San Francisco / Alcatraz Island

Sorry this wasn't put on my blog at the time but I have been very busy recently.

The first place I've come to is San Francisco, California, named after Saint Francis.
We walked around Chinatown and we took a boat trip to Alcatraz Island which was once an army discipline until, in 1934 it became a jail.
Alcatraz, The Rock, is one of the most famous jails in the world because it is on an island and has had many daring escape attempts.

Out of the 1545 inmates the most famous was the notorious gangster; Al Capone,
the one pictured on the left.

Another famous inmate was my Mum! - see photo.

Authorities claim that out of the 14 escape attempts none of them were successful but the most famous escape attempt was in 1962 when 3 prisoners dug, over many years, into the concrete walls, climbed up sewer ducts onto the roof, scrambled down and waded into the water. They used raincoats as floatation devices to try to float 2 kilometres to San Francisco.
The prisoners bodies were never found and the jail authorities presumed the 3 men drowned. maybe they're still alive and roaming free in San Francisco.

After 29 years as a jail, Alcatraz was closed by U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
Alcatraz is now a tourist attraction with more than 1 million visitors per year, exploring the recreation yard where the convicts played sports, the dining hall, where they ate, and the tiny prison cells, you can guess what they were for.

From Alcatraz you can see the wonderful Golden Gate Bridge... more on our walk over it on the posting above this one.