Day Sixty Five: The 7sq mile city

We woke today to the sound of rain out the window. I guess we were due for some bad weather - we have been pretty lucky so far, only a couple days of rain in two months ain't bad!

We ate brekkie in the hotel - which was a bonus! We weren't aware we got included brekkie - and it was good too. Bagels, muffins, juice and coffee. Good coffee too!

We set out for the day, venturing up Grant St thru Chinatown again, until we got to Columbus Ave. We were now in San Frans little Italy, kinda cool! So many Italian cafes, restaurants and delis. I enjoyed wandering through here. We turned down Stockton st and walked down into Washington Square. We could feel the undulating, hilly nature of San Fran already. It was very cold and breezy, but we were already sweating after walking only 15 or so mins. It could be a tough couple of days!

We walked up another huge hill, to the top of Telegraph Hill, where the Coit Tower lookout sits atop. It's a pretty cool view from this place. Unfortunately it didn't open until 10, so we'll have to come back. We made our way down to the Embarcadero to Pier 33 via these cool stairs from Telegraph hill. The stairs wound down the hill through a series of small gardens and pockets of green space, nestled in between people homes. Was really cool. Was kinda like the steps at the back of Potts point woolloomooloo, but the gardens were more integrated with the homes.

We finally got down the bottom to the pier, where we hopped on the ferry to Alcatraz. The weather was pretty ugly now. Was raining quite heavily. Arriving at Alcatraz, you can't help but be over awed by the history. Its seen so much hardship; military prison, maximum security prisoners like Al Capone, Indian land title fights; not to mention Nicholas Cage in The Rock.

We walked up the big hill to the main cell house. Was really quite eery, knowing that same walk was what hardened crims took before heading into prison.

This was actually my first tine visiting a prison, this one had been inscribe for nearly 50 years now, but still was quite weird. The guided headphone tour was actually really impressive. So informative and really enjoyable. The main thing I took from Alcatraz was how much it is the perfect prison; it's location makes it a place of punishment, so close to the free world yet so far, you can see and hear the city and the people on the wharfs, you have postcard views out the tiny windows of the Golden Gate too. Amazing! However even though it's so close it is extremely hard to escape, the water is freezing and the currents are crazy. What I loved was that it was the only prison in the US that had hot showers, so prisoners wouldn't acclimatize to cold water if they did escape.

After a few hours on the inside - we had done our time (wow a double pun) - so we headed back to shore. We strolled down to Pier 39, aka Touristy Central. The coolest part was the sealions, which naturally come into the bay and rest on the pontoons.

We had lunch at Boudin, San Frans famous Sourdough bakery - we had to try the Clam Chowder in a sourdough bowl. All I can say is - PHENOMENAL! Was so yummy!

We strolled further down to Fishermans Wharf proper, was a hive of activity despite the rain. Was cool seeing all the fresh seafood coming in from the boats.

We wandered further along to Ghiardelli Square, the old chocolate factory buildings. We tried their famous chocolate and apparently, even more famous Hot Choc Fudge Sundae. Was awesome - it's fame is indeed warranted. Simi struggled to finish, but did, giving herself a bellyache.

It was now 5 or so in the evening so we headed back to the hotel. We caught the tram from the wharf up Powell St to Market St. Was so expensive $5 a ride. I'm let down by the trams here, whilst they're a fun ride and a cool thing to do, they seem more of a novelty here than a proper part of the transport system. Still was a fun thing to do.

Before checking back into the hotel, we went to the Apple store. We had asked everywhere in town about Internet cafes and access to computers to upload photos. No where offers that - except Apple. Thanks again Steve Jobs.

We headed back to the hotel and had a small rest. We ventured out into the cold, rainy night about 8:30- looking for dinner, despite both of us not being hungry. We wandered down market st to the Ferry building. Most places were shut so we headed back the hotel for a much needed sleep.



- Blog from iMat