Escape from Alcatraz

Well we knew we weren’t going to get really stuck but made sure we got back to the dick in plenty of time to get on the boat!

Started the day with breakfast at a Vietnamese cafe, Lapisara, and fortified myself with an omelette and much needed latte before we headed to the HoHo (hop on hop off bus) as we figured that would be the best way to see most of the attractions in our list. The whole route takes around 2 hours but horrendous traffic meant we took almost 3 and a half hours to get to Fisherman’s wharf. We saw city hall, drove through Haight Ashbury, Golden gate park with the botanical and tea gardens, drove over the bridge twice and headed through the outskirts of Russian hill before getting off at the wharf to have a wander.

Stopped for drinks at a fish restaurant and ended up going back to eat a late lunch/early dinner before heading to Pier 33 for our night tour to Alcatraz. Fascinating place and very moving to hear some of the stories from the ex-inmates and guards. One chap was locked up in the thirties for 25 years for stealing $16.38 from a convenience store. His bad luck to be sent to the island as the store was attached to a post office making it a federal crime.

Very interesting to hear the story of the Indian occupation in the early 70’s and good to see that the original protest signs were restored a few years ago by the descendants of some of the original protestors.

Eerie and sad at the same time. Managed to miss the sunset unfortunately but we’re glad we’d taken jackets as it was pretty cold by the time we got back to the wharf.

Headed back to the hotel stopping in the way to pick up a snack to have before bed.

Backblipped Sunday for Friday