A visit to San Francisco isn’t complete without a visit to Alcatraz so we did the right thing and bought two tickets for the ferry trip across to the island.

Booking for Alcatraz must be done in advance as it is a popular tour so we booked 2 days ahead. If you are coming during a busy time of the year make it a point of buying your tickets on the day you arrive so you don’t miss out.

We purchased our tickets at Pier 33 at Fishermans Wharf which is where the ferry leaves from and they cost $24.50 each. We booked it for 10.30am on the Friday. The ferries leave every 30 minutes but you have to book for a specific time. Coming back doesn’t need to be booked so you just hop on any ferry to return. This allows you to spend as much time as you like on the island as long as you are on the last ferry which leaves at 4.30pm.

So today we walk from our Holiday Inn Hotel up to Pier 33. Our hotel is in a great location and close to everything so it only takes about 15 or so minutes to get there.

We wait in a queue to get onto the ferry. Halfway into the queue our photo is taken in front of a backdrop of Alcatraz.

Once onto the ferry we make our way to the upper deck which is open and exposed to all the elements. Luckily we had a beautiful day so although the weather was cold it was tolerable. If you want the open deck then make sure that you arrive a little earlier so you are near the front of the queue as it seemed like everyone was heading for the top.

The ferry left on schedule and only 10 minutes later we were at Alcatraz.  The crossing was smooth considering how strongly the wind was blowing. Wanda was a bit apprehensive as she is prone to getting seasick, but she was so occupied with taking photos that she didn’t have time to think about it and the time passed really quickly.

Since we were on the top deck we were one of the last to hop off.   Before we were able to head up the winding climb to the prison it was a requirement that we listen to the orientation talk but by the time we got off the boat it was already half way through so we didn’t get to hear too much.

So it was off to walk the hill towards the prison passing by the officers residences as we went. The island has a shuttle for people who are unable to make the walk on their own. As the climb is the equivalent of a thirteen story building.

Once in the prison we were directed through the cellhouse towards the area where the audio tour started. We had no idea whether this was an extra cost or not as there were no signs anywhere and eventually we realised that the tour is included in our ticket cost so we took the headphones and player and headed off on the tour.

The audio directs you through the prison providing lots of info and interesting facts and takes about 40 minutes.

We saw lots of prison cells which are about the size of a small bathroom. Each contains a bed, wash basin, toilet and some shelving. The cells were a lot smaller than I was expecting them to be.

We also got to see the recreation yard and the dining room and kitchen. Every so often the audio requests you to stop in front of photos of prisoners and prison officers and gives you an insight into prison life and also the famous prisoners such as Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone. 

After we had seen enough we headed back down the hill to the ferry. We didn’t realise that there was a queueing area to get back onto the ferry as we had been sitting on a bench further up the pier waiting for the next one to arrive. Fortunately there was still plenty of room on the ferry so we didn’t have to wait for the next one.

In the kitchen, the outline of the knives were drawn on the wall so that the guards could see at a glance if a knife was missing. Even so this didn’t stop knives from disappearing.

The guards tower was manned 24 hours a day.

These are some of Alcatraz’s famous inmates : AZ 85 Al “Scarface” Capone – Income Tax Evasion, AZ 117 George “Machine Gun”Kelly – Kidnapping, AZ268 Arthur “Doc” Barker – Conspiracy to kidnap, AZ 325 Alvin “Creepy Karpis” Karpavicz – Conspiracy to kidnap, AZ594 Robert “The Birdman” Stroud – Murder, AZ1117 Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson – Narcotics, AZ 1518  Meyer “Mickey ” Cohen – Income Tax Evasion.

What a great way to explore the city of San Francisco, simply purchase a ticket for the City Sightseeing bus tour.

Make sure you pick up a tourist brochure or map from one of the many stands around Fisherman’s Wharf so that you receive a $10 discount on the 48 hour, 3 loop pass. For the sum of $39.99 you can travel around the Downtown Loop, The Night Tour and the Golden Gate Tour.

