Day 32 - Downtown

We were picked up by very generous friends that are local condo residents here.  Pat Putnam and Beth and Sam Orrick.  Pat was my early childhood neighbor back in the 1950's.  Funny how things turn out sometimes.  Anyway, they shuttled us downtown San Francisco where we boarded a tour bus for a whirlwind tour of the city.

It wasn't the best kind of tour for photography but gave us a real good flavor of this city.  Of course, the first thing you notice is the transportation.

You spend much of the tour looking up at the various examples of architecture and high rise buildings.

The wires for the cable cars are generally overhead in most areas.

Here's the TransAmerica building which is probably the signature structure here.

Of course the Golden Gate Bridge.

A view of the city from near Golden Gate.

It appeared expense was no issue when they built city hall.

After we got off the tour, we walked a couple blocks to a very nice seafood restaurant in the wharf area.  Pat and Beth opted for more efficient transportation.

This shot is taken through the window at our lunch table.  Can't beat the view in this place.

Like I said, the photo opportunities today were a bit limited due to our schedule but we got a real nice taste of the city with almost no hassle.  I'd need a lot more days to "see" this town.  The town is diverse beyond belief.  What I learned is that it costs a ton of money to live here and the people that do live here make a ton of money.  I think the statement was the median income was $300,000 and rent on a one bedroom apartment was $3,000/month plus.  That compares to numbers probably around $50,000 and $800 in my neighborhood.  So the moral of the story is work in California and live in Michigan...but the commute is a bitch.

Tomorrow we're headed back to the country.