Escape from Alcatraz

Friday was a tour of San Francisco and then Alcatraz in the afternoon. We were scheduled for pick up at 8am so it was an early start. The truck was embarrassing to say the least, a huge white thing with zebra stripes - it was themed as an urban safari and we were on safari, pith helmets and all.

Anyway we cruised around a few hotels to collect others and then we headed in the general direction of the Golden Gate bridge. The first stop was the Palace of Fine Arts, a huge Grecian palace with urns and godesses. This was originally built from chicken wire and cement for an expo in the early 1900s but was loved so much it was rebuilt using moulded cement and now it looks amazing. The large dome can be seen for miles.

Then we headed out to the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped underneath the southern pylon. Needless to say the fog hid most of the bridge. There is a walk/cycle way from Fisherman's Wharf to the bridge and after 9/11 they stopped people walking around the fort so someone called Hopper put a set of hands up so people could touch the fence before they headed back, there are also a set of paw prints for the dog walkers (see the picture).

Then we went for a drive through the Presidio. This is a large former military base that was returned to the people in the 1990s. It is also the scene of a movie of the same name starring Sean Connery and Meg Ryan. It was interesting driving around having a look.

The weather meant we couldn't see a lot but the tour took us to City Hall, the Fairmont Hotel, Fisherman's Wharf, and past the Painted Ladies. A few interesting facts:

- San Francisco Bay area (includes the cities of Oaklands, San Jose, Sausalito, and a number of other big towns) has a population of 8 million people
- San Francisco itself has a population of 800,000 - a lot smaller than Adelaide
- It has a very large gay population
- It has a very large homeless population
- Another huge earthquake is expected in the next 15 years
- There are more dogs than children as it is a very expensive city to live in
- Famous residents include OJ Simpson and Joe Dimaggio

Anyway. The afternoon was Alcatraz. Before it became a notorious gaol this island, which is a short 12 minute ferry ride from the City, was a fort and military prison. Many of the buildings on the island relate to that past rather than the prison. We walked up the hill to the main prison block looking at the old fortifications and buildings, many had been destroyed by fire at sometime so the whole island has a sort of post apocalyptic feel about it.

The cell block was really interesting. They give you an audio headset to listen to as you walk around so you know who was in what cell and something about the history. The Clint Eastwood movie is pretty close to the truth about the only escape, 3 of them disappeared so they don't know if they made it or not. There was also another near breakout that ended in some guards being killed and the Marines dropping grenades on prisoners from the roof. I'll add comments to the photos so you can get a better understanding.

One interesting story was that Al Capone was brought across the country by train and the train carriage he was in was lifted onto a barge to take him to Alcatraz so he never left the train. Alcatraz wasn't real big with about 300 prisoners as a maximum but it sure was uncomfortable.

We caught the ferry back to Fisherman's Wharf and had crab cakes and I tried a corn dog ... and then wished I hadn't. It is very touristy but interesting regardless. We tried to get a cable car back to the hotel but there was a 1 hour wait so we caught a trolley bus instead. They have an interesting system here - Pop, you'll like this - for their trolley car network they have antique trolley cars from various US and international cities. So you might see trolley car from Philadelphia in a 1940's colour scheme, or one from an international city at a particular point in time - there is meant to be one from Melbourne but we haven't seen it yet. So rather than have them sit in a museum the old cars are actually used on the network - what a great idea. The fare was $2 to take you back into the city, vs $6 on a cable car.

Tomorrow it's off to visit Sam ... Yosemite Sam that is.Read more