Escaped from Alcatraz!!!

Very excited - I'm off to prison! After getting our trolley down to the pier we boarded our boat to Alcatraz. A very harsh environment there, on one side of the island it overlooks the bay and the view of San Francisco. In a way it reminded me of Ellis Island in New York where the immigrants looked out to the Statue of Liberty. The audio tour is excellent with the ex prisoners and guards narrating your tour as well as background noises that at times freaked you out a little - like when they talked about the riots and escape attempts. The story of the 3 that did escape by making masks out of soap, paint, cement and hair was amazing and you have to give them a little credit for their creativity! The cells were tiny and depending which block you were in there was very little natural light.













Stories of this prison are really interesting from the guards, families that lived there but especially the prisoners. We had the advantage of leaving prison when we so wished! So off we went on the boat to the mainland to get clam chowder, mmmmmm.

As most of our day was spent in prison we ended the time we had left in San Francisco shopping at Union Square. At least the weather picked up today and wasn't anywhere as near as foggy, windy or cold!











I think i have now succeeded in seeing all major attractions in San Francisco from my two visits! Yay!