For our last day in San Francisco we'd booked a trip to Alcatraz. It's a short ten minute ferry ride across to the island (only about 1 minute longer than it took to get through the safety announcements which renders them rather redundant) then into a small theatre to watch a short, and very cheesy, film about the island. For much of its life it was used to store gold, and then as a military prison - only for 30 years was it a state prison.
The following tour of the island is fascinating. You get a real sense of how bleak prison life would have been, and how frustrating it was for the prisoners to see (and even hear) city life going on across the bay.
After Alcatraz we went down to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch, braving some raw oysters (I must say, I don't understand why people bother with oysters) and then stumbled upon a museum of classic arcade machines, from hundred year old dancing statues through to Pole Position, a table-top pacman machine and some classic pinball machines - all of which worked and only cost a quarter (that's about 13p), nice.
Once Amy tired of watching me play games (she lasted quite a while) we walked a bit further to a small beach and paddled in the Pacific, then walked up to the top of Lombard street. We attempted to catch one of San Francisco's famous cable-cars but apparently waiting at one of the stops and waving isn't good enough - the passengers waved back but cable car went straight past without so much as slowing down. Still, it was an interesting walk through Russian Hill, where every other building is a pet grooming parlour or pet clothing shop. Posh people find the most bizarre ways to fill their days.
Our last night in the city demanded a special dinner, so we followed the guidebook to a small restaurant called Grub Stake, located in a converted cable car (I knew we'd get inside a cable car eventually). It's a cheap and cheerful affair but hard to fault for atmosphere. A great way to end our stay in San Francisco.
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