Monday 4 March 2013

America, San Francisco: Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge walk & Alcatraz.



What an amazing few days. The last two days in particular I will never forget. I have been very busy since my last entry, trying to see every corner and street of San Francisco before friday. Every street offers something new, or changes the atmosphere. I will come on to the last two days (Sunday and Monday) in a moment but first I will share Saturday. San Francisco like any major city is split into neighbourhoods and I wanted to get round as many as possible in one day to get a feel for each one. This really is the most diverse place I have ever been. I mean where else has a 'Chinatown', 'Japantown' and a 'Little Italy'?!

It was 'Telegraph Hill' I trekked up to first. Obviously, with the city being so hilly it naturally gives off spectacular views at certain points. Telegraph hill is one of the best. You can get great views of the bay, but also across the other way to the Golden Gate. I went up the 'Coit Tower' which is 200 odd feet high and gives incredible 360 degree views. That high up you can see the city's bumpy landscape as it peaks and troughs for miles. I then walked a few minutes to 'North Beach', which is a really lovely district. This is where the 'Little Italy' is situated amongst 'Washington Square' - a lovely green park. I really loved North Beach. It really had that Italian feel to it, with authentic small coffee shops and Pizzeria's. The small streets were lined with little bars and cafe's. As I wondered further down the road, Italian cafe's started merging with Chinese restaurants and Dim Sum cafes. Such a mix of culture just along one single road... It would have been easy to forget I was in the USA. I eventually reached Chinatown which unlike the countless other Chinatown's I have seen on my travels, quite intrigued me. It was certainly the best one I had come across (bar Hong Kong obviously. That would be a bit mad.) The street was narrow and chinese banners and signs brought the area to life. I stopped in a chinese food joint and has ribs, sesame chicken and rice. It was really good. After lunch I wondered up a hill. Then another. Then another. Lots of hills. I reached a hill. Nob Hill. There, I visited the Cable car museum which was surprisingly good! Inside were the big wheels and the motors for the cables running through the city... You could see the cable enter the museum, hit a big wheel and then exit again.  As you can gage, I haven't a clue how it works. It was technical. Nob Hill is also the highest geographical point meaning a lot of the local streets offered amazing views down the slopes again. I bumped into a local man, who directed me to a street for a great panoramic view. The cars on this street had to park horizontally to avoid slipping! Each neighbourhood had a completely different feel to the last, yet every single one was interesting.


That brings me on to yesterday (Sunday for me). It was one of the best days on my traveling and perhaps ever. I started the day at the Presidio, which is a National Park directly beneath the Golden Gate bridge. I walked through the park which is like a forest at the beginning. It was a very well looked after area and was very pretty. As I kept walking further down (it was on a hill. Weird.) I started to make out the Golden Gate Bridge amongst the trees. I walked for quite a way before reaching Crissy Field. A lovely wide open green area, right in front of the Bridge. The view from here was quite amazing. People were having picnics, playing games, walking dogs etc. If I lived here I could see myself spending a lot of time there! I took a ton of photos here, mostly on a little promenade they had built into the sea, giving you a different angle on the bridge. I got some crazy Japenese guy (liked doing Kung Fu moves when being photographed by his mate.) to take a picture of me. I grabbed some lunch (Frank Dog, but I could have had a Mutt Dog, Brat Dog or Not Dog.) and then continued my walk to the bridge! It seemed so close but the walking went on and on! It was a pleasure though, I never get bored. You reach Fort Point which is a historic Fort used during World War 2 I think... Here, you can begin your climb some stairs and along some paths to the pedestrian entrance to the bridge. The views got more and more spectacular the nearer I got. One spot was particularly amazing giving a good view straight across, showing the two towers. Honestly, the pictures I took did no justice. I wanted every single person I knew to be seeing what I could through my own eyes. It was breathtaking. I continued up before I was finally on the bridge.It was extremely cold and windy but I didn't care too much. I walked the entire length and it took me about 30 minutes to reach the other side, including stopping to take pictures.






It was an experience I won't forget. The views back to the city and to Alcatraz were amazing. The camera couldn't focus at that distance, but to the naked eye it was brilliant. To the north side of the bridge was mountains rising high, giving a totally different but still amazing view. I can't really describe why walking over a bridge was so good, you really just have to do it for yourself. It's difficult to describe it's beauty too... The sheer scale and prominence of it, really takes you back. I walked all the way back and back towards the city, trying not to turn round for another glimpse every minute. I caught a bus which took me south to another district called 'Haight Ashbury'. Again, totally different from the rest. This area is the music centre point of the city and is definitely the 'alternative' side. My cup of tea, as you would imagine. However, I didn't have a lot of time and despite the scenery looking pretty cool, it was mainly bars and being 20 and not 21, limited me to what I could do! I did find another branch of the same record store I found in LA and I gave in and bought the Wu Lyf vinyl I had my eye on! By this point I was knackered so I got some tea and headed back :)

