North Beach, Lombard Street and Alcatraz

Today I walked down Columbus Street towards the North Beach District. It was a fascinating place. There was some interesting murals on the walls and the famous bookstore, 'City Lights Bookstore' owned by the Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. I spent ages browsing around the bookstore and all its little side turns. It reminded me of the 'Shakespeare Bookstore' in Paris. I bought a strange book of short stories by a Californian writer. I like the fact I have had so much time to read and appreciate books like I used to do...this is something I plan to continue..there's always time for a book. America embraces its great writers like Steinbeck and Miller.

I then walked down to the very famous, crooked street known as Lombard Street. Drivers have a hard time negociating the steep twists and turns of the road and it is a steep climb for any pedestrian. All the walking was worth the stunning view below onto the city.

I then went to the opposite end of Columbus Street where I found Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower. Again I had a steep climb but the views into the city were stunning.

I then made my way down to the piers at Fisherman's Wharf as I had prebooked (2 weeks in advance infact. I was told they were sold out for the last 4 days)tickets to go to Alcatraz. The Fisherman's Wharf area was the only part I have disliked with a passion. It was like Margate and Southend....tourism in large amounts, colourful, crude and tacky.

In contrast, Alcatraz, although a number one tourist attraction, was nothing like this...I really thought the $16.50 I had paid for my ticket was worth every penny. You got the boat ride over to the island, ranger tours, an audio tour and there was so much to see. I really enjoyed the audio tour because it contained interviews with prisoners and wardens. It was very atmospheric. There is a limit to the number of tourist they can 'ship' over in one go and this adds to the atmosphere because at times you may find yourself alone in one of those cells but it is impossible to imagine how it must have felt to have your 8-9 years (the average sentence) there.

Alcatraz, dubbed 'The Rock' housed up to 264 of the most incorrigible criminals...the threat of a stint in the isolation cells and a loss of priviledges made this a cruel punishment. Only one man managed to escape and swim the icy cold waters over to Golden Gate Bridge (about 3 miles)....most who tried, died.
Alcatraz had some famous inmates...Al Capone, Robert Stroud (The birdman of Alcatraz) and George Kelly (Machine Gun Kelly). The whole island had an atmosphere I can't quite describe.. It is as if its history had never really left the buildings and you could feel its presence when you entered each door and looked into each cell.

Alcatraz was more than a prison...earlier in its history, it was also a fort and a home to the native American Indians.

I left Fisherman's Wharf soon after to walk to the many parts of the city I did enjoy, glimpsing at the seals at Pier 39 before I did. I found it strange that compared to Monterey, it seemed to have no problem getting tourists to stay and part with their well earned dollars...but Monterey had far more character and had not opted for the 'tacky' approach.