Trench Foot

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The morning started with us walking out from the hotel into a torrential downpour. With no umbrellas we proceeded to a cafe we identified on Google maps.
The myth my trainers are waterproof was quickly busted when I misjudged a large puddle of water; in which my left foot planted into 3 inches of water, a not so gentle reminder that I am not Carl Lewis and at five foot three will never be.

Our morning was further tested when we arrived at the cafe to discover it was an outdoor coffee dock and not the warm indoor cafe with free WI-FI that we were expecting. This has been an issue for me as my phone provider contract offers brutal roaming here and I am not known for my navigation skills. Something to be weary of if you come to this part of the world; your contract that is and not my navigation incapablilities.

We arrived at the pier for the boat trip across to Alcatraz, the ticket inspector was delighted to discover we were from Ireland and proceeded to show us his Irish T-shirt he was wearing. Thankfully it was a T-shirt and not underwear.

We made our way to the boat upper deck, looking across at Alcatraz island, the dull now drizzly morning gave a feeling of what it must have been like for the scoundrels as they headed over to do time.
The boat journey is about 15 minutes. Upon arrival, a park ranger greeted us all and provided a list of rules that maintained the prison feel.

The island is well staffed with park attendants whom are more than happy to answer your questions. Even if you don't have any questions, they are so bored of not being asked questions they will tell you anyways!!
The island started off as a low security military prison for soldiers that went AWOL, not obey orders, or individuals whom refused draft for example. However the officers treated the worst were the ones that refused to fire a gun due to religious beliefs. If you haven't seen Hacksaw Ridge you should watch it as it's based on this type of individual, however the movie is very soft on how they were treated. Such individuals were handcuffed overhead with the uniform left beside them, all they had to do was give up their beliefs and they were free. Sadly one individual did die and his body was returned to his family in army uniform, a complete insult to the family.

An audio tour is provided while you visit the main prison house and it's good to take a walk around and have another look after it's finished. You get to hear about the monotony of prison life, see the cells, some you can enter. The worst were the solitary confinement cells; prisoners could do stretches of up to 19 days in complete darkness. Beside them cells were cells that housed the most dangerous prisoners, they were never let out at all.

The cells with the famous prison breaks are also part of the tour. You get to see the homemade dummies as well as the cut away vent holes, we were baffled as to how prison guards never noticed these. Every day, they had a music hour at seven. During this time they dug away while the music drowned out the sound.
These three individuals that escaped were never seen again, however that is rubbish. One of them is quite visible and prominent in Dirty Harry, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, as well as Million Dollar Baby and many more 😁

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