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Well..I am still having a great time in San Francisco! it really is the prettiest little city..since my last blog I have been farting around the city (okay, that was a very bad translation of a norwegian expression, but still it turned out quite funny!) On sunday I was up at the piers in fishermans wharf. Just taking some time walking around, enjoying the sea, the sun and the smells. I had a shrimp sandwich for lunch which was almost as good as the white bread, shrimp mayo and lemon we eat every summer in Norway. I saw some old warships at the dock, I was in a little museum with a lot of old amusementpark stuff from the old amusementpark that used to be in San Francisco.
The day before I took a train down to San Jose to see the Sharks vs Coyotes. American hockey was a little bit different than norwegian hockey, but still it was really fun!! I went to the Sharks store and bought myself a sweather and off course the all american foam finger..haha!! The Sharks won 3-2 and it was a good clean game. a lot less personal penalties than in Norway, and only a couple of small fights. But after the first nine seconds one of the referees got hit in the face with the puck and went down. He was down on the ice for a couple of minutes before he stumbled off the ice. The first period they played with only 3 referees + the two behind each goal. In the second period they had 4 back on the ice but I don't know if it was the same guy or if they had a spare. But all in all it was a fun experience and I am really glad I had the opportunity to go eventhough Marthe and Ingunn didn' t want to.
Yesterday Marthe and me took a train and a bus out of the city to a mall. we were a bit disappointed because we had imagined it even bigger and with even more outlets and less regular stores. But Marthe found really cheap snowboarding pants and jacket, I got the wind jacket I wanted and we both got fleece sweathers. We have to start getting ready for Peru, and there we need clothes that are a little bit warmer than the ones we have here. I also bought two pair og jeans and a cool silver top (which Marthe think is crazy).hehe..
Today we went out to the Alcatraz. The island in the bay outside of San Francisco is surrounded by myths and a lot of history.
Alcatraz Island, commonly referred to as simply Alcatraz or locally as The Rock, is a small island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California, United States. It served as a lighthouse, then a military fortification, then a military prison followed by a federal prison until 1963. It became a national recreation area in 1972 and received landmarking designations in 1976 and 1986.
During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed no prisoners as having ever successfully escaped. 36 prisoners were involved in 14 attempts, two men trying twice; Twenty-three were caught, six were shot and killed during their escape, and two drowned [15]. The most violent occurred on 2 May 1946 when a failed escape attempt by six prisoners led to the so-called "Battle of Alcatraz".
Chiseled cell air vent in Alcatraz
On June 11, 1962 Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin successfully carried out one of the most intricate escapes ever devised. Behind the prisoners' cells in Cell Block B (where the escapees were interned) was an unguarded 3-foot (0.91 m) wide utility corridor. The prisoners chiseled away the moisture-damaged concrete from around an air vent leading to this corridor, using tools such as a metal spoon soldered with silver from a dime and an electric drill improvised from a stolen vacuum cleaner motor. The noise was disguised by accordions played during music hour, and their progress was concealed by false walls which, in the dark recesses of the cells, fooled the guards.
The interior of a regular cell in the row known as Broadway.
The escape route then led up through a fan vent; the fan and motor had been removed and replaced with a steel grille, leaving a shaft large enough for a prisoner to climb through. Stealing a carborundum cord from the prison workshop, the prisoners had removed the rivets from the grille and substituted dummy rivets made of soap. The escapees also stole several raincoats to use as a raft for the trip to the mainland. Leaving papier-mâché dummies in their cells with paint brush bristles as hair, they escaped. The prisoners are estimated to have entered San Francisco Bay at 10 p.m.
The official investigation by the FBI was aided by another prisoner, Allen West, who also was part of the escapees' group but was left behind (West's false wall kept slipping so he held it into place with cement, which set; when the Anglin brothers (John & Clarence) accelerated the schedule, West desperately chipped away at the wall, but by the time he did his companions were gone). Articles belonging to the prisoners (including plywood paddles and parts of the raincoat raft) were located on nearby Angel Island, and the official report on the escape says the prisoners drowned while trying to reach the mainland in the cold waters of the bay.
Okay I cheated a little bit here.. I copied this from wikipedia, but it is so much easier than writing it all down.. I have thought of Alcatraz as an interesting place since I was i middle school and I think the island and its history is quite facinating. to actually be there in person was really fun! we took the audio tour in the cell block building. Looked at the view over to San Francisco and we took a walk up tp the old laundry were most of the escape attempts took place. it has been a really exciting day for me! and tonight we are going to a 50s diner to eat dinner. which I am also looking forward to! a real diner!! woho..and with the photo.. I know I promised to upload photos, but the computers here at the hostel will not work with me so I will have to way until I get to Miami and try again there.
OO! and some news from home.. I got a text from my cousin yesterday where they asked if I wanted to be a godparent for Christoffer, his little baby boy. The baptism will be in May after I get home and I am really excited!! Looking forward to it!!! ( so as you could probably tell I said yes..)hehe well thats it for now.. give me some inputs on what you want me to write about! tudles!
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