part 3

Time for our cable car ride! We walked to the end of the line for the cable car so that we could get a full ride.

We were entertained by this fellow as we waited for the cable car to arrive.

His occupation is "street singer". No, he's not panhandling, he's not homeless or a beggar he is just simply... a street singer. Oh, could he sing! This gentleman has a deep, rich baritone voice that we could have listened to all day long! He took requests and said he could sing just about any song anyone could throw out to him. After singing for us, most of us waiting gave a donation and he got ready for the next group who would be waiting for a cable car.

We watched the cable car come in...

....get lined up with this circular platform...

....and then watched the cable car guys swing the cable car around so that it could switch tracks.

This guy was pushing...

....and this guy was doing the pulling.

Now I'm thinking this platform must swing in around in the circle pretty easily because neither one of these guys were straining to push or pull.

We boarded the cable car and weren't quick enough to get the open air seats so we had to sit inside. Bob opted to stand on the platform in the back.

We had some STEEP hills to go down.

We got off at Union Square.

I knew going into this we would see some strange sights today but I didn't expect this. Look closely at this picture.

Another view.

It seemed everyone was out enjoying this beautiful day.

Colorful flowers being sold by a street vendor.

I forget which store this is, maybe Nordstrom's but I'm not really sure about that, anyway, I just had to take a picture of the corner of their building.

And then, of course, I had to go inside and ask if I could pictures in there.

Now THIS is a skylight!

There is some serious shopping to be done in this neighborhood.

Now I have to be honest here. I wouldn't buy anything in these stores! We looked at Coach purses....I'm sorry, I'm not spending just two dollars shy of four hundred dollars for THIS!

Or how about this one...and the SAFETY PINS make this one so special! One thousand three hundred and ninety five dollars worth of special!

And let's not forget Louis Vuitton with his initials all over it and you PAY big bucks because of that! Now I do have a friend who one of those bags would be perfect for,,,but her initials ARE LV! I also have another friend whose initials are VL and if she was dyslexic it would be perfect for her! Otherwise, why would you want someone else's initials on your handbag? If MY purse is going to have initials they are going to be SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ !

And the CLOTHES! I peeked into Urban Outfitters.

Would YOU spend $42.00 for THIS???? It isn't only UGLY ...it's FUGLY! (You know what I'm saying here!)

I don't get it,,,I just don't get it. And Bob is very happy that I don't get it! It makes me sick that people WASTE money on this stuff when they could be saving a whale or planting some trees or feeding a child (not necessarily in that order) with that money instead. OK, I'm done. I just had to get that rant out. On with our day.

Street vendors abound on the streets of San Francisco. This lady made these adorable knit caps for kids, at a reasonable $12.00 a piece mind you.

We walked into the square itself and found an art project "heart" at each entrance.

Another strange sight. This guy has a big red teddy bear strapped to his back! ???

Bob and I just loved some of the buildings in San Francisco.

There were some characters on the streets of this town too. This fellow was telling anyone and everyone who would listen that if you were not a virgin when married or are on your second marriage that you should divorce and never engage in sexual relations again for the rest of your life because you won't get into heaven otherwise. It didn't seem to me that people were listening to him.

We made one last stop into a store. Sees Candies. I knew I was in trouble when I walked in there so I did an about face and walked right back out or I would have bought the store! Remember, we haven't "really" eaten yet today and well you just don't turn me lose in a candy store HUNGRY! I went outside while Karen and Bob bought out the store!

I saw this bush and thought the flowers unusual.

The Bud...

Slightly opened.

Fully opened.

Another view.

The bush...or tree...filled with "trumpet flowers"

It was time to move on. Its getting late in the day by now and we have more to see. We headed to the place to get the cable car back to where we are parked and got in line. Once again we didn't have to wait long for it to arrive.

I've got a lot of pictures here so I'm going on to Part 4 for the rest of the day. See you there.