The Painted Ladies and Ocean Beach

San Francisco ought to be called 'DC' - 'Deception City'.  Before you leave your hotel, the Internet tells you it's going to be 17 degrees Celcius today.  So, out you go with a coat.  But when you're walking in the sun, you have to carry your coat because you feel very very warm.  Pedestrians in all directions also wear coats, hoodies, suits and wind cheaters of various kinds because, after all, this is San Francisco.  And it seems to change quickly.  When you move across town, a blue sky becomes overcast in the blink of an eye.

The Gay Pride flag - it contains all the colours of the rainbow....except violet.  The Gay Pride parade is happening on Sunday morning.  These flags fly on Market Street.

We headed down to Market Street, and caught a bus to Alamo Park.  We were in search of the celebrated Painted Ladies, a row of seven houses all built in Victorian times.  But we were disappointed because we really didn't see what all the fuss is about.  To make matters worse, two of the 'Ladies' had scaffolding on them.  I was much more impressed with some of the modern housing we saw a little later, and with the very smart-looking City Hall, which echoes London's St Paul's Cathedral.

San Francisco City Hall

Alamo Park - the row of seven houses left of the tall building at right are the Painted Ladies.

The seven Painted Ladies were built in Victorian times.  Note the blue sky.

I preferred the modern housing.  Note it's now overcast.

Some people take pride in their front gardens.

We took the bus from Alamo Park down to Ocean Beach, which is on the western side of San Francisco.  It had been a blue sky downtown and at Alamo Park.  By the time we arrived at the beach, the sky was bright but fully overcast.  We had thought maybe the beach might be worth a look, but there was nothing there.  We ate lunch in a nearby cafe, and soon made our way back up the hill.  

We did a lot of walking this morning, but took the bus as much as possible because of the hills.  Jean's knee has been playing up.  She prefers to climb hills rather than walk down them.  After we left Ocean Beach, we went in search of the Tiled Steps at Golden Gate Heights, an outdoor staircase beautified by a stunning mosaic (see blog post 'The Tiled Steps and the Japanese Tea Gardens').

Ocean Beach - the sand looked a little like it was mixed with volcanic ash.

After leaving Ocean Beach, we climbed upwards through the streets in search of the Tiled Steps.