Day 4. Farewell to San Fran

OK sports fans.  Well, day 4 (3/12/2008) was our final day in San Fran.  Our time was short, but power packed with fun. 

After a rather late night, we woke early, packed our bags, ate the free pancake breakfast and headed off to Pier 33.  It was here that we hoped on the 9.30 ferry to "The Rock" aka Alcatraz.  This definitely was the high light of San Fran for me.

For those of you who don't know, the movie "The Rock" is my all time favourite.  If you have not seen it, then shame on you!!!  I was fairly disappointed to hear that the underground pipelines and caves do not actually exist per the ranger tour guide, but we all know that the tunnel system is probably on a needs to know basis, and she didn't need to know.

We did a guided tour, which was pretty lame, as we learnt how to fire a cannon (Alcatraz was a military defence fort before becoming a prison).  We then did the audio tour of the cell house.  This was awesome.  You get headphones with mp3 player type devices which guide you through the prison, talking about the events that took place, the life of the guards and their families, the attempted escape, the solitary confinement etc bla bla.  It was EXTREMELY interesting.

Unfortunately, the weather was extremely cold, made worse by the fact that I only had a cotton long sleeve on over my short sleeve shirt.  Not a good idea.  The wind on the island was FREEZING.  Perfect preparation for the upcoming New York trip.

  We used a pretty cool cab to get to the airport, only for me to have to re-pack  luggage.  The 50 pounds per item rule is pretty strict.  One bag was 57pound, and the other 25pounds.  They want to charge $50 extra, so I crammed some stuff into Werner's bag to reduce the 57 to an acceptable level.  The airline staff here seem competent, but have ZERO people skills, are unpleasant to talk to, obviously lacking in receiving good hidings when young.

Well, by the time you read this, I will most certainly be in New York.  This would be because I cannot connect to the Internet until I am checked into our hostel in NYC.

Trust all is well back home.  Don't forget to mail me news.

Brad