Alcatraz

A visit to San Francisco isn't complete without a tour of Alcatraz Island, so this morning I caught the cable car to Fishermans Wharf, and bought a ferry ticket out to Alcatraz. The island is actually very close to the San Francisco penisula, and the ferry trip took less than ten minutes. To my disappointment, I discovered that there were some scenes in "The Rock" that must have been filmed elsewhere ;-( A lot of the island is very run-down, with several buildings reduced to rubble. The main cell block has been well maintained, and there's an audio tour that you can do that tells the story of how several of the inmates lived. I also got to walk around in the "recreation area", which is just a big concrete yard with high walls. All up - an interesting experience, definitely one of the nicer prisons that I've visited (as a tourist ;-), and good value at only US$12.