Sometimes when I am trying to think of new blog post ideas, I forget that I have plenty of things to write about which happened before I started this blog.
One of those things involves my holiday to California. There's so much I could talk about regarding my trip, and the first thing that popped into my mind was my visit to Alcatraz Island in San Francisco as it is the most favourite and memorable part of my holiday.
For those who don't know, Alcatraz was many things, but the most famous is that it was a federal prison. Today, it is open to visitors and you can go on an amazing tour of the abandoned prison. I definitely recommend the audio tour, simply plug your headphones in and walk around whilst finding out all the facts and imagining what happened here years ago.
After a small boat ride from Pier 33, we arrived at the Island. There's so much to take in here.
Famous ex-convicts include some of the most notorious criminals in American history, such as Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz) and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. Some of you may have seen the Clint Eastwood film 'Escape from Alcatraz' which is based on true events about the escape of American criminals Clarence Anglin, John Anglin and Frank Morris . It has never been confirmed if they managed to escape or die, but their bodies were never recovered.
To cut a long story short, Morris and the Anglin brothers tunneled their way through the cell's air-vents using spoons then made artificial 'heads' to place into their beds so they could make their way out of the prison via a ventilation shaft. Watch the film, seriously it's awesome. You can see the cells where this happened when you visit Alcatraz.
This area is where a grenade hit the floor and exploded during a prison riot. I found it really fascinating.
I won't bore you with too many factual details, as you can look those up on Wikipedia.
The best part about visiting Alcatraz was getting to meet ex-prisoner Robert Luke. We were so lucky that he happened to be there that day, I bought his book which he signed and it was so interesting to read about what life used to be like for him when he was a prisoner of Alcatraz.
Have you visited Alcatraz? Is this something you would like to do?
The best part about visiting Alcatraz was getting to meet ex-prisoner Robert Luke. We were so lucky that he happened to be there that day, I bought his book which he signed and it was so interesting to read about what life used to be like for him when he was a prisoner of Alcatraz.
Have you visited Alcatraz? Is this something you would like to do?
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