Alcatraz

Today we did the Alcatraz Cruise & Tour. It's a tourist hot spot to say the least, but well worth the trip. There is much to see on the island including a video of the history of the island dating back to the 1800s & the gold rush days. The Island is also a rookery for sea birds as it was before Europeans trashed it to build a fortress.

The main part of the Alcatraz tour is the self guided audio tour of the cell block. It was very interesting & they have actually done it quite well. The shot above was as close to a picture without tourists as I could get.

One of the interesting parts of the tour was the cells for solitary confinement. This photo was taken of such a cell, but it obviously doesn't tell the story. Inside these cells it is pitch black! Hence the nickname, "The Hole".

Something that hadn't occurred to me about Alcatraz until the tour, was the tantalising reminder that freedom & the vibrant city of San Francisco lies only a mile away from the prison island. The prisoners could see it clearly night & day, & could even here to sounds on some nights. No wonder they wanted to escape so badly. There is no evidence anyone ever did, although three guys were never found. Legend has it that they fled to Mexico.

And the prison had this brilliant old fire truck. Apparently $90k USD to restore! It does look a treat though.
Wouldn't the wiggles be jealous?!

After the Alcatraz tour, we headed to the Cable car Museum. It is part museum & part operating power house for the cable cars. Yes, I finally figured it out! All the cable car lines (effectively there are 4) are powered by these 4 electric motors in the power house. There are 4 continuous cable loops that run around the city and all come back to the same point.
The museum explained how it all worked & had some great little exhibits. I guess it played to my mechanical engineering background. Very glad I had a look.