Blogs from Alcatraz, San Francisco, California, United States, North America - page 12

Hello, our last week was spent in sunny California. We flew into San Francisco on Saturday, before we left Auckland. We took a taxi to our hotel which was miraculously in the middle of the shopping district - Steph chose it. We spent the afternoon wandering around Union Square, Macys, Bloomingdales, Abercrombie and Fitch. We stopped for dinner at Max's - huge portions and excellent cheese cake... The following day we went on a long walk down to the front and all the piers. From here we could see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge. We went to pier 39 to see the gaudy shops and restaurants, also the resident sea-lions. We walked up the coast to Fort Mason, passing some "historic" ships on the way (including the Balclutha - as seen in Mutiny on the ... read more

Well, we didn't achieve much yesterday in San Fran other than a brief walkaround down to Fishermans Wharf. We thought we would just quickly check out the softness of the bed at about 8pm and the next thing we knew it was morning. Here are some picks of Alcatraz which went to on the 10:45 ferry after a big american breakfast on Pier 39. We did the audio tour which was a great way to do it. As you can see we were quite socialable wandering around with our headsets on! We saw one of the former inmates (Darwin Coon) who was in there signing his book the day we were there. He was imprisoned from 1959-1963 for Bank Robbery and was also one of last inmates to leave the Island when it closed. ... read more

Well hello everyone, After leaving juneau and making our way to San Francisco we had to change flights stopping in Seattle so only really got to see the Airport there lol. We Got to San Francisco late at night so got a taxi and Straight to bed pretty much. We got up the next day and just cruised around town getting our bearings and had a walk along the piers down near fishermans wharf and all round that area. San Francisco is massive and alot of dodgy homeless running about in some areas but it's such a beautiful place, Didn't expect there to be so many hills all over the place its up and down up and down on every street (any wonder everyone's so skinny lol. Anyways the next day we got up early and ... read more

Sorry, I couldn't resist! Obviously we went to Alcatraz to day which was very cool because it's been something I have wanted to do since I was little. I was just as good as I thought but at the same time I wanted so much more!? That probably sounds wierd but I hope I can make it make sense. It was everything I imagined arriving there on the boat, pulling up and seeing the lookout tower and the lighthouse with the fort at the bottom of the hill. We then watched an educational video and strolled towards out "guided" tour (headphones!) It was really cool walking round the prison block and hearing the inmates story's and attempts at escape. I don't believe for a second that the three who got away are dead because they were ... read more

We were up at 0715 to get the cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf to go to Alcatraz. As expected the weather was variable - heavy, heavy rain interrupted by light rain interrupted by a minute of dry. The San Francisco Bay was choppy on the way to the island and it took ten minutes ashore before the rocking sensation stopped - we’d only been on the ferry for five minutes! The best way to get the most out of a trip to Alcatraz is to purchase the audio tour that both guides you and explains what you are looking at as you walk along - complete with sound effects at appropriate times and inmates and cell guards recalling events and life on The Rock. We saw the cells of Al Capone and Robert Stroud “The Birdman ... read more