Despite sleeping on the overnight bus both of us were really tired when we arrived in San Francisco early in the morning. The bus that took us to our hostel was filthy and full of graffiti. The area it drove through was pretty much the same but luckily our hostel was really clean and modern. It was too early for us to check in so we dug out some warm clothes and put our bags into storage before grabbing some free breakfast. We caught the dirty bus back into town and decided to do the walking tour mapped out in our Lonely Planet book. We began by the wharf and passed the pier for Alcatraz as we walked. Si was really keen to do the tour so we went to enquire - sadly all the day tickets had sold out for the entire length of our stay in San Fran so we had to book on a day tour which included a trip to Angel Island (known as the Ellis Island of the west), After purchasing our tickets we carried on and came to Fisherman's Wharf which was very touristy and just full of restaurants and shops. Before we went to the Levi centre we were able to clearly see the Golden Gate bridge which didn't look so great covered in cloud. We made our way up hundreds of steps past quaint colourful cottages to a cylindrical building. From the top we had great panoramic views of the city with all its steep roads and we could easily pick out all of the city's significant buildings. From there we headed to Little Italy and onto Chinatown - which is the biggest Chinatown outside of Asia and the oldest Chinatown in North America. It was jam packed with Chinese shops, food markets and restaurants. We stopped in a fortune cookie factory to see a woman making them and buy a few to nibble on. The last stop was the downtown district where we boarded our bus back to the hostel. We made our way to Barmy Alley which was an alley covered in painted walls and garages from one end to another. Back in town we walked to the tram and rode to Grace Catherdral which sadly wasn't as good as what we had expected. From there we could however look down the crazy steep streets onto the city. Apart from the area near our hostel, San Fransico was really safe and clean. We made our way to the windiest road which is pretty steep and is made up of about eight bends. We wondered around the city a little more and then headed back to our hostel to get some sleep. An early start the next morning ensured we were at the Alcatraz pier on time. As we could only do the full day tour we sadly missed out some of the suburbs of San Fran that we had been recommended. Our boat first took us to Angel Island where we took a cart ride around and listened the the park guide. It wasn't anything overly interesting and it was a shame that we couldn't explore the national park island on foot. After lunch the boat then took us to the Island Alcatraz stands on. We arrived at Alcataz and were greeted by and America National Park Warden who explained the formalities of being on the Island. After the quick briefing we ventured up the hill to the entrance of the prison and watched a short film about the island and the prisons history. We then entered the main prison block and received our head sets for the audio tour. The first area was the introduction block where all prisoners were greeted my Alcatraz staff on arriving at the prison, which kind of felt like we were being inducted to be prisoners. The introduction block consisted of the prisoners being striped of all personal belongings and being given prison uniforms before being marched to there individual cells. We then made out way to the main prison block which still stands in its original and ghostly state! The audio tour took us around the individual cells and explained the significance of each cell and who previously was imprisoned there. Various famous America criminals such as Al Capone and The Bird Man, were imprisoned on the infamous Island. The tour also showed us around the various facilities that the prison had ranging from the prison yard to the library. The tour also went into various details about inmates who tried to escape the Island. There is no recorded successful escape from the prison although many tried. Three people stole keys, shot wardens and tried to swim ashore but no-one knows if they made it. The final part of the tour took us into the dining room where we were shown how inmates were put to work in the kitchen. Large knives were available and occasionally used by prisoners to commit further murders. On our exit of the Island through the souvenir shop we looked at various books and other items available to purchase. To our surprise there was a previous inmate selling his book about his time in the prison, Over all out trip to Alcatraz was a enjoyable and strange experience as the audio tour made us feel at times like we were walking around in a working prison, not a museum.