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Paul & Deborahs RTW trip
Hey everyone.
We leave San Francisco tonight, deborah is packing up as i write. so thought i\'d write a journal entry to let you know what its like here and what i thought of it.
San Francisco is brilliant, it\'s definately one of my favourite places its just got a really cool feel to it. For those who don\'t know its on the tip of that bit of land jutting out from California and is thus write on the edge of Americas Pacific coast, ita a big sweeping bay with islands in the middle and the town stretched across the hills behind. Theres loads of hills and some of them are well steep so it gives San Francisco just about the most dramatic setting possible. At the entrance to the bay is the Golden Gate bridge (named after the gold prospectors who came in 1849 - hence the san francisco 49ers too) the bridge is pretty awe inspiring. its almost two miles long and took us an hour to walk across and then back again. Infront you get amazing views back across the city and behind you just seen the pacific curved across the horizon and you know the next bit of land of any significance is Hawaii thousands of miles away - its really dramatic. I\'ll try and get some photos uploaded when i can get to a decent computer but you kinda have to see it in person to appreciate it fully id have thought. Anyway we walked across it on our first full day and its pretty scary! well i was quite sacred, its 70m above the pacific with only a 1metre handrail to stop you and 6 lanes of freeway traffic on the other side. the fall is fatal which makes it the number one spot for suicides in the whole world. theres also sharks in the water below! and when we were up there it must have been gusting a good 40mph. it was pretty scary but definately worth it. i loved it.
The City itself is like a huge seaside village. the architecture is really good loads of cool wooden houses and some have what must be some of the most breathtaking views in the world out across the city towards the golden Gate, they were so nice must have been worth tens of millions of $s. The hills also make the city well interesting to walk round but hard work sometimes too. A few of the streets must be literally 45degrees, you just cant believe how steep they are but must be great to drive round! Everywhere is a photo opportunity and almost every turn you make gives you a brilliant view its great. i\'ve been taking photos of everything! The view from our hostel is pretty spectacular its of the skyscrapers downtown rather than the bay but looks really cool, an absolute bargain for the money we pay.
Yesterday we went to alcatraz which is an island about a mile out into the bay, it used to be a high security prison untill about 30years ago but now it is a tourist attraction. It was well interesting, the pison was used to send the worst prisoners in the country too, the ones who\'d caused trouble in their own high security prisons or who the president didnt like. People like al capone and machine gun kelly and the birdman of alcatraz. We had an audio tour round the cell house and then two talks by wardens one on famous inmates (one commited suicidein his cell by sawing his own head off with a spoon for 3hrs!) and then one on escape attempts. There were about 25 escape attempts in all and they dont think anyone ever made it. Althhough its only just over a mile to San Francisco, and it looks like you could definately make it, the currents are really strong and drag you out ander the G Gate brideg and into the pacific and the water is freezing cold and theres sharks in the bay so you\'r chances were really slim. If you did manage to break out of prison which wasnt easy ofcourse most likely you\'d be shot running from the prison to the water or shot in the water. Most who got in the water turned back because they realised theyd drown and handed themselves back in instead of risk it! One guy made it to san fran but was so exhausted and cold that he collased and was picked up by the military police thinking he\'d tried to commit suicide off the bridge! then they realised he\'d escaped alcatraz. well unlucky! Three guys though might have made it, they chiselled holes in their cells with spoons and climed through the airvents to the roof and down to the sea, leaving dummy heads in their beds which the guards ddnt realise were dummys till the next morning. They had made life jackets out of raincoats and although some of their stuff was found washed up on the coast they never were so noone knows if they made it or drowned or were eaten by sharks or whatever. The police are still looking for them, theyre 70 now and there were photofits of what theyd look like now in the cellhouse. There were loads more stories like this and was all well interesting.
Anyway i guess you can tell i like San Francisco , will kinda be sorry to leave but am off to Hawaii so you know! i\'ll give you another update from there - take care - paul and deborah xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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