Alcatraz

 

On 25 October 2009 I finally realised a dream when I flew to San Francisco and paid a visit to Alcatraz.

I have always wanted to visit this famous island in San Francisco Bay and it didn't disappoint. I booked myself onto both the Alcatraz day and night tours and the history of the place just blew me away. I hope you enjoy looking at a few of the many photo's I had taken on Alcatraz Island.

 

 

The view from Alcatraz Island is absolutely amazing. They say that it must've been torture for the prisoners to be able to see San Fransico and hear all the noises of life coming from San Fransico Bay whilst they were locked up in this tough, high security prison.

 

 

The cells at Alcatraz were tiny and until you stand inside one you can't quite imagine how a man could spend hours, days, months, years locked up in these very small, claustrophobic cells. I walked into a number of open cells and also into a couple of the solitary confinement cells and I can tell you I wouldn't have lasted more than an hour. I tried to imagine spending a whole month trapped in this darkness for 23 hours a day and I just couldn't take it in. You would have to have a very strong mind to deal with that sort of isolation.

 

 

The exercise yard appeared quite big but again if lots of prisoners were using it at the same time then you would find it hard to have your own space.

For the tour of the prison we were given an audio guide. I had the headphones on but decided not to follow the same way that everyone was going. So I stopped the commentry on my headphones and decided to go a different way. This proved to be a good idea as I went out to the exercise yard before everyone else and I had it all to myself for at least ten minutes! It was amazing being out there on my own with no-one else around. I really couldn't believe I was running around the exercise yard at Alcatrz Prison with not a soul in sight!

 

 

Here's me alone in the exercise yard and in one of the many cramped cells that housed some of the most dangerous prisoners of all time.

'If you break the law you go to prison, if you break the prison law you go to Alcatraz'

 

 

Alcatraz Island, all alone in San Francisco Bay