SF Part II - A Birthday, A Prison and Some Parrots

Kathleen's birthday was April 25, so we celebrated by going to Alcatraz and hiking up Telegraph Hill. We also met up with her friend, Moira, and had a very tasty dinner at the Stinking Rose, a restaurant that puts garlic in nearly everything on the menu.

Kathleen and one of her presents - a sewing box to keep her "notions".

From K's neighborhood (Haight-Ashbury), we headed down to Fisherman's Wharf to catch the Alcatraz ferry.

On the boat

A nice welcome to Alcatraz Island

Inside the main prison building. We listened to an audio tour which was narrated by actual guards and prisoners from Alcatraz. It was a very interesting tour and a little scary to hear about what prison life was like on The Rock.

View of the dilapitated warden's house on the hill

Through a window at the warden's house

View of the city

Golden Gate Bridge - this is the closest we got to it. Next time we'll walk across.

After we returned back, we walked to the top of Telegraph Hill to see Coit Tower. I was not used to walking up steep hills and was a bit sweaty by the end.

Almost there...

Coit Tower - there are floor to ceiling murals inside on the main floor.

For those of you who saw The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill movie, you may recognize this tree. This is the spot where the man lived (the tan building on the right) and fed the parrots. We did see some parrots fly away and land in another tree.

Stay tuned for part three...