So todays the big day, the main reason I wanted to come to San Fran was to see Alcatraz and with the sound of Edie Izzard off his DVD ringing in my ears - ALCATRAZ!ALCATRAZ!ALCATRAZ! - I proceed to annoy Becks head all day by whispering this to her and then shouting it at her! It gets annoying even for me. So we hand back the car, luckily bypassing the biggest line I ever seen at a car rental place, and head out on foot to see San Fran. First China town. Its OK, a little tacky and a lady follows us around the store the whole time we're buying post cards "I feel so sorry for your mother"(see Menace 2 Society) she says with her eyes. We've quickly seen enough and head down to union sq. to catch the tourist bus. Its $35 for 2 days which is pretty good so we hop on and go around seeing the sites, city hall, Haight Street, the golden gate bridge. Its so foggy and windy atop the bus that we make it to Pier 39 and Hop off. Here I get my long thought about In-N-Out Double Double and it's as good as the last one I had 2 years ago in Vegas. There are detailed photos in the photo section. Pier 39 is the main tourist spot in San Fran and its like a Disney made Pier with bars and restaurants, rides and sea food. Its really good, so we hang around and get a 4 glass sampler of the 4 local beers, then I have some fish tacos and beck has chili in a bread bowl. Both are delicious. Next up at 6:45pm, we are at Pier 33 and ready to board the Alcatraz cruise ferry to Alcatraz Island. The fog being the way it is we haven't yet seen the island and we still haven't 10 mins into the 15 min ferry ride. Then through the creepy fog I see it out the starboard side. Its basically just a dark shadow but as we get closer the buildings, watch towers and eventually the Pier come into view. It's awesome looking and soon we're off the ferry and standing in front of the original buildings and signs that the inmates stood in front of. We begin the steep ascent by foot up to the actual prison, the same as the prisoners would have walked. As we go in we get an audio tour headset to start the tour, we get these in the wash room where the prisoners where first brought in, but lucky we dont have to go through the same induction they had to! The audio tour is done by inmates and Prison guards of the prison and its really good, they don't dwell anywhere too long or give you too much info. Theres loads of stories told by former inmates and its really enjoyable. Also open that night is the hospital wing and it's only lit by lanterns, there's metal gurneys and equiptment sitting out too. It's very creepy. After the tour one of the rangers (Alcatraz is now a national park) does a demo of the cell doors and its really loud and echoes for a long time. All in all its a really good trip and an excellent experience, I would definitely go back!