We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express, Fisherman’s Wharf, so we were really close to the departure point in Leavenworth Ave.

Once everyone has boarded, the bus sets off along Jefferson into past the Anchorage, Cannery, Cable Car, Ghirardelli Square, Hyde St Pier, the Maritime Museum and Aquatic Park.

Stop 2 is on the Barbary Coast near the Fog City Diner, then it’s on past Levi’s Plaza, where you could once buy a pair of jeans and soak in a hot tub to shrink them onto yourself, Telegraph Hill, Filbert St, and the Coit Tower which has 400 plus stairs to climb to reach the base of the tower.  We did consider climbing the stairs as we had previously climbed the to the top of the Sacre Coeur in Paris which has many hundreds of small concrete steps. But decided to do it next time we are here.

Coit Tower looks out over San Francisco and gives amazing views of the city.  The tower was built by Lillian Hitchcock Coit who was a great admirer of firemen.  One story we were told was that she became fixated by firemen after being rescued from a fire by them when she was seven years old. I don’t know if this is true or just a fanciful elaboration on the part of our guide.

The 210 foot art deco tower resembles the nozzle of a fire hose and its design was quite controvesial when it was built in 1933.

Stop 3 is at the Ferry Building (one Market St – opposite the Hyatt Regency). This stop takes in the ferries, Farmers Market, BART, Embarcadero Shopping and AT & T Park which is the home of the San Francisco Giants.

Stop 4 SOMA (South of Market)3rd St – Opposite the Museum of Modern Art. This stop takes in the Moscone Center, Metreon Center, Yerba Buena Gardens, Bay Bridge, California Academy of Sciences, SF MOMA, Cal Train.

Stop 5 City Hall – Civic Center ( Cnr of Fulton & Larkin). This stop takes in the beautiful San Francisco City Hall where Marilyn Monroe married baseball superstar Joe DiMaggio on January 14, 1954; the Asian Art Museum, Opera House, San Francisco Ballet, New Library, UN Plaza.

Stop 6 Union Square (Geary St – in front of Macy’s). Handy to major department stores, San Francisco shopping centre, Crocker Galleria, Hotels, Theaters and the Cable Car turnaround.

Each year 4 celebrities are given a large heart to decorate. These hearts are then placed in the four corners of Union Square and are eventually auctioned off with the funds going to charity.

Stop 7 Chinatown Gate ( Grant Ave & Bush St – Triton Hotel).  Here you will see the Pagoda Gates, Financial district, Chinatown shopping and restaurants.

Stop 8 Chinatown/Financial District (Kearny St – Hilton Hotel). This stop is in the Financial District where you will see the  Transamerica Pyramid, Bank of America Building, Portsmouth Square, Fortune Cookie Factory.

Stop 9 North Beach (Stockton St – Moose’s Restaurant). Here is the Italian District Restaurants, access to Coit Tower without having to climb the steps to reach the base, Washington Square.

Stop 10 Lombard St (Cnr of Lombard/Columbus). Check out the crookedest street, Russian Hill and the Hyde Street Cable Car.

Stop 11 Fisherman’s Wharf (Pier 43 1/2 Bed & White Fleet).  This stop gives you access to Pier 43, Pier 39 where you can see the seal lions and shop, hop on the Carousel or watch the 3D movies, take a Bay cruise,  go into the Wax museum, Ripleys Believe it or Not, visit the submarine the USS Pampanito or watch the bakers in the window of the Boudin Bakery the have a bowl of their excellent clam chowder in a sourdough bowl, or eat at one of the many restaurants on Jefferson. And of course don’t forget the souvenir and antique shopping.

Today we were late to breakfast so there wasn’t much left, not that I’m not naming names but Paula was busy beautifying herself, which was why we were late.

