We escaped Alcatraz!

Another day full of interest and adventure!

We didn't find any hippies - think they are "grey nomads" like us now!, but we did find lots of interesting people and characters, especially along the Embarcadero - the waterfront boulevard. There are all types of buskers - some very talented, human statues, and other weird and wonderful characters with their own very unique way to get a tip. The human dancing skeleton was interesting to say the least - lol, but the best one for the day was a man crouched down along the pavement covered in branches of leaves (holding them in his hands), then springing up and shouting "BOO!" at unsuspecting people passing by - Pete and I got caught beautifully - scared the living daylights out of us! Though it may have been candid camera! Not sure how many tips he got for the day! lol Tho

We've covered about 20ks over the last couple of days so we know these hills of San Fran well! (good exercise!) Our first port of call this morning was the 210 foot Coit Tower on top of Telegraph Hill, built with funds left by Lillie Coit for the beautification of San Francisco. the tower was designed in the shape of a fire hose nozzle. What amazing views of this beautiful city from the top of the tower. it was so good to see the sun shining today!

From the tower we headed down to Pier 33 and onto the ferry which took us across the Bay to Alcatraz, or as it is affectionately known by the locals, "The Rock".Alcatraz means "Island of the sea birds"- heralding back to the days before human occupation.  This 12 acres in the middle of the bay has worn many coats - a bird rookery, a fort, a lighthouse, a prison and today it is one of the national parks at the Golden Gate and again a bird rookery. After we watched a short film covering the history of "the rock" we explored this notorious island. It was really interesting and eye-opening taking the self guided audio tour around the prison and hearing about the facility and its inmates - including some of the most famous and desperate criminals - Al Capone, "Machine Gun" Kelly and Robert "Birdman" Stroud. Alcatraz -
"for the most desperate and irredeemable of prisoners..." only ever had about 300 inmates there - they were only known by their inmate numbers and never referred to by name - this was part of the punishment - they were a nobody! The Rock was all about punishment, it wasn't a correctional facility.

After successfully escaping Alcatraz (and we could see why the inmates would want to!  NONE succeeded even though they tried! ) we did a fun round trip on the Cable Car to Chinatown and back to Fisherman's Wharf  - we sat beside the grip man (the brake man) and watched his skill driving the cable car as well as enjoy the sights of San Fran as we climbed up and down its many hills!

After visiting one of the many art galleries around the bay foreshore streets ,we finished the day at the famous San Fran Ghirardelli chocolate and ice cream shop

Interesting architecture and home styles in this city

Coit Tower

Click on pic to read about Lillie 

View of Downtown from Coit Tower.
The Trans America Building is quite distinctive.

View of the Bay, Alcatraz, Pier 39,  the Marina and foreshore area
from the tower.

Alcatraz with Pier 39 in foreground.

Alcatraz with the famous prison sitting atop.

City, Bay and Golden Gate from Coit Tower.

Famous Lombard Street from the tower.
Walked down it on or way to the tower.

A prison cell inside Alcatraz.

Pete in solitary confinement - D Block!
Read below - click on pic to enlarge.

Three storeys of cells for the inmates -
only ever had at the most about 300 prisoners.

Peking Duck and other delights in China Town shop. 

Pete aboard the Cable Car.

The Cable Car, icon of San Fran

The grip man.
Very well dressed for the job -looks like a wax statue here!

Down the hill we go to Fisherman's Wharf!

Famous Ice Cream and Chocolate!

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When you are in San Francisco be sure to wear your flowers in your hair.......

Lol! Haven't seen any hippies at all - yet! Pete and I love San Fran - great atmosphere and great people watching. Always interesting hustle and bustle under the watchful eye of the ever present Golden Gate Bridge. Great city to walk in - the hills are great exercise!, though if you tire there is always the ever faithful cable car gliding around these interesting streets!

We arrived late yesterday afternoon. Drove down from Napa Valley (about an hour away) after we finished our fabulous day in the wineries. Was good driving in on a Sunday as there wasn't much traffic.
After we settled ourselves in Lombard Street we headed to Pete's favourite pot of call - Fisherman's Wharf!
He' d been thinking about it the whole drive down!  CLAM CHOWDER was his agenda! And how yummy was it!!!
After we demolished the Clam Chowder we wandered around the Pier area which was abuzz with people enjoying the delights of this happening area of San Fran. Pier 39 is always good fun with its colourful variety of shops, restaurants and entertainment.

