Look out for the photo of Lombard St which is the famous street with zig-zags due to the steepness of the hill. Ironically this isn't the steepest street in San Francisco!

San Francisco is a very residential place. Given its sunny disposition (?!) people used to build eight-sided "octagon" houses to make the most of the sun. There are a couple of these remaining although they're not as impressive as I thought they would be. Wandering the streets you stumble across all sorts of odd-looking houses.

Alcatraz is part of the National Park Service and one of their most popular vistor attractions. Many films have used Alcatraz as a location including The Rock, Birdman Of Alcatraz and Escape From Alcatraz.

Alcatraz was never filled to capacity and only had around 300 inmates at any one time. The inmates came up with names for areas of the cellhouse which is why the main corridor is called Broadway, with Times Square being the junction at the bottom below a large clock.

Cable Cars were invented in 1873 and first tested in San Francisco by a Scot: Andrew Hallidie from Falkirk. In the 40s and 50s much of the cable car system was ripped up however three lines were kept and these remain today. The system was entirely rebuilt in the 80s. One of San Franscisco's more interesting places to visit is the free Cable Car museum which is also the powerhouse for the entire system.

I stumbled across a huge filming operation in downtown San Francisco at the Bank Of America Center (555 California St). Turned out Will Smith was filming exterior shots for his new movie "Pursuit Of Happyness". After a bit of standing around and watching rehearsals for a shot Will Smith appeared from a hotel behind us and said hello to a few of us watching the proceedings before walking over to the filming location. Should be interesting to see the film when it's out in the cinemas in December.

Grace Cathedral was completed in 1964 as the third largest Episcopal cathedral in the USA. The cathedral has two labyrinths which visitors may walk around.

This is the best of the best in terms of housing in San Francisco. The victorian painted houses are known as "Painted Ladies". I particularly liked the look of Danielle Steele's house (she has a nice collection of cars parked in the driveway, everything from a Bentley to a Mini Cooper S!).

Pier 39 is the place where ferries run to Alcatraz and a bunch of other spots around the Bay area. It's the most popular tourist area of San Francisco and of course the tackiest! Around 1990 sea lions started to gather in the marina west of Pier 39 and there is now a population of over 300 of them who bask in the sun barking away to keep the tourists happy. The smell is something else...

Union Square is one of San Francisco's original civic green spaces although it has now been concreted over and landscaped. The area is a mecca for shoppers and all the major hotels are here too.