OK, Alcatraz has one shop, but the girls don't look good in stripes!

I started my day with a nice hilly run through new parts of San Fran, following some different cable car routes. Good hill work!

Once the girls were ready we hit the streets - grabbed a cable car (Literally - we were hanging out the side, which was great fun) and hopped off near Chinatown. It was like we had stepped into another world - noisy, squishy, frantic - but fun all the same. Lots of fruit, and exotic stuff especially, but we'd just had breakfast so just soaked up the sights and wandered through. After that, a hike up some steep hills to get to the tower overlooking town (Coit) which had magic views of everything, and a very funny Chinese lift attendant. The path down from there to our next spot was through very steep lush gardens between steeply staggered houses. Magic.

At the bottom of the hill we grabbed a tram along the harbor to the target of yesterdays failed walk attempt - a historic pier I ran along the day before that has brilliant views and was a peaceful oasis in a fairly hectic town. It was worth the trek,they agreed. Another tram back to fisherman's wharf to buy some charms for the girls (Their Christmas present).

Fisherman's wharf gave Brooke her corn dog she desperately wanted, and instantly regretted, and me my Clam Chowder which I wasn't really looking forward to but turned out to be delicious. The others stuck with fries and garlic laced fries (Over the top as usual for here, but quite delicious as I stole a few when they weren't looking.....

We then wandered around a ship museum until Alcatraz beckoned.

Alcatraz was excellent. We chose the night tour, because it it in with our plans, so we didn't get to wander the paths around the island, but it made for a great atmosphere during the tours. The 'myths' part was good as there are so many stories about the island - and most of them are false. We went into the haunted (black/dark isolation)cell that a man earlier in the day had tipped us about - but all our ghost detection stuff was blank. It had promise - our actual tour guide didn't believe there were any hauntings on the island, but a random man we bumped into at the Tower climb earlier in the day was a retired tour guide eager to pass on a few tips, and that was his main one. D14.

After the tours it was freezing cold, so we huddled inside on the return journey (The outbound one was brilliant with views of the bay and the city at sunset. ) Another tram then cable car ride home(Again interrupted by a 'cable down" for a while' ) then a trolley bus back to the hotel. Subway for dinner in the room so we could thaw out.

An excellent day again!