Tuesday
Alarm is set for 5am and we were up and showered and on our way to the airport even though our plane did not leave until 10:45am, it was good to get there early, check in and get rid of our bags and a big sigh of relief that they were not over weight, hell we had done a lot of shopping, going through security we got to our boarding lounge to eventually be told that our plane was going to be delayed albeit only by an hour,
The flight to San Fransico is just over 5 hours and this was without a doubt the worst plane I have been on, not only was it very bumpy ride but the plane staff were the worst I have ever encountered, firstly not one staff came along and checked if seat belts were on and I am at a loss to understand this idea of passengers sitting in the window seat closing the window blind and this was not requested to be lifted on take off or landing? I realised after a while we were not provided with ear phones for the entertainment screens, and you had to ask the staff for them, touched the buzzer to call staff and I am still waiting on someone to come to me, finally Chrissy gets up and goes and gets one, but my luck is not with me today and the bloody thing doesn't work, finally food is coming around and ask for new ear phones, nope not the ear phones that are the problem it lies in the monitor, OK so I read a bit and slept, arriving in San Fran around 2:30pm, west coast time, and finding the shuttle bus and we are on our way, on the bus are 10 people altogether and all being dropped off at different accommodation, after the first drop off, did we have an eye opening experience, I know all cities, towns have homeless people and we all live with it but honestly this was very disturbing and a whole new level of despair, it had me really worried that I had made the wrong decision in coming to San Fran as we never seemed to get out of this area, streets with tents and people living on the streets and sadly the demographics of the homeless wasn't just one age or race, finally there were only two drop offs to be completed and the area started to look habital and of course we are the last ones left, arriving at our hotel, the first impression is not so good as the front exterior is completed in black iron security gates but thankfully the inside was great and welcoming and clean,. We are staying at the Zephrey Hotel and this place is fantastic, we have a balcony room looking at the ocean.
Dropped our luggage and out of there and a look around, we are at Fishermans Wharf, ocean side and it is buzzing and loaded with restaraunts and shops, watched a ship liner leave the docks and then walked to check out the distance to the dock that we are to catch the boat to Alcatraz tomorrow morning, thankfully it is within walking distance, picked up supplies (drinks water) and back to the hotel, later the night, food was calling and we wanted fish and chips and this is an easy find with so much choice, then back to the hotel, we are at the end of a very long day

Wednesday

A bit of a sleep in and then to find breakfast, we had seen a crepe place and headed for that, crepe beautiful but coffee horrible, then onto the dock to go to Alcatraz, good boat ride over, bit chilly but thankfully we seemed to have left the rain behind us, now we are at the Rock and it was a fantastic experience a lot of walking uphill and getting an audio device to guide us around the prison block, which you really do need as it totally explains the whole prison experience, it does look just like you see in pictures and I am so glad we did it, later walking around the souviner shop Chrissy noticed a man sitting at a desk and she noticed his name, 'William Baker" and realised he was an inmate and had written a book, so she started speaking to him and got him to sign his book.

Alcatraz is situated in San Francisco bay, 1.25 miles offshore, the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortificaion, a military prison and then a federal prison from 1934 until 1963, the site of the oldest operating lighthouse on the West Coast of America. Because of its isolation from the outside by the cold, strong currents of the waters, Alcatraz was used to house soldiers who were guilty of crimes as early as 1859, by 1861, the fort was the military prison and housed Civil war POW's as early as that year. In 1909 construction began on the huge concrete main block cell, which remains the islands dominant feature and was completed in 1912

During World War 1 the prison held conscientious objectors and in 1934 the island became a federal prison and the first batch of 137 prisoners arrived on the island.and was a federal prison for 29 years holding some of the most notorious criminals in American history, during the 29 years of operation it was claimed that no prisoners successfully escaped. A total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts, two men trying twice, 23 were caught alive, 6 were shot and killed, two drowned and five are listed as missing, presumed drowned.

The prison was closed in March 1963.

We spent nearly 3 hours on the island and the boats arrive every 30 minutes and you able able to go back to the mainland at any time you wish, so there is no timeframe on the island. Back on the mainland we sat and had lunch, me a chicken and salad sandwich and Chrissy tried chowder and loved it, back to the hotel and I crashed.

