Yesterday I had my tour of Alcatraz. On the way down to waterfront to get the boat I had a wander through China Town. This area of San Francisco was very cool - a separate experience in itself. After a few wrong turns, I got down to the waterfront and boarded the cruise boat. The views from the boat of the city and the surrounding area were amazing, I've taken lots of photo's but they really don't do it justice. When we arrived at Alcatraz we had a small introduction of its history and then we could just wander off and explore the rest of the island. Obviously Alcatraz is mainly famous for one thing and thats the prison. However, the island first started off as a fort for the bay of San Francisco. Also during the 60's there were protests that took place on the island for the Indians to take ownership - although apparently they only inhabited the island for 18 months before they were removed by the US government. I walked around looking at the numerous buildings however its the cell block where you take an audio tour. I won't bore you with its complete history but it was very interesting and can imagine it was a horrible place to be, obviously thats the intention for the prisoners!!! but more for those that worked there. Again, from Alcatraz, there were great views of the city and the golden gate bridge. I stayed on the island for about a couple of hours and then headed back to the mainland. I walked back along the water front and headed towards the Financial District. So much walking!!! By the time I got back to the hostel I was shattered!!! When I did get back a couple of the guys mentioned about going to Coit Tower which is in North Beach (not very close to the hostel!) as there are 360 degree views of the city. We got there just before sunset and the transformation of the city from day to night was brilliant - the whole place just lit up. When we got back to the hostel we had a pool tournament, along with a 'few' beers and didn't really get to bed until the early hours of the morning, and my god did I feel it this morning. I have read this blog entry and it sounds awful (purely because at the minute I'm finding it hard to concentrate). So if it doesn't make any sense I apologise!!

Anyway, I need to go for a power nap, I'm really struggling now!!!

See yaa x