Sunny Upper Market Street

@Observing: Hi there, Mike. The telephoto really distorts location in the shot - but you're close! Where I am standing is actually about 4 blocks south and 4 blocks west of the western edge of Civic Center. I am on Market Street as it climbs into Eureka Valley and the Castro area. (Good job, Mike - when were you last here?)

@Betty: I'll confess, Betty - this is why I am FROM the Washington, D.C. area. Yesterday I was across the bay - wearing a Hawaiian shirt - having a picnic with friends in the Berkeley Rose Garden where it was 73°. The down side is that we've had almost no rain through December and so far through January - our two wettest months in a five month rainy season. This would create our third year of drought. I may be begging you to send a case of water.

@Marcie: That would be our Ferry Building along the Embarcadero. What is your son doing?

@Viewfinder: Steady, lad - steady....

@k@: U. S. Senator Diane Feinstein - back when she was mayor of San Francisco - began this program. We've collected these 'Trolley Cars' from all over the world. None from Paris, so far as I know. We are running cars from England, Switzerland, Italy, India, Canada, and Mexico - as well as many major cities within this country.

@Scott Schilling: Thanks for the concern, Scott. Believe me - I am no dare-devil. I've actually been the safety supervisor at two companies when I was younger. I'm usually pretty good at assessing that aspect first when preparing a shoot.

@JJ: Twenty winters in the Washington, D.C. area is what has seen me here for the past thirty-nine.

@hugo poon: Bless you, Hugo - you too!

@John Maslowski: Brrrr. And, yes John - many Palm Trees. All of Dolores Street; all of outer Market Street; and the entire Embarcadero, from Fisherman's Wharf to the ball park.

@Mike: Not at all Mike. These are Trolley Cars that run off electricity from the overhead wires. The Cable Cars actually grab a cable running below the street surface. Cable Cars are each a protected National Historic Site - the only moving objects to bare that distinction.

All of the modern light rail vehicles run under Market Street and then into the outlying neighborhoods. This line - made up of old streetcars from all over the U.S.and the world - serves the surface of Market Street - from the Castro to The Ferry Building. Here they turn north along The Embarcadero and run through all of Fisherman's Wharf. A great ride that takes much pressure off the overburdened Cable Cars (at less than a third the price) - All of the cars are painted and restored reflecting where they served - from Milan, Italy to Kansas City. We even have "A Streetcar named 'Desire' " - from New Orleans. U.S. Senator Diane Fienstein initiated this vision when she was mayor of San Francisco (1978 - 1984).