Dear Readers,

So here it is. My first try to write in English. To be honest… This entry is something, I didn’t even know how to write in German. As you can tell by the headline, my topic today is nothing less then the most famous prison island existing. – ALCATRAZ.

Last time I stopped with my journey in San Francisco and as you might know, Alcatraz belongs to San Cisco. So whenever you go there, you have to see this island (at least one time in your life).

I can still remember it, as if it was yesterday. We arrived at the port and got our tickets. Then we set down on such typical iron chairs you find in every café in summer. The longer you sit with your hot pans the worse gets the mark of the plaited seating that is not covered with a pillow. So we’ve been waiting there for like half an hour, when our boat finally arrived. Together with loads of other tourists we got on the boat and I actually have to say, that I kind of even enjoyed the 15 minutes boat ride, because it was pretty relaxing and I needed a short break to calm down.

As I just mentioned, after about fifteen minutes we arrived at the island that has once been a prison. As I took a step on it, I felt strange but I still can’t explain it… I think knowing that there were hundrets of criminals on the island you stand on, just makes you feeling strange.

A few minutes later we got into it and they gave everyone an „audio guide“, so you can go through the jail by yourself and a voice that’s been recorded will explain everything to you. The history behind it is so huge! When you walk through the floors and imagine how it has been to live here you shivers will run down your spine, goose bumps included.

In the last ten minutes of our tour we came to a cell that was made for the super bad boys. Because the moment they closed the door after you there has not been a single spot of light anymore. The hole room was completly fillied with darkness. Due to that your orientation got completly lost. And it’s harder than it sound, believe me, I tried! There were stories told to us, that prisoners used a coins and dropped it to the floor serveral times to get there orientation back. And they had the time for that, because they were trapped in those cells for over nine hours!

After that haunting experience we went outside and got the most beautiful few over San Francisco you can imagine. We heard that this view over the city should have been the hardest of all punishments. When the prisoners saw through the window, they saw LIFE. People who lived and worked and had fun in a beautiful city while they were in their cells.

After that, our tour was done. But we weren’t with this island. Why? Like every tourist attraction also Alcatraz has a shop where you can buy souvenirs. I’m not really into such things, but the day we were there, it was different. In the shop you could find a special guest presenting his book. Who he was? – No one less than William G. Baker, who has once been an inmate of Alcatraz!!! We bought his book and talked to him. We even made a foto with him, but when his hand touched my back for the picture I got goose bumps all over my body. It felt so unreal to stand next to a former inmate of Alcatraz – ON Alcatraz.

So I think you can tell that this trip was really crazy and I still can’t believe it. But it was 100 percent worth it and when you have the possibility to go there – do it!

By the way, I will link his book here if you want to read it. It’s really good and super pulsating.

Loads of love, Becky.

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