Day 19 - Alcatraz/North Beach

So this morning I had a bit of a lay in which was good. I think I am still tired from last weeks events. Eventually I got up and my way over to North Beach to go on a free walking tour run by volunteers. The starting place for the tour was where various cultures meet including Chinatown and Little Italy. The first stop was the City Lights Bookstore which is apparently very popular and had a poster showing some of the banned books in America (to kill a mockingbird and lord of the flies were both on the list).

The tour was mainly about food and some of the local well known bakery's and chocolate makers etc. the tour guide was actually really good and gave some samples of some of the different foods including a flat version of the biscuit used for a fortune cookie. She also explained that they actually originated in San Francisco using a Japanese recipe.

Alot of the places we stopped at have been written about in the New York Times and other publications so the food the prepare sells out everyday, so you know that when you get some it is fresh that day.

She also took us on to the rooftop of the local police station to point out the different areas that surrounded us and some of the history. She explained why it gets so windy here and that the hotter it is inland then the windier it is in the bay area due to that being the only gap in the hills for the valley to suck air in through. She also talked about the Americas Cup which is starting next month sometime and she had found out that one of the teams was going to be taking the boat out today and it turns out it was Team New Zealand so I managed to get a photo from a distance with them in front of Alcatraz.

Which happened to be my next stop I high-tailed it to the ferry stop for Alcatraz and boarded the ferry over to the building. Once there I

watched the introductory video which talked about the history of the island. It was quite interesting because I didn't know about the Indian occupation that happened after the prison was shut. It explained the 'Indians welcome' graffiti I noticed as we were getting off the boat. I then went up and took the audio tour around the cell house which was pretty good because it talked about the different escape attempts. It was a must-see destination while in San Francisco and I think it is worth it if you have enough time in the city.

After that I made my way to The Buena Vista Cafe which is apparently known for its Irish Coffees and some say they were invented there. I had one and it was a bit of a shock to the system (I had forgotten they were alcoholic) it was pretty tasty however.

After some tea, David and I went to get some cookies and hot chocolate in Castro. Castro is one of the first gay neighborhoods in America and is currently the largest. David and Amy tell me it is a must see! The cookies were pretty good though.

Got something a wee bit different planned for tomorrow afternoon hopefully so check in tomorrow.