San Francisco - Day 3 - The "Rock"

Since the morning I was really very excited about seeing ALCATRAZ so called The "Rock" today. The weather got better so there was nothing to spoil this day. We decided not to drive the car today and try the cable cars instead. It took us aprox. 30 minutes to walk to Powell Street where we boarded the trams. It is a must and very romantic indeed. Sometimes I had to hold my breath when the old things are climbing the steep streets of San Francisco or "falling" down the hills.

Everything here is still done manually.

On our way to Fisherman's Wharf we stopped at Chinatown.



A typical SF cable car with Transamerica Pyramid, the tallest building of this city.

The view from Nob Hill with Alcatraz in the background is really magnificent.

Before we reached the Fisherman's Wharf I needed to check on the very famous chocolate factory Ghirardelli which has been renovated to a very beautiful center full of restaurants and shops. A very nice place to sit and relax while listening to street musicians.



Then we moved to Pier 41 from where we took the ferry to Alcatraz. Pier 41 and 39 are very nice to walk on by the way.

Then we waited in a loooong line to board the ferry.


Last night I was reading all kinds of historical articles about Alcatraz. Such things just fascinate me and I couldn't agree more with the author who said:" If only the walls could talk". I also read about the inmates there such as Al Capone, Robert "Birdman" Stroud and "Machine Gun" Kelly. What stories they had to tell. It is also said that out of all the escapes nobody survived but there are still some inmates reported missing which gives me the hope:-) It is said that Alcatraz was the only penitentiary with only hot water which kept the prisoners from acclimating to cold water. It is only 1mile from the shore but the water in the bay is very cold.

Alcatraz (pelican in Spanish) served as a fortification in the 1850's, then a war prison during the Spanish-American War and in 1934 Alcatraz became the maximum security prison for members of organized crime.


After we landed on the island there was a surprise waiting for me. One of the former inmates Darwin Coon was there in person signing his book about Alcatraz. Can you believe it??? Obviously I bought the book and I have the REAL Alcatraz prisoner signed my book. How cool is that?? He served 4 years here and was answering peoples questions. He was like a hero there. Funny, from a prisoner a hero. He is said to be the last one though.

To Jiri Harajda ...Darwin Coon.....his number was 1422 and he was there 1959 - 1963

The audio tour is fun and very informative. I don't know how Adela but I loved it. The prison itself is a very scary place. The conditions are just ......well, horrible.

This is one of the cells where the prisoner attempted to escape. They used many different tools and digged the hole in the wall. They also used the dummy heads to mystify the wardens.

This is the scariest one so called "hole" Cold, dark and tiny. The prisoners spent there from 2 to 5 days. They didn't have a notion of time and space. One of the inmates described the activity he did there to make the time run faster. He flipped a button in the air and then turned around many times and then he looked for the button in the dark. When he found it he repeated it over and over again. Can you believe it?? I wouldn't like to do it for 5 hours and he was there 5 days.

Scary, isn't it??

The only good thing about the "Rock" I can think of is the view over San Francisco. It is really beautiful and it must have been even more beautiful for the prisoners.

I really did loved the visit today and I would love the walls to be able to speak!!

On our way back to our hotel we had to stop to take some picture again. Do you like it more with such weather?? It is prettier, isn't it?


Lombard Street with the Coit Tower in the background.