Thursday

One thing we wanted to do was to ride a cable car, so when we enquired and given the directions as to where to board the cable car, we were advised to go early as one of the lines was closed due to maintenance and apparently the line up was insane, so set the alarm for 5.15am and out the door by 6.30 to catch the 7am car, arriving in good time,and no crowd, so it ended up we were the only two passengers on the car and it was a fantastic experience, the driver and his offsider were great, stopping to allow us to take photos and encouraging us to stand on the side board and to hold on and enjoy the ride, now the normal rule is at the end of the ride you get off the cable car, but no they suggested we stay on and they would take us back to where we boarded, so good, finally going back to the hotel to work out how to get over to the Golden Gate Bridge, take the number 28 bus which you can catch only a few streets away, so off we go again,catching the bus we finally arrived and then proceeded to walk the bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge connecting San Francisco bay and the Pacific Ocean and is 1.6km long, the bridge is one of the most internationally recognised symbols of San Francisco and the United States, it has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World and is certainly the most photographed bridge in the world

Construction began in 1933 and was finished ahead of time in 1937

The bridge is popular with pedestrians and bicyclists and was built with walkways on either side of the six vehicle traffic lanes, initially, they were seperated from the traffic lanes by only a metal curb but railings between the walkways and traffic lanes were added in 2003

The bridge is the second-most used for suicide site in the world, after years of debate and over an estimated 1500 deaths, suicide barriers began to be installed in April 2017

Once arriving at the other end, just a quick break and photos, headed back, finally reaching the beginning and we had mastered the bridge, the walk is great, but the wind is cold and strong in areas, so glad we did this, another tick off the bucket list. getting back on the number 28 bus we thought we were heading back to where we boarded the bus but finally realised we were going into a direction we did not know, so we got off and caught another 28 bus going in the opersite direction to only find, no wrong bus again and the driver told us we needed the one that was in front of us and to get out at the next stop and catch that one, so after three bus changes we finally were headed in the right direction, back at the hotel we both crashed and later getting up to find dinner.

Friday

Today we leave Fishermans Wharf and head closer into the city centre, staying at the Hilton Hotel, so up early to finish packing and check out and a taxi into the city, upon arriving we were informed our room was not ready so we lodged our bags at the hotel and headed out the door to check out our surroundings, found Union Square and a few shops we wanted to window shop, found the hairdresser that Chrissy wanted to see if she could get into and luck have it she was able to the next day, back to the hotel and into our room, we are on the 36th floor overlooking part of the city, from our balcony we could see a big Westfield shopping centre so headed for that, and walked around for hours and had lunch and then back to the hotel.

Saturday

Another good nights sleep was had and we were then out of the room to find breakfast and coffee, Chrissy then on her way to her hair appointment and me to shop, eventually getting what I wanted I then wandered around and then back to the hotel to wait for Chrissy, going back to the shopping centre for lunch as we had found a fantastic chinese food outlet, Panda Express, now I'm not one for shopping centre food courts, especially as you are never sure how long the food has been in the warmers, but I had watched this cafe and the food was turned over very quickly and one good indicator was the line up of people waiting to order, we chose a dish of fried rice, orange chicken to die for and a beef dish, so so good

Later that night we went up to the 46th floor for a drink as this was our last night in America and basiclly the end of our holiday, boy was the place crowded, ending up sitting at the bar for a cocktail each, fantastic views all over the city, then back to our room

Sunday

We have a check out time of 11.00am so pack our bags for the last time and check out, leaving our cases at the hotel we then proceeded to catch the cable car back to Fishermans Wharf as we had some last minute shopping to complete, the line up for the cable car was ridicously long so we decided to take the tram, getting down to the wharf we proceeded to get what we wanted and lunch at Hard Rock cafe, a quick look around and a last goodbye to the area then back on the bus to the hotel, found a lounge and sat until the shuttle bus picked us up at 5.30pm and then on our way to the airport, check in and boarding at 8.00pm for the long haul back to Melbourne which is a good 15 plus hours flight time, losing Monday and arriving back on Tuesday at 5.30am .