Weekends are spent getting to know this fabulous city - come with me on a photographic journey of the wonderful and contrasting sights to be seen.  A city of the most suprising and wonderful art - every where you look, there is a statue or a piece of 'graffiti' representing the journey and pain of each neighbourhood.  Every street square or park has something in it, often in concert with the neighbourhood.

The Painted Victorians are some of the most beautiful examples of the style of architecture and the owners have taken great efforts to pick out the features in wonderful color (of course, I also saw some purple ones - yuk - no accounting for taste)  One of the famous painted ladies is for sale at a cool $3mill, but in actual fact, given the price of real estate here, that is not really too bad.Everywhere you go, the buildings have detail and style and if you don't look up, you miss it all.  But when you start looking, it is everywhere.

The trolley and cable cars dominate the public transport and are a cute way of getting around.  Driving and parking is a nightmare, so most people just hop on the trams.  It is an easy city to get around this way, and much more scenic, too.  The overhead lines, however, are a legacy of this, but in themselves, they too form part of the art of the city.

And I have to mention the steep streets.  You come over a rise and there is a roller coaster ahead of you.  I do not like Luna Park at all, and my stomach churns sometimes and I have to control my breathing.  Not sure I will get used to this part of it all.  Cars must be parked with wheels facing the kerb - it is a bookable offence not to do so. And there is from time to time a 'runaway'.  You are certainly aware of intersections and people stop and check all ways before proceeding on these hills - you never know who might be having brake trouble.  However, the good thing is that the views from these hills are spectacular, both of the city and the water.  City views are almost as highly prized as water views here.  Which makes real estate  purchasing an interesting dilemma for someone like me.  However, I am comong to appreciate that the lights of the city are a good feature.