Just north of where we were staying was classed as a little dodgy. Oh well... we walked through there at around 8am and there were homeless people everywhere. A little sad. We didn't get hassled though. We caught the historic F line tram (just like a Melbourne tram) to Pier 33 where we waited for the Hornblower Alcatraz ferry to take off.
The ferry ride was quite short and we were the first group to arrive on Alcatraz (alcatraces is Spanish for pelicans - none here). After listening to a spiel on the island we walked up and saw two twitchers (bird watchers) with a ranger taking photos of Western Gull chicks. Western Gulls are like a big sea gull or Pacific Gull in Victoria. It was great to see the little grey chicks all fluffly with down.
We got to the lock house and walked through with a great audio tour. We didn't see Sean Connery or Kevin Bacon or Clint Eastwood but instead heaps of tourists!!! The tour was good running through rations and rules and some of the daring escapes. Typical of San fran this time of year it was foggy and the wind was icy cold (nice on sunburnt skin). The tour was interesting as it was presneted from both the wardens and former prisoners point of view. The biggest spin out was the amount of birds on the island. They were everywhere!
We made our way to Fishermans Wharf where they have farmers markets on certain days. Today was one of them, where we sampled fresh berries and sweet stone fruit like apricots, nectarines and peaches (great coming the start of winter in Australia).
We ended up having some Mexican style food and Dan suprised me with his vegan choice of a tamale. It was yum.
After the tour and a quick cable car ride along the California line, we decided we would hit Alamo Square the home of the 'painted ladies" or 'Psotcard row" which is the iconic Victorian houses in a row overlooking the city. (the Full House house). They were quite nice with the city set in the backdrop.
Afterwards we caught a bus to Haight Ashbury, the intersection of two streets where the hippie uprising occurred. This area had some really great shops and heaps of quirky stuff for sale. We stopped for a chai and then made it home.
When we got back to Union Sq we enquired about the theatre. We booked "Jersey Boys" a show about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. After a quick $5 meal at the hostel we were back at the theatre. the show wasn't too bad but then again Dan didn't know what the show was really about. Like myself in the second half it all started to come together.
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