Our first glimpse of the Golden Gate  - San Fran here we come!
and the Clam Chowder says Pete! 

Famous Fisherman's Wharf

Clam Chowder stalls prove very popular!

If you like seafood it is heaven here!
The crabs were huge! 

Pete savouring his Clam Chowder!
The best way to have it is in the bread bowl.

There are great seafood restaurants all along the Pier area.
Fisherman's Grotto is an icon here! 

The fun Pier 39.
Usually the seals are out in force beside this pier  but there were none to be seen today :( 

The colourful Pier 39 

It was very entertaining watching these mouthwatering crepes being created.
A popular stop for many on Pier 39 - not just to watch their creation BUT to savour them! Yum!
Line up!

What a fantastic day!

Today we did our own wine tour  - organised by Pete! After we did the loop of the two valleys yesterday he studied up on the wineries we saw in the Napa valley and he chose one's that would specifically interest us  - and what a fantastic job he did! We had an amazing day!

So today's adventure took us on the popular wine trail loop in the Napa valley - going up the Silverado Trail, then cutting across to Rutherford, and then back down H29 to Napa.

The first winery we descended on was the "Black Stallion Winery" - a young, emerging winery which only opened in 2007, so it is Napa's newest winery, and it is located on the grounds of a historical equestrian centre. Very, very nice!

Mumm Napa was next with its beautiful view, followed by the amazing historical Rubicon Estate, owned by  movie director, Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola purchased Inglenook Estate from sea captain Gustave Niebaum, who established it in 1880. Besides tasting the fine wines that are produced here, there is a really interesting museum inside the chateau displaying memorabilia from both Niebaum and his seafaring days, and Coppola and his interest in film making and its history. Loved everything about this winery!

Next we went to the Robert Mondavi Winery which he co-founded in 1966 "to create exceptional Napa Valley wines that would stand in the company of great wines of the world." The winery's beautiful architecture  reflects the missions of early California. We did a guided tour of the winery here which was really educational and informative. Our tour guide Doug was fabulous and he made it a very memorable experience because of his knowledge and humour!
Art, wine and culinary delights were the focus of this winery - all part of the finer things in life, which is what these amazing valleys are all about.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Napa and Sonoma Valley experiences!

The Back Stallion Winery
Yes, some flowers realise it is suppose to be spring
even though it feels like winter!

Their wine was very nice.
Spring? - notice the winter clothes and the open fire in the background!

Historic Inglenook Chateau on Rubicon Estate ,
owned by film maker Francis Coppola

Men of Vision - about Niebaum and Coppola  and their innovative visions.
Click on pic to read

The tasting room

Inglenook presides over its vineyard

Part of the museum

The grand staircase in Inglenook

Robert Mondavi Winery

One of the beautiful courtyards

Artist Bufano's sculptures are placed through out the winery 

Bufano's bear (California) stands at the wineries entrance

The fermenting barrels

The ageing process
These are the 2010 grapes

Wine tasting - very interesting and educational. Our guide, Doug, a winemaker himself,  made the experience
not only interesting very amusing. 

"Red, red wine........." as the song goes!
Pete loved it!

Wending our way through the wineries.....

What a lovely day we had doing a sightseeing tour through both the Sonoma Valley and the Napa Valley and all the towns and abundant vineyards and wineries! - about a 100 mile round trip.We started our day by visiting the lovely town of Sonoma and wended our way up the valley through the many vineyards / wineries, all with stunning and interesting homes, cellars and tasting rooms. At Santa Rosa we headed up H101 and exited at beautiful Healdsburg and crossed to the Napa Valley via the Alexander Valley Road. Again the countryside, towns and their vineyards/wineries were amazing. While the wineries are amazing so are the little towns that are scattered throughout - we really enjoyed their interesting characters, unique shops, shopping, art and galleries, and culinary experiences they offered. Everything about these areas is about the finer things in life!  

The town square in Sonoma

A Sonoma vineyard

Th town square in Healdsburg

One of the cellars in historic Beringer Vineyards, established 1876

One of the old stone cave cellars at the vineyard

Pete standing beside the Guinness Book of records biggest bottle of wine
made by Beringer.

Rhine House- a amazing Victorian home.
Completed in1884 and built for $30,000 for Frederick Beringer.
The stonework, stained glass windows and woodwork were
beautifully crafted.

One of the many beautiful restaurants in Napa.
The lights were made out of wine bottles.

A walkway in  Downtown Napa  near the Riverfront