We got a cable car up to Fishermans wharf today and had a good wander around including an enjoyable look around the Museé Mecanique which had lots of old arcade games and automated musical instruments on display. I felt old seeing a coffee table-style PacMan game among antiques - I remember them being all the rage when I was a kid!
Next we went on a fascinating tour around the USS Pampanito, a submarine that had done active service patrolling the Pacific Ocean area in World War II. It had a brilliant audio guide that really captured the essence of how life had been on that vessel as it was narrated by men who had actually been there at the time. We had a nice lunch at Alioto's and then briefly visited the chapel at the port but couldn't get inside.
Our main visit for the day was to Alcatraz. We got a boat at 3.20pm and I was impressed to see it covered in Solar PV panels and with a wind turbine on the hull. It was pretty much self-sufficient for energy and was a very smooth 15 minute ride to Alcatraz Island. We enjoyed seeing the Island and the old and notorious prison that's on the island. There was another excellent audio tour that gave a real feel for life in the prison and told us about a couple of escape attempts that had been made. Nobody has ever been known to escape from Alcatraz with their life. The prison closed 50 years ago this year and the whole island is now is the care and control of the US National Parks Service.
After returning to the mainland we got a trolley bus along to Pier 1, and saw the famous Ferry Building. It has a nice indoor market now and we had a beer or two in a bar there. Next we walked across to Market Street and got a cable car up California Street to Chinatown where we had a fantastic meal at a rather hectic restaurant called
House of Nanking. We walked back to Bush Street and had a couple more drinks in a bar up the road called
The Summer Place.
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