So today was Alcatraz day! This is one of two tours/activities I booked prior to leaving. I was very excited. I started the morning at Pier 1 and the ferry building again, looking around the markets. I walked to Pier 39 and tried out the 7D experience! Where they got 7D from I don't know. Essentially it was a 3D ride simulator with a laser gun shooting zombies. It was alright, nothing special and I came 4th out of 5 in the room. Disappointing. Had a bit of time to kill, so I walked up to the Boudin Bakery museum, which is mainly a cafe and a restaurant. I never knew before coming here, but San Francisco's quintessential dish is soup with 'Sourdough' bread. This bakery invented Sourdough bread and they still use the same recipe since 1849. The museum is set in the middle of the kitchen meaning you can look down at the bakers mixing, cooking and moulding the various types of bread, pastries etc. I won't go through it all, but it was really interesting. I got a free taster of the bread and it tastes exactly what it says... Sour! It has a kind of twang to it, which is hard to describe. Still, the people of San Francisco are very proud of it, as the company survived the devastating 1906 earthquake.



So shortly after, it was time to board the ferry to Alcatraz! By this point it was freezing cold. Today took me by surprise and was the coldest day so far on my travels. 10c. That's about triple what you guys have right?! HA. The ferry took about 10 minutes and when you arrive you are split into little groups and walked up the hill (again.) to the cell house. It was already quite an eery experience. We were told on the way up the hill, we were making the exact walk the inmates would have done when first arriving to the island. We were told of various escape attempts and how they failed and succeeded. However, no one successfully made it off the island alive whilst it was a federal prison. Three men got free and swam but they were never seen again, but lifejackets were found a short while after in the San Francisco bay. As you walk in you are handed a set of headphones and a remote which let you pause your audio guide as you walked along. The guide was fantastic as you heard inmates and ex-wardens give their recollections as you went along. We entered the cell house and walked along the different streets of cells. The cells were as basic as you would imagine. Very little space etc. However, these were luxury compared to 'D Block'. D Block was where Isolation was. No inmate wanted to be sent here. It was for the prisoners who did not follow Alcatraz rules. The four/five cells at the end of D Block were called 'the hole'. It was a tiny little space with no light whatsoever. Prisoners got the smallest amount of food and were let out once a week for a shower. It reminded me of Shawshank Redemption when Andy is sent to Isolation. Hearing an ex inmate sob on the audio guide as he described being in isolation was very haunting and chilling. Along the walls were pictures of the inmates who spent a lot of time in D Block. Al Capone was one of them, but perhaps the worst of the lot was Robert 'The Birdman' Stroud. This guy was a mental case. Literally. He spent a lot of his time in the prison hospital upstairs too. He would wind up the other inmates too with his insanity. I walked through various other parts of the cell house including the library, hospital and dining area. The dining area was considered the most dangerous and the inmates were given knives to eat there food with. Tear gas was lined in the walls and was ready to be deployed at any moment if need be.


In the main cell house, you were told of the 1946 escape attempt. One inmate starved himself so slip through his cell door bars and take out an officer. He unlocked two of his mates and they got hold of the warden's keys. However, they couldn't unlock the door as one warden has already taken that key and hidden it. They took several prison guards as hostages before finally being apprehended. One guard was shot dead by one of the convicts and the cell in which the guard died has a memorial inside. It was so creepy being in the exact location in which the break out attempt took place. After the audio tour, their were various other talks by staff. I went to one describing in more detail, the attempted breakouts. After, they opened the prison cells with the controls and slammed them shut. That noise has been described as the 'Alcatraz slammer'. Inmates that were on Alcatraz say that to this day they can still hear the sound. The tour guide showed us the slam. It was a very loud and distinct noise. It has been used in many films too! Jurassic Park and Star Wars used the sound when they showed a door/gate closing in the films. They used the sound of Cell 1 door's closing, which was the very one that was being demonstrated! I learnt so much more, but it is too much to write down here! It was excellent and I didn't want to leave. It's definitely somewhere I would return. Always wanted to return to Prison sounds a bit odd doesn't it?! I think U.S.P Alcatraz restriction #5 sums the place up perfectly. " You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter and medical attention. Anything else that you get is a privilege".

After I got back to the mainland I went to the Rainforest cafe. I'm a big fan ever since the day I set foot in one in Florida when I was much younger. I looked a bit odd, all by myself but I didn't really care! I know this is another long one, but I wanted to say as much as I could about the last few days as they have been brilliant! I have really fallen in love with it here, and I won't want to leave on Friday. The locals are prouder of their city, more than anywhere else I have been and I can see why. It has everything you would ever want. Four days left here and then it's the small matter of New York City! Very exciting.



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