Escape from Alcatraz

Boy....did we do some walking last night!
We decided to walk down to Union Square; this is where all the posh shops are (Tiffany's, Louis Vuitton, Saks). It was ok. The shops may have been high class but we spotted rats in the gardens and the whole square reeked of marijuana....eeww!
We had thought we would eat at the Cheesecake Factory again, but there was a 50 minute wait for a table so we went elsewhere.

Elsewhere ended up being Lori's diner; a traditional American diner. We had southern fried chicken and sweet potato fries, it was ace!

After that, we checked the map and Mr A thought it would be a good idea to walk down to Fisherman's Wharf.
San Francisco has a weird terrain, in that the streets are laid out like a grid but rise and fall at various points. So, even though we were walking DOWN to the waterfront, we had to walk UP a really steep hill first. This then levelled out before sloping just as steeply downwards.
It was a good 45 minute walk; we then spent 2 hours walking around the pier shops.
I think that cancelled out dinner!
Needless to say, we got a taxi back to the hotel!

This morning, we had a lie in until 10am, just because we could and it was needed too.
We got a taxi down to the Golden Gate Bridge and walked across. Then, since there wasn't a cab in sight, we walked it back again (it's approximately 1.7 miles each way).

The views were amazing, but there was always the thought of the people who go there to commit suicide; they had 'crisis helpline' telephones dotted all along the bridge.

When we finally got back to the visitors centre, we got another taxi to the cable car museum (Mr A wanted to see this). It was only small; a mezzanine floor above all the cables and flywheels that operate the cable car lines.
Having seen the mechanics behind it all, it was then time to have a ride on one down to the pier.
I was offered a seat but thought I should do it properly and ride on the footplate on the side of the car.
It was good fun, the driver was a great tour guide, pointing out different landmarks on the way down the hill.

We spent another good few hours walking, shopping and eating around Pier 39, before it was time to board our ferry for the Alcatraz night tour.

The tour was ok; we weren't blown away by it, mainly due to the huge amount of people all crowding round at the same time. As it's an audio tour, you have to follow the prompts, which ends up like sheep herding.
I'd recommend the tour, it's really informative and narrated by former guards & inmates, but I'd say to go earlier and let the crowds subside a bit first.
We had no choice as we booked the night tour, which gave us just over 2 hours there before we had to board the last boat back.

We learned that the term 'the slammer' was coined at Alcatraz. All the doors were operated by a mechanical gear system and with eyes closed (like lights out) it was eerie to hear it. click here to hear it
(You'll need to turn the volume up!)

Today's blip is of the Island, the cell (with a mock up) of the famous 1962 escape, and the notorious more recent inmate DQ2014!

So, that's San Fran done. I think it's my favourite city so far.