Jason invited me to come hang out with him in the city this afternoon. He and his friend Brian had planned to hang out on North Beach, which is not actually a beach. You see, the Northern end of the San Francisco peninsula is man-made; it's entirely landfill. North Beach is where the shoreline USED to be, before the new addition. It's a good half-mile inland from where the water hits now.


Outside the Powell Street BART station, a big gang of pigeons was lounging around, waiting for handouts from tourists.


Jason said he hates them, but their shiny green necks are at least interesting. He calls them "winged rodents," but that seems a little harsh.


Next, it was off to the Filbert steps, a steep group of stairways connecting the North Shore to the new land. This crazy old Cadillac was waiting at the start of one set of stairs.

But the most exciting part of the day was what we saw ON the steps ...


The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill!!! These beautiful Cherry-Headed Conures are part of San Francisco culture; their wild flock lives in the city year-round, scrounging food wherever they can find it. Apparently, the cold weather is no problem for them.


They're pretty tame, and will apparently eat out of your hand, if you bring some sunflower seeds. Next time!


Soooooooo cute!

After the parroting, it was off to Coit Tower, a monument to some woman who followed around firefighters all her life. The views were great.


There's the famous TransAmerica Pyramid, and the rest of downtown SF.


The top of the tower itself is exposed, and on a day like today, it was really nice up there!