So after a meager breakfast, with vows to get down to breakfast earlier tomorrow, we set off to catch the hop on, hop off bus back to downtown San Francisco to the Apple Store as the new speakers we brought yesterday to turn our ipod into a recording device didn’t work.

This time one of the staff at the store told us that we needed to upgrade the iPod before it would work. So we took the microphone back again hoping it would work when we upgraded the iPod later tonight on the laptop.

We had a short walk around the downtown area and then headed back to the bus stop as we had to be back at Fisherman’s Wharf by 1.30pm to get on the bus for the Golden Gate Bridge Tour.

By the time we get back to our hotel we realise we really don’t have enough time to eat so we just head out to the tour bus stop and wait for the bus to arrive.

The tour to the Golden Gate is included in our hop-on, hop-off bus ticket which turned out to be a really good deal at $39.99.

When the bus arrives we head up to the open top deck of the double decker bus even though it is bitterly cold outside. We are prepared this time with warm gloves and layers of clothing. The bus provides blankets but we didn’t realise this until just about the end of the tour when the group of kids in the next seat got to talking to us and then offered us their excess blankets as they could see we were cold.

We headed through the Marina District and stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts for about 10 minutes to take photos. This building is reminiscent of a Greek or Roman theatre and is set by a small lake with overhanging trees and ducks and swans lazily swimming around.

The whole scene is peaceful and very attractive.  Then it was back on the bus, and as usual there are the couple who lose track of time and we all sit patiently waiting until they wake up to the fact that they are holding up the tour. Then it was off through the Presidio and then over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Sitting on the top of an open double decker bus is a great way to see the sights but it was freezing going over that bridge and the winds were so strong that we were glad to get over to the rest stop on the other side.

We had about 15 minutes to take photos of the bridge and  the surrounding scenery of San Francisco, Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge then it’s back on the bus and we were on our way back through the city surrounds to Fisherman’s Wharf.

Our drive takes us through Tenderloin and the guide tells us how the district received it’s name. Apparently in the past this district was a rough area and the police who were rostered on duty in the Tenderloin, received bonus payments which enabled them to buy tenderloin steak, whereas the other officers could only afford the less expensive cuts of meat.

The Asian part of the Tenderloin district is known as Little Siagon and the Indian section is referred to as Tandoriloin.  The area has heaps of great Indian and Asian restaurants. The Asian population makes up 40% of San Francisco’s inhabitants.

 On our way back to the hotel we stopped by Walgreens to pick up some food to eat in our room that night. We had an online conference to attend so weren’t going to go out to eat that night.

This afternoon we took a walk up to Lombard St which has the distinction of being known as the Crookedest Street in the world.

The street is about a 10 minute walk from our hotel and the walk is mostly uphill. As we all know, some of the streets in San Francisco can be quite steep, still it was worth the walk as it is fun watching the cars trying to navigate their way down through the street.

Apparently a stretch limousine once tried to drive through the street but couldn’t make one of the turns and was stuck in the street for 2 days and eventually had to be taken out by a crane.

The street has a set of stairs on each side for pedestrians to walk up so we made the trek to the top. I wouldn’t want to live in that street. Cars come down it just for fun and there are always tourists wandering up and down the street taking photos and talking and calling out at each other. However, there are a number of residents on the stretch of road that has lovely Victorian style homes and Carol Channing the actress lives on this street.

In 1923 the switchback design was instigated in an effort to reduce the hill’s 27% grade as it was too steep for most vehicles. The speed limit is 5 mph (8km/h) on the winding section which is about 1/4 mile (400 m) in length.

Actually Lombard Street is not the crookedest street in San Francisco. Vermont Street which runs between 20th St and 22nd Street near the San Francisco General Hospital is actually the crookedest street in the city with seven tight turns, however it is located in a much less picturesque location than Lombard St and away from the tourist route.

 We climbed the stairs right to the top, up one side and down the other.