The streets of San Francisco.

We decided to do a walking tour of San Francisco because we love hills and hate ourselves.  Our guide took us straight up Nob Hill to look at the cathedral.

I don't know how it can be a Cathedral without a bishop.

Grace Cathedral is modeled on Notre Dame, and would be a perfect replica were it not for the lack of Americans taking photos.  On the steps of the Cathedral we were told the history of San Francisco which, like many of the European cities I had visited a couple of months ago, was dominated by a fire.  This trend carried throughout the tour, as SF considers itself to be a very European city.

Next up we hit the Cable Car Museum, where we could see the huge wheels which run the city's single remaining cable car.

What a big wheels.

Then we headed into little Italy.  Outside the beat poetry museum a random octogenarian, not in any way associated with the tour, stopped to tell us about the history of the area; about the division of the city between the Chinese and the Italians, the way the mob cleaned out all the pimps from downtown SF and the eventual gentrification of the entire city.  It was the most interesting thing I heard on the tour.

Next, we got to take a look at some of the definitive buildings which make up the San Francisco skyline.

Which one do you like better?

Then it was back up hill to Coit Tower, which gave us a commanding view of the city.

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Our guide took us back down towards Fisherman's Wharf.  We went again the next day.