After a little bit of research online it became obvious that the most reasonable way to get into downtown San Fran from the airport is to take BART, the regional rapid transit train line. According to the guidebook I borrowed from Domini (she and John had just been there a few weeks earlier), the BART line was planned to be extended to the airport "by 2005. But don't hold your breath." Thanks to my deep probing investigative journalism, I concluded that it's sitting right here, working just fine thank you.




Pulling out of the airport and heading into the city (a trip of not much more than half an hour), I got this shot of a rainbow through the grimy BART window.




Speaking of rainbows, this was my first glimpse of the rainbow colouring of houses in the San Francisco area. It seemed kind of slummy to me, but I think that might be because I've only ever seen this kind of multicoloured approaching to housing in economically depressed nations. Presumably SF residents just consider it quaint.




By the time I got off the BART train, right around the corner from my hotel in the downtown core, it was sunny out and I was warmly greeted by the Gap.




This is the end of Powell street, where one of the cable car lines terminates. To get them turned around and pointing back up the hill, they use a turntable. More on this later.




This was the block of Powell with my hotel, the Villa Florence. You can see its green awning in the centre. Notice its proximity to an intersection of major streets. (More on this later too.)

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