02 May The One about Visiting Night Alcatraz

Booked 2 months ahead, we went to Alcatraz tour with my roommates. Prepared for chilly weather, with several layers of the clothes we got on board and went to the island. I just loved the view of the city when the sun set and also the beautiful view of the whole Bay area with Golden Gate bridge. It couldn’t have been better.

The audio tour inside the prison was interesting. The speakers were the former officers or the prisoners. We learned about how three of the prisoners happen to escape the prison. What fascinated me the most was the story about the prisoner who took his 10 years of the imprisonment to escape in the uniform as the officer. Alcatraz was the place where all the uniforms were taken to be washed and it was the job of the prisoners. Pretty good try.

What I didn’t like was the place. It was national park and it was meant to show the people the heritage but I think they should take care more of the buildings because it seems that they are slowly being destroyed by the time.

I especially liked the part when they showed us the demonstration of the closing of the cells. All the cells were just bars from the front side so all the prisoners were seen by the officers. I was a little bit disappointed because I thought it would have been much more scary and that they would have closed us in the cells. But the lady told us that the last attempt of closing the people in the cells was in 1986 when the cell doors broke down and they were unable to release the people.

Overall, I would say Alcatraz is a must see in San Francisco, but for me it was an average experience. I would definitely recommend everyone to visit Alcatraz.